New Mexico Tourism produces new video about Route 66

A few days ago, the New Mexico Tourism Department uploaded a 12-minute video about Route 66 in the Land of Enchantment.

Typical of the department’s New Mexico True videos, it’s a high-quality production: I commend it to your attention.

Interviewed in the film are:

• Johnnie Meier, owner of the Classical Gas Museum in Embudo
• James “Bozo” Cordova, owner of the Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa
• Kevin Mueller, owner of the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari
• Gar Engman, owner of Tee Pee Curios in Tucumcari
• Anna Dallago, owner of El Rancho Hotel in Gallup
• Larry Parker, general manager of KiMo Theatre in Albuquerque
• Lee Marmon, longtime photographer in Laguna Pueblo

According to a report about the film from KQRE-TV in Albuquerque, the agency wants to bring travelers back to Route 66 with this year’s “Summer of the Mother Road” campaign.

“Route 66 is such an important part of New Mexico, yet, it’s a story that we at New Mexico True haven’t had the opportunity to tell yet,” said Rebecca Latham, Cabinet Secretary of Tourism.

“Leaving Illinois on your way to California… a lot of that would have looked very similar, but New Mexico is the first place where the scenery starts to change from the high desert to the mountain tops,” she said.

What’s more, some landmarks are still around today, like Tucumcari’s Blue Swallow Motel built in 1939.

“What they called a motor-court back in those days, with a little room and a garage attached to it. It’s the oldest one that’s still operating on New Mexico Route 66,” said Kevin Mueller with the Blue Swallow Motel.

The department also created a Route 66 page online that contains an interactive map, a Route 66 playlist, events, landmarks on and off the route, cities on the route and history.

(Screen-capture image from video of Bozo Cordova on old Route 66 east of Santa Rosa, New Mexico)