Here’s a few odds ‘n’ ends I collected during our journey from Tulsa to Albuquerque and back for the Route 66 festival:
- We’ve seen a marked decline in Clines Corners, the Route 66 stop that dates to 1937. In the last couple of years we’ve visited there, prices on merchandise have gone up while the quality of amenities have gone down. With the latter, that’s especially true with the bathrooms, which are a borderline disgrace and need remodeling in the worst way. If you need a make a stop in that area, try the Flying C Ranch about 20 miles east. It’s a competitor to Clines Corners, and the Flying C appears to be winning.
- Tucumcari is a town in transition. The Blue Swallow Motel and the Motel Safari have new owners, while the Pony Soldier Motel has closed. Del’s restaurant reburbished its main sign with neon lighting, and it looks nice. There is a new Route 66 Motel in town, but they took down the Royal Palacio neon sign that came with it (Aaargh!!!). The closed Apache Motel continues to languish. La Cita, the famous Mexican restaurant housed in a giant sombrero, is open but is having management and employee problems, according to one local we talked to. The food there was OK, but not as good compared to the previous operators.
- Albuquerque continues to look more vibrant with each passing year. Occasionally a historic neon sign is lost, but it seems to be replaced with two or three new ones that add to Central Avenue’s allure at night. Nob Hill and the downtown area are especially thriving. The Duke City, once long-overlooked, is now becoming a hot spot in the Southwest.
- I’ve already weighed in with my dim view of Hotel Albuquerque. However, the Hotel Blue and Monterrey Non-Smokers Motel certainly made the grade with their amenities and moderate prices of $55 to $75 a night. Subjects of further research on a future trip: El Don Motel, Silver Moon Lodge and La Puerta Motor Lodge.
- This isn’t on Route 66, but it’s worth a mention to two-lane roadies. Instead of taking I-40/Route 66 back home, we took U.S. 412, which traverses virtually all of Oklahoma. This is where we encountered the Glass Mountains, aka Gloss Mountains, near the northwest Oklahoma town of Fairview. It’s spectacular. If you want a fix of the Painted Desert in Arizona but can’t travel that far, the Glass/Gloss Mountains are a good alternative. Red Fork Hippie Chick will have photos of them and other images soon.
