Day three: Route 66 road trip Albuquerque to home

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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.
I hit old route 66 bridges….
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

 

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Day two: Route 66 road trip Texas to New Mexico

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I  woke up early, watched the sun come up in a Texas town I’ve never spent the night in, and just enjoyed the morning with a cup of motel coffee in my hand.   Today I had a little time to just mozy a bit; It was 400 miles to Albuquerque, and that meant I could take some time to see a few things.   I took a ride down the small but historic downtown of Shamrock, and doubled back down route 66.

I gotta say, I fucking love Texas.   Texans are proud, independent and will talk straight to you no matter the subject.   Reminds me of family reunions.   I’m not a country music guy, but it seemed to make sense while I was crossing the panhandle, so I tuned in to the local radio stations.  Simple, straight-up music in an area and people that I could describe as the same exact way.   It somehow fit.

It was 22 miles to Mclean:   Lots of Route 66 history here.

Mclean Texas Rattlesnakes on Route66
Stuff like this is Evidence of a good old Route 66 roadside attraction.   Rattlesnakes.   The sign itself was moved from Lela Texas, where it originally stood.   There’s No rattlesnakes here, but it made me smile.   If I was a kid in the 50’s I’m fairly sure I’d have been pounding on the rear car window for Dad to stop.

 

McLean Texas Route 66 original Gas Station
First Phillips gas station in Texas —  Finished 2 years after route 66 even became an official road, it saw thousands of customers as they passed through  Mclean  and on down their way down the mother road.

From Mclean, I headed out of route 66 down interstate 40 to Groom Texas, taking as many side roads as I could.

Brittens Leaning tower of Groom Texas
In the 1980s, Ralph Britten originally bought this water tank from a nearby town for a water supply for his new venture.   After he found out it wasn’t up to code, he put it on a tilt to bring in customers to his truck stop in Groom Texas.    It became the leaning tower of Texas.  It worked.

The Texas Panhandle is long and flat.     In this part of the country, there’s only 1,000 feet of elevation difference between New Mexico and Oklahoma, so I made miles.   The weather was warming up  and the road was straight.   I gotta say, I  was enjoying every minute of it.    I took all the side roads I could, got caught behind some farm equipment doing 20 mph, and you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

Midpoint route 66 adrian texas
The very center of route 66 in Adrian Texas.   I wanted some of that ugly crust pie at the mid point cafe, but everything was closed for the season, so I moved on.

I headed on to Glenrio and the state line.

Glenrio Texas Route 66
On the state line of Texas and New Mexico, Glenrio is a perfect example of a route 66 town being bypassed.    Just a few hundred yards off the interstate,  Aside from a few residents,  its a ghost town now.
glenrio texas route 66
It didn’t used to be a ghost town…

 

Paradise Motel Tucumcari New Mexico Route 66
On the west end of Tucumcari sits the Paradise Motel.    Since the 1950’s this was the first Motel you hit when you came to Tucumcari heading east.  Tucumcari is an epic route 66 stop, if you love road history.

Some asshole burned the paradise motel down 3 days later.    The owner hauled the sign off last week.  I can’t say that I blame him.   I’m glad I got the pictures I did.

I headed west.

The Last Whiting brothers Gas Station Moriarty New Mexico route 66
The Last Whiting brothers Gas Station Moriarty New Mexico route 66.   Remains of the Whiting brothers gas station are all over the western part of route 66.   They started in 1926, and sold gas and even motel rooms up and down route 66.   This is the last one.

I headed down the frontage roads that used to be the old road and weaved my way down into Albuquerque.   Heading down the canyon is killer part of route 66.

I crashed at the Monterey Motel for the night, and looked forward to the next day.

The monterey motel route 66 Albuquerque
Central Avenue, Route 66 New Mexico. There’s new owners here; I met them and they have plans to preserve the place, and are contributors as well to the El Vado around the corner — They know what they have here; The spirit of route 66 is alive and well.

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhiZGjMwpAg

2 states, 1 day, 422 miles.

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Day one: Route 66 Road Trip to Texas

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I had an opportunity last weekend to run the route I moved down here for:  Route 66.   I took it, and made some miles and headed toward Oklahoma.

I headed up out of phoenix, toward the Northeast side of Arizona.

Witch Well Arizona
Witch Well Arizona, on the east side of the state. I’m pretty sure this is the whole town.  It looks like its still open.   I bet there’s been some stories that have came out of this place on a Saturday night.

I Hit the state line, and into Gallup New Mexico on the mother road, hitting every side road and original piece of the old road I could.

The Rio Puerco Bridge. Built in 1933, 7 years after route 66 became an official road, this beauty lasted till 1999. It’s now being preserved by the New Mexico dept of Transportation…

 

Glenrio Route 66 Sunset on Route 66
Exit 0: Glenrio Texas is a perfect example of what happened when 1-40 bypassed Route 66. Right on the Texas/New Mexico Border, it had a gas station, garage and cafe and several residences there to support the town. Now, just 200 yards off the interstate, its a ghost town. I hit the border by dusk and managed to get a Texas Sunset shot. To me, this place is still pretty damn cool.

