Mother Road New Mexico

I've been commenting all along that each state has its own unique sense of Route 66. For New Mexico, so far the word I would use is "ghosts." Oklahoma and Texas had a lot of decay and dying places. In New Mexico, I am sensing the ghosts of that past all over. This has by far been the best stretch of the road for me so far.

Entering into New Mexico, there is a small part of Route 66 that is only traveled by those who want to see the ghosts - literally - as it only goes through a section of an old ghost town, Glenrio. You could continue driving the original route from there, but it's all unpaved and my guidebook said you should only drive it if you have 4 wheel drive or are absolutely sure there has been no rain for days. Well, I would have to say no to both, so I went back to the interstate at that point. A couple of exits down the road, I was able to get back onto the original Route.

While it was paved at that point, it was barely so. I knew it was going to be different from previous parts of the Route when I had to slow down to drive over the cattle barriers. I checked my $4 map to make sure I was still on the Route (boy has that map saved my butt countless times!) Yes, still on it... but I would be tested even more. At one point, the road turned to go under the Interstate. Usually it changes sides by way of an overpass. Here it was an underpass - barely one car wide. (See the above photo.) There was some pavement, but mostly overgrown bordering on dirt road at that point. I feared I may be on a cattle road or some construction company road instead of Route 66. But yes, this showed up on my map as the original Route too. Thankfully a few miles down the road, I did see another car and then another, so I knew I wasn't driving on a forbidden or closed road.

It was then that I came across the little cemetery between the Route and the Interstate, and a little further a truly dead building with barely the skeleton left. Yes, there are ghosts on this road. But I am enjoying the discovery of them immensely! (I always have liked cemeteries... am I a little morbid maybe?)

Shortly after that, Route 66 joined up with I-40 for about 100 miles, so the ghosts are hiding again. I can't wait to discover what the Route holds for me today though. Guess I better get ready to hit the road, but I wanted to get this blog updated before it gets too overwhelming.

On to the next chapter...