Event Coverage Road Trip! D/FW - VLV via Route 66!

In about thirty minutes, my friend, Stevan and I will be headed out to Viva Las Vegas in my '60 Ford wagon taking Route 66.. This will be my second trip out to Viva but Stevan's first, both for Viva and for being on the Route west of Albuquerque.
The plan is to take Hwy. 287 from home (we're not but about five miles from it) up to Amarillo and then get on Route 66 from there on out to Kingman, AZ. where we'll head north up to Vegas, crossing over the new bridge at Hoover Dam.
Like any good road trip, there won't be any kind of itinerary. We're allowing four or five days to get there, two days in Vegas, and then three to get back. That's as tight a schedule as we're going to allow.
Stay tuned to this post. We'll be updating with pictures and stories of each day's adventure each night. We may even post directly from the road! Hopefully, there won't be any issues like I had last year when my transmission gave up the ghost west of Holbrook. There's always that chance though. We're gambling before we even get to Vegas!
So, jump in and take the trip along with us. There's plenty of room in the wagon for everyone! More to follow!

 

Travel safe..........I'm following the trip





Are we there yet ?

 

We do like road trips. PICTURE'S

 

Rolled out of Propwash about 7.20. Next stop Amarillo!

 

Looking forward to seein ya!!

 

don't forget to stop in Holbrook AZ to see the teepee motel!

 

Watch your speed in small town Texas.
Have fun.

 

where are the pics?????

 

Lesson learned! Charge up air card before leaving out on a trip! You can't post updates of the trip from the road without it! Actually, truth be told, when we finally did check into a motel last night, once we plugged in enough chargers for two cell phones, a laptop, an air card and my cammera battery, I think that we caused a minor brownout at the motel!
What Rand McNally claimed to be a ten hour trip from home to Albuquerque, we turn into a fourteen hour trip due to all of the photo ops along the Route. Heck, we didn't even get out of Stevan's driveway until I spotted my first photo op.

 

There wasn't a whole lot to see or do until we took Business 287 through Electra, TX. which was the old allignment of the highway through town. One of the first of the old abandoned buildings was this old gas station/garage.











Then, up the street and around the corner, we spotted this old theater.







We couldn't figure out what this old building was but it begged for my wagon to be parked in front of it!

 

Just up the road in Memphis, TX., we spotted this old theater. No marquee, but the ticket booth still hinted that it used to be an old theater.

 

If it works out the grand cayon caverns are a cool little place to stop and look around. Its right on route 66. They got a bunch of old cars, just dont ask the lady to make you a large pizza she can only make the small ones. Maybe she figuered it out in the past couple weeks. The cave is cool too.

 

While still on Hwy. 287 headed for Amarillo, we came across this old Phillips 66 cottage style station in Clarendon, TX. that I'd love to own!







In downtown Clarendon, there stood the old Mulkey Theater.

 

On your way back stop in Vernon, TX. There are some really cool old gas stations in that town to take photos at.

 

Now a community theather in Claude, TX., the Gem Theater is at least still in use.



We finally made it to Amarillo where a steak at the Big Texan was in order. We did witness a twenty something guy chow down a 72 ouncer in about thirty minutes! It took me longer than that to shove down my twelve ounce steak!

 

We did stop in in Vernon at the Wal-Mart but just long enough to check for new Hot Wheels and use the restroom and then off again. I didn't spend a lot of time there as I'm planning on taking in Summer's Last Blast come August.

I'll post more pictures later. We've got to get packed and get outta town!

 

After leaving the Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo, we blew on past the Cadillac Ranch on the west outskirts of town, (Didn't want to loop back around on the freeway. Might catch it on the return trip.) and headed on to Vega, TX. where we took in this old restored gas station . . . . .



and then headed back west on Route 66 until we came to Adrian, TX. where I spotted this old International pickup with a bedload of 66!





Then it was on to the old Bent Door station & restaurant.











Then it was on over to in front of the Mid Point Cafe for a shot in front of the halfway sign.



Practically right next door sat this '60 Chevy up on blocks at an old station.



But what really caught my eye was this graffitti pickup!

 

Great photos! Looking forward to the next batch.

 

After leaving Adrian, TX., we jumped across the freeway to get gas and spotted this sign put up by the Ant Farm (the same group that constructed the Cadillac Ranch funded by Stanley Marsh 3). There are several oddball signs like this scattered around the area, all different. There were two at the Bent Door station. I liked this one.



Then it was on to the ghost town of Glenrio, Tx. where we saw the Little Juarez Cafe. It almost looks like a Valentine Diner but it's not.



As Glenrio, Tx. was the last stop in Texas heading west on Route 66 and the first stop in Texas heading east on Route 66, this old gas station was the first thing that you saw entering Texas and the last one that you saw leaving Texas.







Here's New Mexico's offering for a gas station just across the state line from Texas.





Stevan posed as the station attendant in this sleepy little hamlet.



While heading back out of Glenrio, I couldn't help but snap a shot of this . . . . .



This old station sat at the Glenrio exit off I-40. Though newer than what could be found in the town itself, it still didn't survive for some reason.

 

Entering Tucumcari, N.M., we spotted these sitting off on the side of the highway.

 

Very Cool pics. So sad to see how these lil town just dried up in those first sets of pictures.

 

Very inspiring pictures. Route 66 is a bittersweet highway. My grandparents and their kid's made the trip alot growing up when all this stuff was actually still in business.

 

A little further into town, we stopped in at the Teepee Curios but Mike was closed.



Then we jumped across the street to catch Bill, the owner of the Blue Swallow in the office and got a tour of the place. Couldn't help but to buy a T shirt from him in appreciation.







Before leaving Tucumcari, I had to jump out and get a shot of the Route 66 sculpture.



This old Edsel was parked on top of a small hill in front of an old motel.

 

Later, when we came into Newkirk, N.M., this old station caught our attention.



As well as this one . . . . .







This old bottle shop was cool also. But instead of bottles, it was full of old car parts and distributor caps.



Spotted this inside the bottle shop.



A very run down motel lay in back of the bottle shop.

 

Keep them coming. Nothing like a road trip!

 

Later, when we blew into Santa Rosa, N.M., we had to check out some of the cars sitting in front of Bozo's Route 66 Auto Museum. You can tell by the long shadows that it was getting late in the day.









Could this be Mater's older brother???

 

Then we rode off into the sunset! Destination: Albuquerque!



Before checking into a motel, we finished off a green chili burger at the Owl Cafe. Not exactly on Route 66, but an Albuquerque icon none the less.

 

Sad to see old buildings like that just fading away,bet they all have stories to tell. Super pics by the way,enjoy your trip

 

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast at the Owl Cafe, I took Stevan over to what the locals call "the Chevy-on-a-stick"; a tile covered '53 - '54 Chevy. It's one of those artsy thingies.



Now, we could have easily spent a day shooting old motel signs and old buildings on Central Ave. (Route 66) in Albuquerque but we thought that we could better serve the trip by getting on up the road. Way too much to see and do without spending all of our time in just one city.

We bid Albuquerque farewell through the back glass of the wagon from atop Nine Mile Hill.



Farther west of Albuquerque, we came upon this bridge . . . .