2023 Road Trip: Route 66: New Mexico II (5/15/2023)

Monday, May 15, 2023

Before leaving Albuquerque:

Madonna of the Trail (1928, by
August Leimbach) is one of 12 that
were placed along the Old Trails Road,
which Route 66 followed 1926-1937

KiMo Theatre (1927, by Carl Boller in a blend of
art Deco and adobe-style Pueblo Revival styles)

Old Town Square in Albuquerque (1706) with gazebo
and a couple replica Confederate cannons that represent
the story of the 1862 westernmost battle of the Civil War
at Glorietta Pass, where the retreating Confederate troops
buried the cannons, then came back later to dig them up
to display them nearby in Old Town Square

The Cottonwood Madonna (1970, by a
parishioner of San Felipe de Neri Church)
depicts the Virgin of Guadalupe, carved
in the trunk of a dead cottonwood tree
(a Roadside America attraction)

The Virgin de Guadalupe is quite nicely done

San Felipe de Neri/St Philip of Neri Church
(est 1706, building 1793 in traditional
adobe Spanish Colonial style)

The buildings around the square were also
in traditional adobe style; note the strings
of dried peppers on the upper walls, and
the painting of the Eagle Dance Kachina,
one of the spirit beings of the Pueblo people

Yucca elata/Soaptree Yucca in bloom

After visiting the Petroglyph National Monument:

Route 66 Rio Puerco Bridge (1933) is a single span
Parker through-truss bridge

The 66 Pit Stop (1937) home of the Laguna Burger

Interior of the 66 Pit Stop

Just before 10:30, we had an iconic New Mexico
breakfast burrito, made with green chiles

Then just after 10:30, we were able to order the
Laguna Burger, a green chile cheeseburger

Cumulus clouds over New Mexico as we leave Albuquerque

Budville Trading Company and Gas Station (1928)
in Casa Blanca, NM; the story is that the owner took
advantage of travelers and then was murdered ...

Route 66 Neon Drive-through Sign
(2016) celebrates Grants, NM as
New Mexico's "Land of Fire and Ice"
(a Roadside America attraction)

Of course, we had to drive through the "sign"

El Malpais National Monument (1987) Visitor Center
includes part of the Zuni-Bandera volcanic field

The volcanic field covers a large basin near Grants, NM,
and has sinks or sinkholes, such as the one pictured,
where the "roof" over a hollow lava tube has collapsed

The El Calderon Trail does not show
 that we are on a volcanic field

One of the Double Sinks, to the east

The other of the Double Sinks

We walked around the eastern sink to view the lava tube
between the Double Sinks, but you cannot see both sinks;
the dirt path above is the "bridge" between the sinks

Astragalus lotiflorus/Low Milkvetch (KSS)

Tamiko and Kent stand over Junction Cave,
where two lava tubes met

Next: Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano.