Route 66 Exhibit

On Saturday Ron and I again ventured out, this time to the Albuquerque Museum in the Old Town area where the Museum has a special exhibit marking the 90th Anniversary of the fabled Route 66. The exhibit was entitled “Route 66: Radiance, Rust and Revival on the Mother Road” and celebrates the art, history and pop culture surrounding the Route.

I was especially interested because in July 1952 as a child of 8, my parents, brother (5), and I traveled Route 66 from Los Angeles to Amarillo while traveling to New Jersey to our new home.  We traveled in a two door new Buick with a small low sided trailer behind with all our must have treasures for when we arrived before our moving truck.  My brother and I shared the back seat but squabbled all the way over one or the other of us being on the others side.  The front of our car sported a canvas bag filled with water in case the radiator dried up in the very hot, dry weather and a window air conditioner in the front passenger window to keep my mother (pregnant with my soon to be youngest brother) cool as we traveled across the country.  I have memories of Native Americans with tables along the highway through Arizona and New Mexico and traveling part of the trip through the desert after dark when it might be cooler.  I’m not sure how much cooler it was.  We made many stops along the way at local service stations where a uniformed attendant filled our tank, washed our windows and checked our tires, oil and water while we used the rest rooms and perhaps partook of a coke from the ever present coke cooler out in the front with the attached bottle opener for our glass bottle.   No pop tops in those days.  We also stopped along the way and ate our lunches including big slices of watermelon and then had contests to see how far we could spit the seeds.  Such fun!  We left Route 66 in Amarillo to travel to Galveston to visit friends of my parents before heading further east and north to New Jersey.  Why would you want to be in Galveston in July?  It’s hot and very muggy there. 

It is worth noting that Route 66 was established in 1926, was 2,338 miles long, crossed eight states and three time zones.  It was the pathway for migrant workers, postwar veterans, tourists, hippies and nostalgia junkies and was the first of its kind.   Its popularity swelled in the 1950’s. In 1985 the government decommissioned the road and it officially ceased to exist. 

Route 66 wound across 380 miles of New Mexico through Tucumcari, Albuquerque, Gallup and the Navajo Reservation.  Today, Albuquerque still boasts 16 miles of the Mother Road, the longest single-city urban stretch of the highway in the U.S.  It is also the only spot where the highway crosses itself with a north south axis stretching from Santa Fe to Los Lunas and then back east west to Gallup and the Navajo Reservation.

The exhibit was filled with a great deal of information about the road through New Mexico and Albuquerque but we felt lacked pictures which we had hoped to see.  There were, however, old neon signs, tourist souvenirs and vintage highway signs.  In addition, there were many paintings from famous artists such as Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock and others.  You could also step into a booth and record your own memories of the Route.  An interesting exhibit and a fun outing.

A quote from John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath sums up the significance of Route 66.  “66 is the path of people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert’s slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness is there, from all of these the people are in flight and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads.  66 is the mother road, the road of flight.”

Spending the Day in Northern New Mexico

Friday Ron and I drove to Santa Fe to pick up our friends Bob and Trish who are  spending the month in Santa Fe.  We had seen them back in March when they were staying in TorC and it was nice to once again enjoy their company and show them another famous site in NM.

We drove from Santa Fe to the little town of Chimayo where an old Catholic Church (Sanctuario de Chimayo) is located.  Chimayo is nestled in a fertile valley of the Sangre de Cristo foothills of northern New Mexico.  The church is a National Historic Landmark and is famous for the story of its founding and a contemporary pilgrimage site where hundreds of pilgrims come each year on Good Friday.  "It has been called the most important Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States."

The Sanctuario "  is entered through a walled courtyard. Built of adobe with a bell tower on each side, the church is 60 feet  long and 24 feet  wide with walls more than 3 feet thick.  Pointed caps on the towers and a metal pitched roof  were added after 1917, probably in the 1920s. The "elegant" doors were carved by the 19th-century carpenter Pedro Domínguez. An unusual feature is two side-by-side rooms at the entrance forming a vestibule once used for storage.  A small room called el pocito^] (the little well) contains a round pit, the source of "holy dirt" that is believed to have healing powers. An adjacent Prayer Room displays many photographs, discarded crutches, and other testimonials of those purportedly healed."

