Route 66 Day 9 October 30, 2019
With the knowledge that we weren't leaving until after lunch, Jenny and I enjoyed the luxury of having the time to sleep in. We slept until we didn't need to sleep anymore. Then we leisurely prepared ourselves for the day, and once ready, we wandered out to to make our way down to the breakfast room. As we casually walked past a window, we naturally cast a glance to see outside, and this is what we saw!!!
Snow!! Coming down heavily! We rushed back to our room, put on our really warm coats, scarves, beanies and gloves and headed straight downstairs, and out the front door of the hotel to play in the snow!
It was soft and fluffy and I couldn't resist making a snowball. Then I needed someone to throw it at, so unfortunately for one of the guys on our trip, he was it. I missed!!
We could only stay outside for a short while because it was soooo cold!! Alan told us it was -7C. We went back inside and had a sumptuous breakfast
Then we started to hear reports of the road conditions. Apparently the Interstate was closed and there had been some accidents. I have to admit that I was a bit worried about having to drive in snow, it's not something I've ever done before. I had reason to pop out to the car, which was parked directly opposite the front door to the hotel (I've always been luck when it comes to getting a good parking space). It did involve crossing the road, which was becoming slushy and slippery.
Jenny got out there with a scraper that one of the guys had lent her, and started removing the snow covering our car.
She also had the engine warming up, even though it was going to be a couple of hours at least until we were due to leave. She was doing a great job. Then a little tractor appeared. It was scraping the snow off the pavement. We got chatting to the guys doing the work.
They were quite surprised that we didn't experience the snow like this in the places in which we lived in Australia. One of them said that he was sick of the cold and wanted to go and live in a warm country. I told him how the daily temperature where I live was 40C or more everyday now. He said, he didn't want to live in that kind of heat.
Once our bags were loaded, we went back into the sublime surroundings of the hotel. We had a couple of cups of coffee and got talking with the waiter who was telling us that the town of Las Vegas was often used as a backdrop for movies, and in particular the Netflix series Longmeyer (I don't know whether I have spelled that correctly). We asked him whether he had had a role in it. He said that he hadn't and had no desire to be caught on film because he had already had his 15 minutes of fame. We asked him what he had done and he told us that he had been a catalogue model for Sears and JC Penny. He was a gentle soul and he did a great job of looking after us.
It was snowing gently now, and the road was really sloshy and slippery. It was no longer a pristine white colour, but rather an ugly khaki brown. The interstate had been opened but Dale felt it was still too early to make move. So back to the snug restaurant we went for another cup of coffee, and relaxed milling around and chatting. Then the sun came out. The road was starting to dry out a bit, and we had icicles hanging off our car.
Finally at about 1pm Dale gathered everyone together for our daily group meeting. He suggested that once we got into our cars, we do a lap of the town square to get a feel for driving in the snow. Jenny offered to drive, and she did a great job of the lap, so after a bit of a wait to get everyone organised, we were off ... leaving the beautiful town of Las Vegas behind us. I would gladly go back there and spend a significantly longer time becoming more familiar with it.
We travelled through incredibly picturesque Apache territory to our first stop in San Jose.
The Plaza Church was built in 1826. A very friendly little dog came out to greet us.
San Jose, New Mexico is home to Native American Indians who settled there around 1794. It became one of the many colonial towns that the Spanish created to serve as buffer zones against hostile Indian raids. The Pecos River that flows by San Jose and is crossed by a thru-truss bridge built in 1921. We enjoyed a liesurely walk down to the bridge.
San Jose has its own A plum tree covered in
post office . fruit
I only got as far as the plum tree because I received a phone call from my good friend Laurence McCann who wanted to talk to me about the drive I was going to make down to Albuquerque laterin the day. He offered me and jenny a bed to sleep in for the night, instead of having us rush back to our hotel in the night. I was so excited that I was going to be seeing Laurence again after nearly 10 years.
After a leisurely walk in the cool air and sunshine we headed to The Pecos River service station, the site of an original Stage. Most for a restroom break and a fuel top up. Again I was intrigued with the range of fast foods they had available:
Here are some more snacks I had never seen before.
I had to use the restrooms before we continued on our journey to Santa Fe. The sign on the toilet door was interesting - all bases covered! And some of the sayings on the back of the door were fun too, although some of them I didn't really understand!
All fuelled up in every sense, we left Pecos Station and headed to Glorieta Pass which sits at 7562 feet above sea level, the highest part of the pre 1937 Route 66. The road was scenic, the air refreshing.
This was the location of a major Civil War battle in 1862, called the Battle of Glorieta Pass. It was the decisive battle of the New Mexico Campaign during the American Civil War.
It was lovely to have a scenic and casual drive. The magnificent scenery continued all the way to Santa Fe where our magnificent old hotel, La Fonda on the Plaza, which is steeped in history and filled with art, takes up an entire block and is situated on the terminus of the Santa Fe Trail.
Jenny and I didn't have time to check out all that La Fonda had to offer because we were on our way to Albuquerque to see Laurence and Celia. While Jenny helped the people who had suitcases in the back of our car, get them unloaded, I stayed in the car (because we weren't allowed to park in the street behind the hotel, and if we entered the car park, we'd have to allow a valet to park it!) In front of me was this gorgeous church - St Francis of Assisi Cathedral.
