Day 6: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Took the children into downtown Sayre for a flashback to the dark days of the Grapes of Wrath and then left town on the I40 towards the Texan panhandle. Thank goodness we were travelling through the panhandle – only 200 miles of pancake flat terrain rather than 700 in the rest of Texas. We swept past the tiny town of Groom with its gigantic stainless steel cross (19 stories high) and leaning Tower of Pisa water tower, and headed towards Cadillac Ranch, just outside of Amarillo.

Cadillac Ranch is ten Cadillacs upended in the plains. They were set up by an artistic community as a tribute to the open road, and are now an evolving piece of artwork. You simply turn up with your spray paint and graffiti to your heart’s content. Needless to say this licensed vandalism meant Jowan and Tristan were in their element.
We continued through the panhandle, unintentionally bypassing the Route 66 midway point (Mark was driving, Rachel was sleeping!), crossed into New Mexico and stopped at Tucumcari to lunch beneath a gigantic sombrero at La Cita.

We instantly fell in love with New Mexico; it was like driving through a spaghetti western, rugged desert terrain set against a backdrop of mountains. Albuquerque nestles in the foothills of the Sandia range, at about 5000ft above sea level. We pulled into Kirtland Air Force Base and set up camp for three nights.

Today’sTune: Is this the Way to Amarillo by Peter Kay (as we’re staying on a military base!)
Wildlife Watch: 10,000 cattle corralled next to the I40, unfortunately none of them Texan Long Horns