Travel Stats: Day 3

Departed Tucumcari, New Mexico: 8:00 a.m. MDT.
Hours driven: 9
Flat tires: 1
Hours stopped to change the tire and get it fixed in Amarillo: 2.5
Miles driven: 590 (including 44 on Old Route 66)
Average speed: 50.2 (including stops)
Fuel mileage:  39.7 (40.259 on one tank!)
States: New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas
Wildlife spotted: 2 snakes crossing the road in New Mexico
Other VW Jetta wagons spotted: 1 (silver)
Weather: sunny and warm (high of 95 in Amarillo)
Car Talk podcast: 2 episodes
Lum and Abner MP3s: 6 episodes
CBS Radio Mystery Theater episodes: 2
Indications that we had reached the Bible Belt: a giant cross as a tourist attraction, and a billboard advertising the Jesus Christ is Lord Travel Center
Arrived at my parents’ house near Mulberry, Arkansas: 8:35 p.m. CDT.
Tuesday’s destination: My mother-in-law’s house in Rolla, Missouri.

Traveling through New Mexico.

Historic Route 66.

Trying to pretend the Interstate running parallel to our left is not there, and visualizing what it might have been like to travel across New Mexico 50 years ago. “Gettin’ my kicks…”

Who’d’ve thought I would run into Anne Shirley clear down in New Mexico?

“Modern Facilities” at the junction of a (dirt) portion of Route 66 and another (dirt) highway. Eastern New Mexico, almost to the Texas state line.

The other buildings grouped around the Modern Facilities.

We decided this might have been a gas station once-upon-a-time with the little carport in front.

And this was apparently a motel back in the day.

This place was a little fancier with a service garage on one side and a motel behind.

This must have been a little diner, don’t you suppose?

I was glad we had shipped most of my convention supplies when we had to unload all our luggage to get to the spare tire.