It's bells were ringing and people were coming and going. I learnt that it sprang up in the footsteps of European expansion into the southwest. It was constructed by French and Italian masons and completed in 1887, featuring an old adobe chapel built in 1714. Apparently it's beautiful stained glass windows were transported to Santa Fe by ship and covered wagon.
Before we left Santa Fe, we just had to have a cuppa in the French bakehouse (which is part of the hotel) and try out one of their delicious offerings. It also gave us the chance to have a yarn with Jan and Tony, one of the couples travelling in the group.
Feeling a little rested, with some of the suitcases we are carrying for other people offloaded, we set out for Albuquerque. My Google Maps guide had us leaving the city so we would avoid the peak hour traffic. I was under the impression it was going to take us just over an hour to get from Santa Fe to Albuquerque ... but alas no ... we ended up taking the "scenic route and it took us nearly 3 hours!!
We were driving into the sun which is always a joy! We went past the little town of Madrid but we didn't stop because we knew we'd be returning in a couple of days. It was a fun drive up and down mountain roads and twisting and turning through valleys. Laurence had given me some instructions about getting off at Santa Rosa, so when I saw that sign, I defied the Google lady and followed the road (which just happened to be the old Route 66 road) hoping she would recalibrate. No! She didn't! And we ended up in in a tiny little village!
Eventually we had to give in to Google, and with the negotiation of a few more twisting and turning roads, over mountains and through valleys, and past lots of interesting sights, we drove into the New Mexico sunset, and eventually arrived to a very warm welcome from Laurence and Celia. They live in a beautiful little adobe home, and had booked us a table at their favourite Mexican restaurant. So no sooner had we arrived, than we were off again to eat our fill of fajitas, burritos and enchiladas, and drink copious quantities of margaritas.
The conversation was easy and before we knew it, we were being gently nudged out of the restaurant. This was my sign of the day (seen as we were leaving the restaurant after meeting the original owner - a very fine elderly lady) ... In spanish!
I let Laurence drive us home, and he took us for a tour around Albuquerque, and along sections of Route 66. At the crossing of Central Avenue (US 66) and 4th street we saw the place where visitors can stand at the corner of Route 66 and Route 66 courtesy of a 1937 road alignment change that redirected the quirky route to literally cross over itself.
We eventually pulled into Laurence and Celia's drive and to wind down from what had been a really fun evening, we sat chatting over a cup of tea - and Laurence makes a very fine cup of tea. Much later it was time for bed. Laurence and Celia had very kindly offered us a comfortable bed each. Quite frankly, driving back to Santa Fe in the dark was out of the question!
Snow!! Coming down heavily! We rushed back to our room, put on our really warm coats, scarves, beanies and gloves and headed straight downstairs, and out the front door of the hotel to play in the snow!
It was soft and fluffy and I couldn't resist making a snowball. Then I needed someone to throw it at, so unfortunately for one of the guys on our trip, he was it. I missed!!
We could only stay outside for a short while because it was soooo cold!! Alan told us it was -7C. We went back inside and had a sumptuous breakfast
Then we started to hear reports of the road conditions. Apparently the Interstate was closed and there had been some accidents. I have to admit that I was a bit worried about having to drive in snow, it's not something I've ever done before. I had reason to pop out to the car, which was parked directly opposite the front door to the hotel (I've always been luck when it comes to getting a good parking space). It did involve crossing the road, which was becoming slushy and slippery.
Jenny got out there with a scraper that one of the guys had lent her, and started removing the snow covering our car.
She also had the engine warming up, even though it was going to be a couple of hours at least until we were due to leave. She was doing a great job. Then a little tractor appeared. It was scraping the snow off the pavement. We got chatting to the guys doing the work.
They were quite surprised that we didn't experience the snow like this in the places in which we lived in Australia. One of them said that he was sick of the cold and wanted to go and live in a warm country. I told him how the daily temperature where I live was 40C or more everyday now. He said, he didn't want to live in that kind of heat.
Once our bags were loaded, we went back into the sublime surroundings of the hotel. We had a couple of cups of coffee and got talking with the waiter who was telling us that the town of Las Vegas was often used as a backdrop for movies, and in particular the Netflix series Longmeyer (I don't know whether I have spelled that correctly). We asked him whether he had had a role in it. He said that he hadn't and had no desire to be caught on film because he had already had his 15 minutes of fame. We asked him what he had done and he told us that he had been a catalogue model for Sears and JC Penny. He was a gentle soul and he did a great job of looking after us.
It was snowing gently now, and the road was really sloshy and slippery. It was no longer a pristine white colour, but rather an ugly khaki brown. The interstate had been opened but Dale felt it was still too early to make move. So back to the snug restaurant we went for another cup of coffee, and relaxed milling around and chatting. Then the sun came out. The road was starting to dry out a bit, and we had icicles hanging off our car.
