Day 3 Summer Vacation 2008

Today is Day 3, Wednesday July 09 2008. We are up at the crack of dawn, had a quick breakfast and got underway. Today I am going to try to drive 1000 km and get us as far as Tucumcari New Mexico. I think it is doable because we are gradually leaving the urban sprawl behind us and driving through more open land. The posted speed limits on the Interstate is 75 mph, so I think I can safely drive 80 mph and not attract any attention. Thank goodness for cruise control.

Here is the map of our route today. Just over 1000 KM. You can click the map to enlarge it.



We pulled into the Travelodge in Tucumcari around 5pm. Not one of the nicer hotels that we have ever stayed in, but it will do, and the price was right $37.58 for the night.

Tucumcari NM is a popular Route 66 town, and although we have not officially begun our road trip on Route 66, this night gave us a taste of what the Route has to offer. We are actually going to begin Route 66 in about 3 weeks, but since we are here, we checked out some of what Tucumcari has to offer.

We dined at "Del's" the popular Route 66 diner. You can see our Travelodge in the background.




Then we went for a drive through town, looking for the famous Blue Swallow Motel. When I think of all the motels along Route 66, this is probably the most famous one. We parked the car and took photos infront of this Route 66 Icon Motel, then we bought some road souvenirs, hats, tee-shirts etc.




After checking out the Blue Swallow, we drove around looking for the Route 66 Monument






By now it was starting to get dark, so as we were driving back to the Travelodge, we were able to view and photo some of the great neon that Route 66 and Tucumcari are famous for.










Here is a short video clip of the Blue Swallow Neon





If you wish to see all my photos and videos from today, you can click through to my Flickr Site using this link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21055823@N07/sets/72157606389340091/