The property includes several gathering places with shrines and other interesting sites.  

Sculpture in the Garden

Near the church are gift shops and restaurants as well as a lovely flowing creek.  In winter, this area has quite a bit of snow which makes for some beautiful pictures of the church and the surrounding area.  



Down the road from the church is an old home called Rancho de Chimayo which is now and has been a Mexican restaurant for 50 years.  The restaurant is famous for its signature dishes of spicy guacamole, rolled tamales, blue corn enchiladas, chili rellenos and carne adovada (marinated pork in red chili and seasonings). The home was originally built by Hermeneglido and Trinidad Jaramillo and today preserves the rich tradition of the family and the local culture.  Fireplaces throughout radiate warmth in the winter and the white washed adobe walls are adorned with old framed family portraits.    

We chose to eat on the terraced patio located to the back and above the house.  Our table was shaded by a large umbrella and there was a  gentle breeze blowing as we enjoyed our lunch and prickly pear lemonade.  The lemonade was the shade of purple and the glass adorned with a slice of orange and a stick with a colorful flower.   What a delicious and different treat.  

After lunch we stopped near by at Ortega's Weaving Shop which has been in the same family for 8 generations.  They have some lovely rugs, coasters, vests, purses, etc. all of which are made on sight or at the local homes of  employees.  The style is very  unique and there are lots of colors and designs to choose from.  Trish, who is a weaver herself, enjoyed visiting the weaving room.  Unfortunately, there was no one weaving at the time.


On our return to Santa Fe, we stopped in the town of Tesuque where the Shidoni Foundry and Gallery is located.  This Gallery Is located on 8 acres of sculpture gardens along the Rio Tesuque which was once an apple orchard.  The Gallery includes the work of 140 artists from throughout the country.  Large and smaller expensive bronze sculptures may be found in both the  gift shop or on the large grassy lots adjoining the building.  Sculptures include everything from animals to people to the abstract.  Beautiful.  One can visit and watch the Foundry in action on certain days.

All in all a great day with our RV friends.  We hope to see them again on down the road.  

A Trip to Tinkertown

Only one and a half more weeks of radiation therapy and I am done with my cancer treatments. Looking forward to getting out of Albuquerque and heading northwest for the summer in Idaho and Montana before heading to Rapid City for a 55 year class reunion for Ron over Labor Day Week. Can’t believe it has been that long since both of us graduated. Where did the years go.

This past Saturday, we finally got to make our trip to the Tinkertown Museum located in Cedar Crest which is on the east side of the Sandia Mountains which overlook Albuquerque. I had brought my children here many years ago and have wanted to return for some time.

The late Ross Ward started carving miniature wood figures when in junior high continuing this into adulthood. He was captivated by the tiny villages, farms and circuses created by the “spare time carvers.” His first carvings in 1962 were figures for the turn of the century general store which still resides in the museum. In the 1960’s and 70’s, Ward’s figures were originally part of a traveling exhibit going to county fairs and carnivals. In 1983 they became a permanent exhibit around a cabin in the mountains where he built winding walls with discarded bottles, rocks and cement.

Guess Who?

Today the museum is 24 rooms of miniature displays, signs, devices and antiques which Ward incorporated into the museum. For a quarter you can have Grand Mother Esmeralda issue you a fortune promising travel and riches or listen to Otto play the accordion playing music of yesterday. The displays are so numerous that it is hard to take it all in.

 I was captivated by the display of Emmett Kelly, the clown whom I remember so well from my childhood.

I also had vivid recollections of the circus exhibit from our previous visit many years ago.

 Other exhibits include a collection of bride and groom tops for bridal cakes dating back to the 1800’s, dolls from many countries and the U.S., an old sail boat that traveled 80,000 miles over a ten year period, and an elaborate doll house which Ward had been commissioned to build for a collector. It has now been donated to the Museum as a permanent exhibit.

Outside the Museum we wandered around finding an old Medicine Wagon, a harness shop, and an old wagon.

If you are ever in the area, this is definitely a place to stop.

 We stopped at the Burger Boy on Highway 14 in Tijeras on our way home. According to a recent newspaper article, the restaurant has been around for the past 33 years and is locally owned. The article touted it as having won national recognition for the Best Burger in New Mexico. All in all a nice outing and a relaxing day.