Day 4 - Authentic Diners, Painted Cadillacs, Blue Water & Jon Beistline

After a grueling day of driving yesterday (15 hours of traveling) we decided to sleep in. It was some much-needed rest. Today was a lot easier on the team (only 4 hours of driving). We got up around 10 am and took a quick morning dip in the Texas-shaped swimming pool (note that we're "standing" in Amarillo in the photos) and then went in search of food.



We ended up eating at the Blue Front Cafe, an original Rt. 66 diner. Food was decent and cheap, and we had a nice photo op with their neon Rt. 66 sign. It seems all the people we talk to along the road are really excited about our trip and the fact that we came all the way from Pennsylvania. They are more than eager to take our photo for us and give us some interesting little tid-bit about the Mother Road.





After breakfast, we left Amarillo and headed west in search of Cadillac Ranch. It is a giant piece of modern art that features 10 half-buried Cadillacs representing the car's phases from the mid 1940s through the mid 1960s. There are lots of explanations as to what the purpose of it is, but we're not quite sure here. We had read about this one beforehand and came fully prepared to participate in the ritual of spraypainting messages on the cars (it is encouraged by the owner). Lots of fun! Check out our work...









Our next stop was 100 miles west in Tucumcari, the land of 2,000 rooms and lots of rt. 66 folklore. We checked out perhaps the most famous motel on the Mother Road, the Blue Swallow Motel, and bought some souvenirs across the street at the Tee Pee Curio Shop (another notable stop along the road). Emily again expressed her love of the VW minibus when we saw this throwback retro scene...





Another 100 miles down the road is Santa Rosa. We stopped to check out an attraction called the "Blue Hole." It's an out-of-place small swimming hole in the middle of this arid land. It was caused by a sinkhole that was apparently over top of an underground spring - so the water is always perfectly blue, clear, and 60 degrees. Emily and I swam for a few minutes and froze our butts off, although it was a great counter-maneuver to the 107 degree heat and sunshine we were experiencing all day.



Our final destination of the day was Albuquerque, NM. It was a lovely drive from Santa Rosa into Albuquerque.... lots of southwest mountains and rich colors. We are staying at a place called the Nativo Lodge which is Native American themed and very nice.



A highlight of our evening was meeting up with our old high school friend, Jon, and his wife, Jess, for dinner. We got the grand tour of their house and then they took us to a local New Mexican restaurant that served delicious food (very similar to Mexican food). This was the first time any of us had met Jess and we thought she was just delightful! Way to go, Jon!

We turned in around 10, very tired from our busy day.... but very excited that tomorrow we'll be sleeping in TEE PEES!!!!

Love,
Us