Day three: Route 66 road trip Albuquerque to home

I was out of bed and on the road by the time the sun was up. The Monterey Motel was cool; Its always nice when you stay in a 1946 Motel on route 66. Its even better when its clean and has Wifi. I loaded up, and headed out up Central avenue to see some spots from one of my favorite series ever — Breaking Bad.

Breaking bad on Route 66 - The Hot Dog House in Albuquerque — Jessie Pinkman sits at the Dog House in Albuquerque on Route 66, contemplating how the hell he’s going to get out of a mess. — Screenshot from the A&E Series Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad the Hot Dog House Albuquerque Route 66 — The Dog house today. It’s a route 66 institution in ABQ. I hear they make a helluva good chili cheese dog, but they weren’t open for breakfast. I’ll have to come back. Ever Seen Breaking Bad?

Just around the corner, about a mile away was another Breaking Bad spot: Jessie Pinkmans house. If you haven’t seen the series, you’re missing out — in my opinion it was one of the best written television series ever produced. For me, its right up there with The Rifleman, Then Came Bronson, and The original Star Trek.

Jessie Pinkmans House Breaking bad — Jessie Pinkmans House (bitch)– About a mile away from the Dog house off Route 66. Being a bald man with a goatee, I sorta giggled to myself as I got out to take the picture.

12 miles later, I found Saul Goodmans office on the other side of Albuquerque

Saul Goodmans Office Breaking Bad in Albuqueque New Mexico — Better Call Saul! — Screenshot from the Series

Saul Goodmans Office Breaking Bad Albuquerque Mew Mexico — Saul Goodmans Office Today. Somehow, it seems fitting that its called the Dirty Burbon dance hall and saloon (in a strip mall). I love Irony.

About a mile away from that, was Walter White’s house. The home owners have been known to be cranky, but then again so have I. I was braced for confrontation, but they weren’t even up yet.

Walter Whites house in Albuquerque New Mexico Breaking Bad Filiming Scenes — Walter and Skyler White’s house: 308 Negra Arroyo Lane, Albuquerque New Mexico.

Walter Whites House - Breaking bad in Albuquerque — It’s morning at the whites house. Too early if I can ask if I can throw a pizza on their roof? #IamTheOneWhoKnocks All joking aside, the owners have lived in this house for almost 40 years. Because idiots don’t understand respect, they’ve had to put up gates and surveillance.

The New Mexico sun was ascending, and I headed west down route 66 through central avenue and into downtown Albuquerque again. ABQ is pretty interesting. Its a mixture of modern, art deco, southwest, Neon, homeless people, history and weird art that I just don’t get. They have a Mass transit bus system that drives down the center of the street that I don’t think was really all that thought out… Some of it I absolutely was loving, some of it I could do without. It’s got an Art/Hippie vibe that is really not my thing. I know I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live here, but I also haven’t stopped thinking about going back there again to explore it yet again. I will.

Westward ho Motel Route 66 Albuquerque — The last motel on route 66 on the way out of town. I thought the Saguaro cactus sign was cool. I wouldn’t see real cacti like that for another 400 miles.

I hit interstate 40 for a while and was itching to get on a side road as soon as I could. It didn’t take long.

Route 66 Laguna New Mexico Owl Rock — Owl Rock on an older alignment of route 66. This was called “dead mans curve” and it’s between Mesita and Laguna. A killer little stretch of road, if you want to get off the interstate.

Villa De Cubero Trading Post Route 66 — The Villa De Cubero Trading post on Route 66. Lots of history here.

Bluewater Motel Route 66 New Mexico — The Bluewater Motel in Bluewater New Mexico.

From Bluewater, I headed through Gallup and Grants along as much of route 66 as I could, and headed south to home.

Home is good. I passed up and didn’t document a whole lot of history and stories a long the way, but this trip wasn’t about documentation. It was about scouting the perimeter. It’s been a few since I’ve been this way, and I wanted to see it again. Shit changes. Hell, the world has changed. I’m just trying to keep up and enjoy the ride a long the way.

1 day, 2 states, 409 miles

Day three: Route 66 road trip Albuquerque to home

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