Route 66 Road Trip Day 8: Amarillo to Tucumcari

Day 8 of our Route 66 Road Trip from Amarillo to Tucumcari was my favorite day of our Route 66 trip! It included spray painting cars, delicious apple pie, and a long strip of amazing neon signs in my favorite town along the Mother Road!

Route 66 Road Trip Day 8: Amarillo to Tucumcari

We began Day 8 with breakfast at The Big Texan. We figured their dinner was good so might as well give breakfast a try, too! And it was great!

Cadillac Ranch

Then we got on the road for a couple of miles to Cadillac Ranch.

Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation by the group Ant Farm, which was comprised of one of my film professors at UC Santa Cruz, Chip Lord. What a small world sometimes. I wish I had known how cool he was when I was in his class. Anyhow, the installation is fucking awesome! You get to spray paint half buried cars! BYOSP. I had gold and pink spray paint stashed in the car all the way from California. Seriously, bring some! It’s fun! I was shocked at how many people did NOT have any spray paint with them. 

2nd Amendment Cowboy

We backtracked to see the 2nd Amendment Cowboy which is at the “New Cadillac Ranch Gift Shop” but we didn’t go in, because I don’t think anyone should be profiting off of Cadillac Ranch. Plus I think they seriously need to calm down on that 2nd Amendment. Not to mention that I see no connection to the 2nd Amendment with Cadillac Ranch. It should be the 1st Amendment Cowboy. 

Bates Motel Sign

… and we backtracked to see the awesome Bates Motel sign. (Love the part about taxidermy!) 

Dot’s Mini Museum

Our next stop was at Dot’s Mini Museum. Dot has passed away and her family keeps all of her favorite collectibles in a couple rooms off the back of the house for travelers to stop in and see. There was no one there when we arrived, but the Mister took the welcome mat as proof that it was ok, simply knocked and walked on in. He’s a southern boy, so I guess that’s normal. I’m from Los Angeles, and don’t want to get shot, so I would never have done that.

Vintage Sign: Roadrunner Drive-In

Nearby was an awesome vintage sign, so of course I jumped out and snapped a photo.

And then, of course, we were off again! I loved these Route 66 signs painted on the road. 

You can see the Highway next to Route 66 in this photo.

Midpoint Cafe

And then we hit the halfway point of the trip and stopped at the aptly named Midpoint Cafe.

We split some apple pie and had a couple of cokes before heading next door to the Sunflower Station to meet the owner, Fran and her adorable dog, Brody. Fran used to be the owner of the Midpoint Cafe and she is the inspiration for the character Flo in the movie Cars. We wrote on her truck, took some photos of everything (including some older motels and signs), and then we hit the road again.

Sunflower Station

Russell’s Travel Center

If you like cars, stop into Russell’s Travel Center and check out the free Car Museum.

Along Route 66 we drove by several dozen gas stations and stores that have seen better days. I didn’t photograph them all, but I did photograph a few groups.

Tucumcari

Our stop for the night was Tucumcari, but we got into town early so I could photograph all the awesome motel signs.

We started in the deserted downtown area. Tucumcari could be such an awesome, wonderful place. It reminded me of Marfa, Texas, but minus the art, the food trucks, the foodies, etc. But the place is just deserted. There was an ice cream shop as we came into town called Ken’s Ice Cream and the Mister was really excited to go there, but no, the place is CLOSED. He couldn’t believe the ice cream shop had gone out of business. But then again, so did the Donut Shop! What kind of town doesn’t have an ice cream or donut shop? What do these people eat for dessert?

Here’s the deserted downtown area:

Blue Swallow Motel

And then we checked into our room at the Blue Swallow Motel, one of the crown jewel motels of Route 66.

The Mister was then nice enough to drive me up and down Route 66 so I could photograph every single awesome motel/vintage sign. We then walked to a couple once the neons came on so I could photograph them AGAIN!! I know, I have a sickness. I was going to post them here, but it is an OBSCENE amount, so I will give them their own separate post, Route 66 Road Trip: Tucumcari.

We were planning to do dinner at La Cita, but the owner of the Blue Swallow told us to go to the Pow Wow Lounge, which is owned by the same owners as La Cita. The food was awesome.

Update: Pow Wow Lounge has closed, so go to La Cita.

 Stay: The Blue Swallow, 815 E Tucumcari Blvd, Tucumcari, NM 88401, (575) 461-9849

Planning your own Route 66 Road Trip? I used the Route 66: EZ66 Guide for Travelers to plan our trip and I highly, highly, highly (I truly cannot emphasize it enough) recommend the book/maps if you’re planning to drive most of Route 66 turn-by-turn – meaning all of the historic route, no modern-day highways.

Follow along on the rest of our Route 66 Road Trip with my day by day guide:

Day 1: Chicago, IL to Springfield, IL

Day 2: Springfield, IL to St. Louis, MO

Day 3: St Louis, MO to Lebanon, MO

Day 4: Lebanon, MO to Carthage, MO

Day 5: Carthage, MO, to Oklahoma City, OK

Day 6: Oklahoma City, OK, to Shamrock, TX

Day 7: Shamrock, TX to Amarillo, TX

Day 8: Amarillo, TX to Tucumcari, NM

Day 8: I gave Tucumcari it’s own post because I was in neon sign heaven!

Day 9: Tucumcari, NM to Santa Fe, NM

Day 10: Santa Fe, NM to Albuquerque, NM

Day 11: Albuquerque, NM to Gallup, NM

Day 12: Gallup, NM to Holbrook, AZ

Day 13: Holbrook, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ

Day 14: Flagstaff, AZ to Kingman, AZ

Day 15: Kingman, AZ to Rialto, CA

Day 16: Rialto, CA to Pasadena, CA

Day 17: Pasadena, CA to Santa Monica, CA

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Land Acknowledgement

Salty Canary wants to acknowledge that we live, operate, gather, and benefit every day on the traditional stolen lands of several Indigenous peoples and nations including the Tongva (Gabrieleno), Kizh (Gabrieleno), Chumash, Popeloutchom (Amah Mutsun), Ohlone, Awaswas, and Fernandeño Tataviam peoples who have stewarded the lands and waterways throughout their many generations in what is now the state of California.

I wanted to personally acknowledge these Indigenous people and nations and both their commitment and current contributions to the land with a donation to the American Indian College Fund because acknowledgment without action does not begin to address the systemic issues facing Indigenous people. If you feel as though you benefit from the land you’re living on or traveling to and you have the means, I kindly ask that you donate at least $1 to a Native-led organization such as the Native American Rights Fund or the American Indian College Fund. 

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