New Mexico Trip 2022

For Wil's 50th birthday we had planned to go to Brazil. Carnaval 2022 falling on Wil's 50th birthday meant we could see the Christ the Redeemer statue as part of our "Seven Wonders" project, plus see the parades in the Sambadrome (a huge dream of mine), see spectacular Iguacu Falls, check out the modern architecture in Brasilia, and see the spectacular opera house in Manaus plus have a little more time on the Amazon. 

But then, COVID. 

I had booked all the hotels, but was holding off on flights and the Carnaval tickets because, well, it didn't seem likely. But in the "vaccine honeymoon" period, I was hopeful. But it wasn't to be. 

So we thought about what else to do. I had left it too late -- again -- to find reasonable accommodations in Hawaii. So that was out. And we didn't want to go too far for my first post-brain-clot flights. And we didn't want to be in big crowds, for the most part. But then I thought, "New Mexico." 

New Mexico feels really different, but it's not super far away. So we decided to book flights -- first class to treat ourselves! -- and I made a plan. 

Day "0" - fly Seattle to Albuquerque

Day 1 - drive Albuquerque to Santa Fe

Day 2 - Santa Fe and Georgia O'Keeffe

Day 3 - Santa Fe Meow Wolf to Truth or Consequences

Day 4 - Truth or Consequences for Wil's Birthday

Day 5 - White Sands and Alamogordo

Day 6 - Carlsbad and Roswell

Day 7 - Roswell to Tucumcari

Day 8 - Side trip to Amarillo, then back to Albuquerque

Day 9 - Albuquerque to home

At some point during the trip I looked to see what was happening in Rio for Carnaval, and was somewhat relieved to see that the sambadrome parades were postponed until after Easter. So it was confirmation that we'd made the right choice. 

I wrote up my notes as blog posts and backdated them to when they happened. I loved New Mexico -- the skies (and, despite it being NM and not AZ) the "little puffy clouds". I loved all the green chile. And I loved that feeling of freedom from traveling again. 

New Mexico day 8: the long way to Albuquerque

Up early on a bluebird -- or Blue Swallow? -- morning.

The only thing we had on our list for the day was to get back to Albuquerque -- not a super long drive. So I looked at a map to get a wider view ... and it hit me. We weren't crazy far from Texas... and TORCHY'S TACOS. 

I have a deep love of Torchy's from their early location as a truck in Austin. The last time I was in Texas -- after running half marathons in Kansas and Oklahoma, and spending a night in lovely Shamrock, Texas -- I made sure and stopped in Amarillo to eat at Torchy's. 

Luckily, I didn't have to think "is it really a great idea to drive 113 miles -- each way -- just to eat tacos?" (I mean, obviously, it is a REALLY GREAT IDEA....). Because there's another attraction just outside of Amarillo. 

CADILLAC RANCH!

Ten classic Cadillacs of varying vintages, partially buried, nose down, at a precise angle of 51° 50' and 40", the same as the angle of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The Cadillacs all face west, stretching about 140 feet in a field. On my last solo visit, I was sad not to have paint with me. Nowadays, there's a merchandise trailer that sells paint and other merch. 

It was windy -- crazy, hair-whipping windy -- so we decided to just walk out to the cars to have a look. But when we got there we found bags and bags of spray paint cans. And we couldn't resist adding to the artwork. 

I mainly just walked around looking at the cars.

I was especially fascinated by the layers and layers of accumulated paint. 

I was happy that Wil finally got a chance to visit, too!

All that spray painting -- and driving, of course -- had given us a big appetite. Hello, Torchy's!

We had three tacos each, PLUS chips and queso. Because, well, we won't be near a Torchy's again for a long time. Fried Avocado, Mofaux (with Beyond Beef), and the Migas breakfast taco, too. 

Uncomfortably stuffed we piled back in the car for the drive west. We popped back in to Tucumcari so we could visit Tee Pee Curios, where we bought random items (and really just stretched our legs...).

After that we stopped at the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa where, if it was less windy we might have taken a dip. It's amazing. 

A lot of people learn to scuba dive here. Maybe someday. (And what a random place to learn to dive!)

Then back on to I-40 where we heard about a huge crash, a few miles of closed highway, and 3-hour delays. So we let Google select another route around the backup and closures. 

Except Google isn't always the best judge of roads. 

We started off on a nice little 2-lane highway, one of three cars all clearly following the detour. Then, we were told to turn onto another road... which was a dirt road. 

The first car either missed the turn or was going a different way. The second car turned, seemed to panic, then slowed down and pulled over. So we just passed them and moved along. 

The first car either missed the turn or was going a different way. The second car turned, seemed to panic, then slowed down and pulled over. So we just passed them and moved along. 

