Tucumcari, New Mexico

It was a windy afternoon in Tucumcari. New Mexico tends to be a windy state, especially here in the northern half. The wind died down when we were ready to go to bed, although it came up again in the night. As I'm writing this, it's calm. We're hoping it will stay that way for our drive to Albuquerque today.

As for yesterday's drive, we were on what was formerly historic Route 66. The new interstate 40 has cut through the old route in places, but the historic road and some of the interesting places that lined it still exist. Our route out of Palo Duro Canyon took us north toward Amarillo, and then due west on Interstate 40. Just a few miles west of Amarillo, we passed by the Cadillac Ranch. We first drove past it, and then took the next exit, making a U-turn to come back and see it. It was a distance off the road in what appeared to be a harvested corn field.

Here's what Wikipedia tells us about this place:

Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, USA. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm. It consists of what were (when originally installed during 1974) either older running used or junk Cadillac automobiles, representing a number of evolutions of the car line (most notably the birth and death of the defining feature of mid twentieth century Cadillacs: the tailfins) from 1949 to 1963, half-buried nose-first in the ground, at an angle purportedly corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Here's a closer view of it. Folks were there with their spray paint cans, adding to the "art work" already present. In fact, there is so much old spray paint on the cars that hardened drips can be seen hanging from the lower portions like the beginnings of stalactites.

Once you've walked out there and seen it up close, there isn't much more to say about it. We were appalled by the amount of garbage left behind. If folks can pack it in, is it too much to ask that they pack it out again? It makes us grumpy.

It was about 75 miles to the New Mexico state line, and there you have it:

Also, we entered Mountain Time. We haven't seen Mountain Time since last September.

It was another 45 miles or so to our stop for the night. Once there, we tried not to have the doors literally blown off the truck and trailer as we exited and entered. And we didn't go out again. As we sat watching the trees bending in the wind, these fellows sauntered by.

What an unusual bird. They had a head similar to a turkey vulture, but the round body of a chicken. I tried without success to identify them.

Finally, one of my Facebook friends knew them as guinea fowl. They can be a domesticated bird, but these are probably feral.

Okay, so that was fun.

Today we're heading toward Albuquerque, where we'll spend one night. While there, we'll need to finish the laundry. I have some things I'll need to wash in the RV park laundromat, and we need to pick up some groceries. Our next three nights, starting tomorrow will be spent in a New Mexico state park, and we'll need to stock up before then. Also, just east of Albuquerque is the Route 66 Musical Road. I have directions pulled from my New Mexico folder. Once we're unhitched at the RV park, we'll head out to find it. I'll tell you all about it in tomorrow's post.