 

I made my way though the Texas Panhandle at night.   It was awesome.   Alice Cooper had a radio show where he played some of his own hits, gave some of his listeners shit and I had me a bit of a moment.    The moon seemed full and the the road was straight and welcoming.    I was getting tired.    I had meant to hit Oklahoma, but I decided to stay in Shamrock Texas instead and decide what to do in the morning.

The famous U-Drop Inn in Shamrock Texas
The famous U-Drop Inn in Shamrock Texas. Built in 1936. Was glad to hit it at night and see the neon. It used to be a Conoco Station and a cafe. She’s a beauty, methinks.

I’d meant to bust the drone out and get some cool night shots, but it was windy and I didn’t want to pick a thousand dollar drone off a historic Texas Route 66 building in the middle of the night.  My better sense prevailed (I don’t have much), and I headed to the Motel about a half mile down the road and hit the sack.   I figured I’d double back tomorrow, see the things I’d missed in the dark and enjoy the next 2 days home.

1 day, 3 states 800 miles.

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I feel a road trip comin’ on

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I’m about due for a road trip.   It’s one of the reasons I moved to Arizona!   I’m not sure where I’ll go yet, but took some time off from work next week to point the bike somewhere.    I’m thinking Route 66 through the Texas panhandle and maybe hit Oklahoma.     The beauty of a good road trip is I’ll figure it out when I get there.

Can’t wait for Thursday.

 

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Falcon Field in Mesa Arizona

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Yesterday was veterans day.   My father was a marine and a pilot, and just like I find my mojo on a motorcycle, he found his in the air.   To this day, I’m a sucker for an air Museum.   I’ve been driving by falcon field on the way to work for months now, and I’ve wanted to check it out.    Veterans day seemed like a good day to do it.

Falcon field had a short military history:  It was opened 4 months before Pearl Harbor was bombed, with the Intent to train British and American Pilots.  3 years after the war it was deeded to the city of Mesa as a municipal Airport.    Its a small, but pretty cool museum.

Falcon Fields P-51 Mustang
Maybe the most influential fighter of any era, the P-51 has always been my favorite. It had the horsepower, ceiling,range, firepower and everything else to turn the tide of air supremacy of WWII. It did just that.

 

Falcon Air Field F4 Falcon
F-4 Falcon…. I read somewhere once that the F-4 is proof that anything can fly if you put a big enough engine in it.

 

Cockpit of the F4 falcon at Falcon Field in Mesa.
Inside the cockpit of the F-4 Falcon. This is where you kicked some ass.

 

WWII Dog tag machine at falcon field.
WWII dog tag machine. I thought it was kinda interesting.

 

B-25 Mitchell Bomber Falcon Field Mesa
The B-25 Mitchell Bomber. Jimmy Doolittle figgered out how to launch these off an aircraft carrier in the wind to bomb Tokyo as a fuck you to Japan after bombing Pearl Harbor. America needed some morale.   Now, In the shop, getting some maintenance.

 

B-17G Flying fortress, Falcon Field Arizona.
As I drove in, I got to watch this beautiful old B-17G bomber fly over my head and land after flying over the veterans day parade.    I’m not going to lie:   I got a chubby.

A helluva good day.   I came home and watched P-51 dogfights.     I hope you had a happy veterans day!

 

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Happy Sunday!

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A casual Sunday is a great way to round out a fucking great weekend.    We’re having one around here today.    There’s not a whole lot of ambition around this house today.

Yesterday the wife and I went to an outdoor Punk Rock concert with some old favorites and enjoyed each others company.    One of the nice things about living in a larger city is you can pick out a good show or two.    We were the old guys in the back.     I had a blast.

Today, the wife is out looking for pokemon with the kids, the football game is set to record on the DVR (go Steelers), and I’m just sitting here checking out roads on google maps that I’d like to ride.    You gotta love a good Sunday.

 

 

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Shifting Gears…

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Today was a helluva good day.     My son in law got sworn into the army and headed off to basic training.     We’ll see him around Christmas time and then off to Texas where my daughter will re-join him and go off on the crazy ride of life in the military.

At first, we weren’t all that excited about the  decision, but it wasn’t my decision to make.   They’ll go off on a whole other path thats going to lead to places Mrs Zip and I can’t even probably comprehend.    Shit like that, is a good thing.    He knows what he’s doing.

I don’t have a son, but I love my SIL like he was:   he’s a good man.  A principled man — honest and his priorities are right.    He’s doing this to take care of his family, get an education and I think there’s also a part of him that wants to know what he’s capable of.   I get that.   I think any man worth his salt can understand that.

My father was a marine, but other than his stories,  I’ve had very little exposure to the military.   I’m excited to hear his stories when he gets back.   I was completely proud when he got sworn in to defend the constitution of the united states, and I know he was too.    Effing cool.

It wasn’t a choice I’d ever make  (Even though I’ve always wished I could have gone through basic training).    I looked around the room and saw a bunch of scared kids who we’re going to become men over the next couple of years, and my son in law who is going to become even more of one.   Yeah, we were all pretty proud.

Kick some ass out there Jordan, we’ll hold down the fort and see you when you get back…

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