Finally at about 1pm Dale gathered everyone together for our daily group meeting. He suggested that once we got into our cars, we do a lap of the town square to get a feel for driving in the snow. Jenny offered to drive, and she did a great job of the lap, so after a bit of a wait to get everyone organised, we were off ... leaving the beautiful town of Las Vegas behind us. I would gladly go back there and spend a significantly longer time becoming more familiar with it.
We travelled through incredibly picturesque Apache territory to our first stop in San Jose.
The Plaza Church was built in 1826. A very friendly little dog came out to greet us.
San Jose, New Mexico is home to Native American Indians who settled there around 1794. It became one of the many colonial towns that the Spanish created to serve as buffer zones against hostile Indian raids. The Pecos River that flows by San Jose and is crossed by a thru-truss bridge built in 1921. We enjoyed a liesurely walk down to the bridge.
San Jose has its own A plum tree covered in
post office . fruit
I only got as far as the plum tree because I received a phone call from my good friend Laurence McCann who wanted to talk to me about the drive I was going to make down to Albuquerque laterin the day. He offered me and jenny a bed to sleep in for the night, instead of having us rush back to our hotel in the night. I was so excited that I was going to be seeing Laurence again after nearly 10 years.
After a leisurely walk in the cool air and sunshine we headed to The Pecos River service station, the site of an original Stage. Most for a restroom break and a fuel top up. Again I was intrigued with the range of fast foods they had available:
Here are some more snacks I had never seen before.
I had to use the restrooms before we continued on our journey to Santa Fe. The sign on the toilet door was interesting - all bases covered! And some of the sayings on the back of the door were fun too, although some of them I didn't really understand!
All fuelled up in every sense, we left Pecos Station and headed to Glorieta Pass which sits at 7562 feet above sea level, the highest part of the pre 1937 Route 66. The road was scenic, the air refreshing.
This was the location of a major Civil War battle in 1862, called the Battle of Glorieta Pass. It was the decisive battle of the New Mexico Campaign during the American Civil War.
It was lovely to have a scenic and casual drive. The magnificent scenery continued all the way to Santa Fe where our magnificent old hotel, La Fonda on the Plaza, which is steeped in history and filled with art, takes up an entire block and is situated on the terminus of the Santa Fe Trail.
Jenny and I didn't have time to check out all that La Fonda had to offer because we were on our way to Albuquerque to see Laurence and Celia. While Jenny helped the people who had suitcases in the back of our car, get them unloaded, I stayed in the car (because we weren't allowed to park in the street behind the hotel, and if we entered the car park, we'd have to allow a valet to park it!) In front of me was this gorgeous church - St Francis of Assisi Cathedral.
It's bells were ringing and people were coming and going. I learnt that it sprang up in the footsteps of European expansion into the southwest. It was constructed by French and Italian masons and completed in 1887, featuring an old adobe chapel built in 1714. Apparently it's beautiful stained glass windows were transported to Santa Fe by ship and covered wagon.
 |
| Turtles are quite a common theme in this area and this one was made of bread! |
Feeling a little rested, with some of the suitcases we are carrying for other people offloaded, we set out for Albuquerque. My Google Maps guide had us leaving the city so we would avoid the peak hour traffic. I was under the impression it was going to take us just over an hour to get from Santa Fe to Albuquerque ... but alas no ... we ended up taking the "scenic route and it took us nearly 3 hours!!
We were driving into the sun which is always a joy! We went past the little town of Madrid but we didn't stop because we knew we'd be returning in a couple of days. It was a fun drive up and down mountain roads and twisting and turning through valleys. Laurence had given me some instructions about getting off at Santa Rosa, so when I saw that sign, I defied the Google lady and followed the road (which just happened to be the old Route 66 road) hoping she would recalibrate. No! She didn't! And we ended up in in a tiny little village!
Eventually we had to give in to Google, and with the negotiation of a few more twisting and turning roads, over mountains and through valleys, and past lots of interesting sights, we drove into the New Mexico sunset, and eventually arrived to a very warm welcome from Laurence and Celia. They live in a beautiful little adobe home, and had booked us a table at their favourite Mexican restaurant. So no sooner had we arrived, than we were off again to eat our fill of fajitas, burritos and enchiladas, and drink copious quantities of margaritas.
The conversation was easy and before we knew it, we were being gently nudged out of the restaurant. This was my sign of the day (seen as we were leaving the restaurant after meeting the original owner - a very fine elderly lady) ... In spanish!
 |
| My house is your house! |
I let Laurence drive us home, and he took us for a tour around Albuquerque, and along sections of Route 66. At the crossing of Central Avenue (US 66) and 4th street we saw the place where visitors can stand at the corner of Route 66 and Route 66 courtesy of a 1937 road alignment change that redirected the quirky route to literally cross over itself.
We eventually pulled into Laurence and Celia's drive and to wind down from what had been a really fun evening, we sat chatting over a cup of tea - and Laurence makes a very fine cup of tea. Much later it was time for bed. Laurence and Celia had very kindly offered us a comfortable bed each. Quite frankly, driving back to Santa Fe in the dark was out of the question!
Once again Jan you have captured the day perfectly
ReplyDeleteThanks <3
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