Remember, we weren't in our beloved Crosstrek -- we were in some sort of random sedan. But... for a dirt and gravel road, it was pretty well graded and smooth. What we didn't know is how long the road would stay this way. Eventually the directions told us to turn... onto another dirt road. But then, the directions indicated that two miles later, we would turn on to a highway. HIGHWAY = PAVING. 

Not long after that we re-joined I-40 on the other side of the crash, and shortly thereafter we arrived in Albuquerque.

Robert from the Blue Swallow recommended we check out the El Vado, another vintage motor court motel along Route 66. But in this case, they made it very chic and modern -- they turned the old garages into glass-fronted suites. The rooms were indeed nice, but our stay was a little less than perfect. 

We walked to Old Town, had a very good margarita and some snacks at a swanky bar, and then headed back to the El Vado. We didn't really fancy any of the food in the restaurant / food court area, and the brewery only had canned cider on hand, so we decided against it. Inside the "guest area", we dragged some chairs and a table over to in front of our suite and sat outside and watched the sunset. 

Eventually the restaurants closed and the music stopped and it was just the handful of hotel guests left. I think we were the only people who moved chairs so they could sit outside; it might have been too cold out for a lot of folks. Sadly, the heaters are only in the restaurant area, and the firepits weren't lit. 

Still, it was really lovely -- I think maybe autumn would be a good time to visit? Before the pool closes, but after the summer rush. 

And, oh, this sign!

Tomorrow: home to Seattle (eventually...)

**A quick note about this post -- I'm catching up with my New Mexico memories and backdating posts to each day. 

New Mexico day 7: Roswell, Smokey, and Route 66

Woke up after a GREAT night's sleep, grabbed a very nice hot breakfast in the lobby,  and headed out in the morning to explore. 

First stop, the very cute Roswell McDonald's -- there's a lot of cute UFO artwork inside, plus a massive mural in the parking lot. Well done, McD's.

Then we meandered along a "river trail" (no water) and through some neighborhoods just to get some steps in. A short but nice trail, and I always like to see a town invest in parks and recreation. 

Bright and early at 9am we arrived at the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Look, there's part of me that thinks it's highly likely that there's intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. But this "museum and research center" isn't proof of that. Still, for just $5, it's an amusing place to wander around. And I don't think it's going to convince anyone of anything -- whether you go in as a believer or a non-believer, you'll come out the same way. 

Though, with exhibits like these...

"We've crashed and are sad!"

"We've landed in the desert! Sometimes our ship emits fog!"

Clearly an accurate depiction -- right down to the ALIEN METAL bits on a tray!

There was a man chatting on his phone to a friend saying, "No, they're got EVIDENCE here -- I mean, it's all REAL!"

This was possibly my favorite display -- pictures of "merchandise with alien themes... part of a gradual program of global indoctrination". Or just toys. 

Then we went to a very different place -- the Roswell UFO Spacewalk. It's small art installation that was exponentially more fun than the "museum". Who doesn't love black light art?

We also poked around a few shops, but we had other adventures and surprises ahead. What surprises? 

I hadn't told Wil in advance, but hid his Smokey shirt in my luggage and he changed into it when we arrived. I love Smokey Bear, but Wil really does, so he was dorky happy. 

There's a small museum that's stuffed to the gills with Smokey history and merchandise. 

And in the neighboring garden, native plants and Smokey's grave site. 

And this, the sweetest-faced Smokey statue I have ever seen in my life. 

This face!

We continued our trip, heading through Carrizozo to see Intersection Point Zero, and imagined moving to such a place... tiny town, peppered with artist studios and galleries and not much else. 

Back on the road we turned northeast and headed toward Tucumcari, our stop for the night. We drove through lots of semi-deserted towns, wondering what the lives are like of the people who remain. And eventually, we arrived. 

The Blue Swallow is one of the loveliest restored motels along Route 66. On earlier trips we'd seen pictures and wanted, one day, to stay there. We reserved one of the cute little rooms, specifically unit 2. 

The room had a phone -- a rotary phone -- and I was amused to pick it up and hear a dial tone. The room also came with a garage -- after all, this was a motel. Our garage had an adorable Cars mural. 

We hustled up the road to have a quick drink in a classic lounge:

What drink, you ask? Why, the Blue Swallow Margarita, of course!

The lounge was pretty empty -- it was only about 5pm on a Friday, after all -- but that meant we could admire the murals. 

I especially loved these paintings in the booths!

But our real reason to visit Tucumcari was to see the neon at night. So we sat on our cute vintage chairs and just enjoyed the evening. 

Tee Pee Curios, right across the street

The owners, Robert and Dawn Federico, are ADORABLE. We loved how excited Robert was talking about the motel to people checking in, ourselves included. Such a great spot!

Tomorrow: the long way to Albuquerque

**A quick note about this post -- I'm catching up with my New Mexico memories and backdating posts to each day.