Albuquerque

Our first stop was at the Wheels Museum.

This is a huge museum housed in the former steam locomotive repair shop.

The collections include several large model train layouts as well as

cars, train memorabilia and assorted 'antiques'.

From there we traveled downtown for a photo op

where Route 66 intersects with Route 66.

It is the "Crossroads of Route 66".

The intersection is the pre-1937 alignment and the post '37 alignment.

While downtown we had a tour of the KiMo theater.

This is another amazing cultural hub from the late 1920's.

The interior is stunning! 

We saw another building near the theater.

It used to be a souvenir shop.

The original owner had these amazing paintings done to advertise the fine Indian items for sale in the shop.

A later owner painted over the murals.

A new owner is restoring the original art and plans to open an art shop.

By far my favorite building that I saw in Albuquerque was

"The Residences at Anasazi"

I applaud the architect who designed a modern building that

looks so much like its pueblo ancestors. 

We also visited the old town section of Albuquerque with many fun, shopping opportunities.

 

Santa Fe

We had a beautiful day in Santa Fe. 

We made a quick stop at the Cathedral of St Francis of Assisi. 

It was awe inspiring to see "La Conquistadora", also known as Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Peace or Our Lady of Conquering Love. This 30" statue was carved in Spain around 1625. 

She is considered to be the oldest carving of the Virgin Mary in the US.

We also stepped into the Loretto Chapel to see the miraculous staircase. This stair case was built by a wandering carpenter using no metal, no central post, no nails and no visible means of support. 

Originally there were no rails, but the nuns did not care for going up and down the stairs, so they were added.

We visited a few museums, and learned a lot about the impact of the Mexicans
and Spanish on the pueblo culture of this area. However, my favorite stop was at the Georgia O'Keefe museum.  Our group was allowed into the museum/gallery an hour before they opened. We had a tour guide who took us through Georgia's life and the evolution of her art. It was fascinating. 

My journal entry:

The RV park where we stayed had its own brand of art. Throughout the property one could find different sorts of metal sculptures by the artist Joe Forrest Sackett. 

Here are a few that I saw:

(Vickie seems puzzled as to why this might be considered 'art'!)

 

Approaching Santa Fe

We spent an evening in Tucumcari, NM

One of the Rt 66 sites to see in Tucumcari was the Blue Swallow Motel,

which has been serving travelers along Rt 66 since 1939.

The rooms have always had "conditioned air",

and have been carefully restored with chenille bedspreads and real, honest to

goodness dial phones...complete with a dial tone! 

The motel rooms had garages. 

But, the garages can not accommodate our more modern cars.

The motel still has rooms for overnight stays, and has also created some suites for longterm residence.

After leaving Tucumcari we traveled on and stopped at the Pecos Pueblo.

The Pueblo was occupied between 1350 and 1838,

and at one point had over 2,000 residents.

The Pecos Pueblo was an important trading location,

and was located on an easily defendable point of a mesa.

Like many southwestern Indian settlements, the Mexican and Spanish made attempts 

to take over the pueblo and to convert the Indians.

It was a beautiful day to take a stroll, 

and even the dogs has a nice time exploring the ancient ruins. 

From there....we trucked on to Santa Fe. 

 

Half Way There

 

On to Texas

Conoco Station and Cafe in Shamrock, TX

Leaning Tower of Texas 

(Purposely built this way to attract attention) 

Britten, TX

Hitching the girls to a wagon in Amarillo.

Just look at Vickie's eyes!

She is not happy at all!

The Big Texan

Built from concrete in 1959

Palo Duro Canyon

The Cadillac Ranch....my contribution to the layers of paint on the sunken cars

Our Tour Leaders 

Then, on to the Quarter Horse Hall of Fame

Imagine my surprise at finding a painting of the grandfather of a horse I owned! 

Two Eyed Jack, grandpa of Two Eyed Tamet (Gambit)

Click on the link to see pictures of my horse, Gambit, 

....and me 

....from way back when! 

 

...and the Rest of Oklahoma

The lands we traveled through in SW Missouri, the SE corner of Kansas and the NE corner of Oklahoma had originally benefitted from the mining of lead, zinc and other metals. 

As we moved toward central Oklahoma the land changed, and we were in oil country.

This oil well was at the campground where we stayed in Oklahoma City. 

From this point forward on our travels along Rt 66 we would see many wells. 

We visited the National Cowboy Museum and the Western Heritage Museum

There were great displays telling the story of cowboys.

Later we went on a canal ride in the Bricktown area of the city. 

The city was revitalized in 1993 by MAPS

(Metropolitan Area Projects)

Bricktown had formerly been an abandoned area of warehouses.

The MAPS program brought it back to life by creating a canal and

encouraging the development of an entertainment and dining district.

Along the canal we saw several murals. 

This was made by college students out of thousands and thousands of mosaic stones. 

May favorite were the bronze statues depicting the land run in 1889.

The US Government opened up two million acres of land and whoever got to it first,

 could place their flag to claim 160 acres of land, which would be theirs for free if 

they lived on it for a year, making improvements. 

The statues portray the desperation folks felt in acquiring land.

And this is a "Sooner".

Some folks jumped the gun and illegally claimed land before the race began.

Thus, the derivation of the term, "Oklahoma Sooner"!

And then...

the "Rain Train" came.

We had pouring rain, thunder, and high winds for almost two days. 

Oklahoma City had a total of 5 inches of rain!

Despite the rain, it was time to move on along Rt 66.

We stopped at yet another Rt 66 museum in Clinton, OK.

Although I didn't take pictures of any of the cars or Rt 66 memorabilia,

I did find this:

We have seen many of the places and thing that are on depicted on the quilt. 

We spent a night in Elk City, OK. 

They have a museum complex with several vintage buildings

holding lots of vintage stuff.

One of the museums had this one-of-a-kind chair made from spinning wheel pieces. 

When we travel we always discover some sort of surprise. 

On this leg of our trip the surprise was that we were parked for the night at the 

Elk City Visitors and Convention Bureau....

and the Western Oklahoma Quilt Guild was having their 

annual retreat! 

I can't tell you how tempted I was.

I figured the Mister could go on to our next stop - only a few hours away,

and after a day of sewing I could hop in our tow vehicle and join him!

I decided I best not...especially since it was still raining!

So we drove on through Elk City discovering this historic drilling rig.

The city had this 1960's rig reassembled and erected it along Rt 66 and I-40

to attract tourists to their town.

This also speaks to Oklahoma's oil industry.

Oklahoma is in our rear-view mirror....

on to Texas!

 

Oklahoma City Memorial

 

On a silent field where the building stood

Stand one hundred sixty-eight chairs.

One for each adult who was in the building that day,

One for each child. Their lives stopped there. 

The gates of time mark the minute and hour

When the bomb detonated, releasing such power.

The western gate displays the time of 9:03

The time of innocence lost in this Oklahoma city.

A time when folks came forward from everywhere,

To help those who were hurt and to lend a prayer.

To help the world move forward, such a positive sign. 

We remember each life lost when each chair shines. 

My visit to the memorial and to the museum in Oklahoma City touched my heart. Of course I clearly remember the images of the bombing that inundated the news on April 19, 1995. I remember hearing the stories. Those images were practically burned into my retina, and one can't forget such horror. I appreciated learning the story behind the memorial; about how hundreds of Oklahoman's came together to create a beautiful meaningful memorial from their collective vision.