Patricia Montgomery

After two days of straight-through driving, Monty and I stopped at Santa Rosa, New Mexico, just south and east of Santa Fe. We found a hotel right on the main drag through town, a little highway called Route 66. After a night’s rest we started out Monday morning on our drive westward on “The Mother Road”.

Our first stop was just a couple of blocks down from our hotel at the Route 66 Auto Museum. What first attracted our attention was a bright yellow car up on a tall pole. We pulled in and immediately saw a vintage 1950 yellow taxi cab and an old pickup truck with a wooden truck bed. Bet you “youngsters” didn’t even realize that truck beds were once floored with wood planks!

As we entered the museum, we stepped on the black and white checkered floors and immediately spotted Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and James Dean – no, Elvis is NOT alive. These were life-sized posters in the gift shop.

We rested on a bench designed from the trunk and fenders of an aqua 1957 Chevy. Very cool!

No need to wonder what happened to the rest of the car. We handed the $5 admission fee over the cashier’s desk, which just happened to be the front end of that same Chevy.

Besides approximately 30 completely restored vintage automobiles, there was an impressive collection of vintage toys and signs and other memorabilia celebrating Route 66. Even if you are not a vintage car buff, you can’t help but be impressed by all the shiny chrome and fins. If you are ever near here, this is a stop you don’t want to miss!

Further along the stretch of Route 66 in Santa Rosa there was evidence of long-closed businesses that suffered from the building of nearby Interstate 25. But more importantly there were many other businesses have stood the test of time and still remain open. It is obvious that Santa Rosa is working to preserving this section of historic Route 66.

After leaving Santa Rosa, we picked up Route 66 again near Dillia and followed a 40-50 mile section to Santa Fe. For the most part, the two-lane road ran a close parallel to I-25 but sometimes curved away from the noise of the interstate. It was during these times, driving along in the rural areas of New Mexico that we experienced a taste of what the early Route 66 travelers must have enjoyed.

I suppose it will be no surprise that I will soon be uploading some of the many, many photos taken on our road trip this week.