Day 37, July 21: Amarillo, Texas to Albuquerque, NM

We were up early appreciating the coolness. It actually was 69 degrees, which felt great  We appreciated the passage of a cold front. We had breakfast and hit the road. 

Before we got too far out of Amarillo, we had to stop at what was called an epic roadside attraction: the Cadillac Ranch. This was on the edge of town in a field, where a wealthy investor had paid quite a bit of money for some hippies from San Francisco to create an art experience of about 10 buried Cadillacs halfway buried in the dirt. The artists noticed soon after putting them in the ground that people wanted to come and do graffiti on them with spray paint. Rather than fight this, the artists just allow this to be part of the process. So when we arrived at 9 AM. There were a dozen cars there and individuals, couples and families, busy taking pictures, looking at the cars, and putting their own spray paint magic on a car. Patti was thrilled when a mom and two daughters handed her a bag of spray paint and said it had been given to them, and that we should enjoy and then pass it along. There were layers and layers and layers of paint on the cars. Kind of an odd site, but worth a stop. We had to get our picture taken in front of the Buried Cadillacs.

Part of our drive was along the historic Route 66. We had lunch at a very 60s diner called Lisa’s Grill. We sat in red vinyl booths with formica table tops. This food was fine, the french fries were amazing. It was fun just imagine all of the people on road trips on route 66 was the best way to get across the country. Dick had been on route 66 two times before I-57 and I-40 were built. Together, we have driven much of it in the past, but it’s always fun to see the historic Route 66 signs. 

We arrived in Albuquerque in the early afternoon . The main event for today was meeting up with Patti‘s dear old roommate from graduate school. Over 40 years ago they lived together. We hooked up with Tomi and Hank her husband. The afternoon was spent with Tomi and Patti having a good long time to catch up on everything. Then Dick, Tomi and Patti had a nice dinner at Cracker Barrel.  

Glad to have a little time with Hank also before the evening ended. And we’re so pleased to receive the gift of plants that Hank has been cultivating and preparing to hand off to us. We went home with some wonderful plants, including one that is nicknamed the Dr. Seuss plant. All of these will find good homes in our garden back in Oceanside.

We wish there was more time to stay, but we both feel the draw to get home and be in our own home in our own bed. Good night sleep, and then tomorrow heading home.