Ultimate Road Trip - Day 5

Awaking in Amarillo we decided to get on the road and find somewhere for breakfast. The temperatures are unseasonably warm for this time of year as well Texas is suffering from a severe water shortage.

There were some fun sights as we drove.

Great breakfast at my most favourite place to stop for breakfast or lunch in the States.

All fueled up as the waitress insisted on giving us coffee to go and I also bought a box for my collection!

We almost missed the stop for the Cadillac Ranch as there are no signs and DH just happened to notice them out of the corner of his eye!

Cadillac Ranch was invented and built by a group of art-hippies imported from San Francisco. They called themselves The Ant Farm, and their silent partner was Amarillo billionaire Stanley Marsh 3. He wanted a piece of public art that would baffle the locals, and the hippies came up with a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin. Ten Caddies were driven into one of Stanley Marsh 3's fields, then half-buried, nose-down, in the dirt (supposedly at the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza). They faced west in a line, from the 1949 Club Sedan to the 1963 Sedan de Ville, their tail fins held high for all to see on the empty Texas panhandle.

Decades have passed. The Cadillacs have now been in the ground as art longer than they were on the road as cars. They are stripped to their battered frames, splattered in day-glo paint splooge, barely recognizable as automobiles.

Adrian TX The Magnolia Station was the second gas station to be built in Vega in the early 20's.

 A cute map of the area.

Adrian TX

We then crossed into New Mexico and our first stop was Tucumcari a town that contains many Route 66 signs.

It was time for lunch at Del's a fixture since 1954. It is nice to be able to get simple food like a BLT and a burrito.

After that we decided to get some miles in. New Mexico is very flat, dry and there are not many sights along the way until you get to Albuquerque.

The road around Albuquerque is through the mountains and the terrain begins to change as you climb.

We had planned to be off the road in Grants but decided to push on the extra hour to Gallup to give us a lazier day tomorrow. In fact when we checked into our hotel we realized that we had crossed into Mountain time so had gained another hour.

We checked into another Hampton Inn and asked for some recommendations for dinner. We went with the local "joynt favoured by the locals", Virgie's run by Navajo and serving Mexican and American food. Photo was taken the next morning as it was dark when we were there.