MotoZen 66

Today's the day.  I woke up in my wig wam and packed up my stuff.  Today's the last day on Route 66.  I am going to to the Santa Monica pier which will end my journey on 66.  Whether this will be the end of this entire amazing adventure or just this leg of it, I don't know yet but it will be the official end of Route 66.  

I went to the front office to check out and the owner, Kumar Patel (Indian but the other kind), asked me if I was riding the route.  I said yes.  He said to plan for four to five hours to get to the Santa Monica pier because 66 is a local road and there are tons of traffic lights.

Four to five hours seem a bit excessive but I figured the man knew what he was talking about.  So I planned to be at the pier around 2-3 pm.  

I headed west on East Foothills Blvd which is also 66.  The next town that I pass thru should be Rancho Cucamonga.  I was in need of coffee and breakfast and found a swanky place called Klatch.  I think it's a small regional chain.  

I found parking right in front of the cafe. The cafe was inside the typical California strip mall environment.  It's weird to be back in a major city again.  

The coffee and breakfast sandwich was good.  Klatch seems like a local joint since a lot of the customers know the people working behind the counter.  

The next town was Claremont.  It seems Claremont was happy to promote their history of 66 with historic street signs that made it easy to stay on the right path.   After Claremont was San Dimas, the birth place of Bill and Ted's!

I stayed on East Foothills Blvd as long as I could until it turned into  Huntington Drive and then East Colorado. I made it into Pasadena where I saw numerous fancy restaurants and the Apple Store.  Now I knew the old 66 of small towns and Americana kitsch was far behind me - days and weeks behind me.  I stayed on Colorado and crossed onto the Colorado Street bridge - a beautiful old style bridge that connected Pasadena to Los Angeles back in 1913.  It was also known as popular suicide spot with over 100 jumpers starting with with first one in 1919.  It's supposedly haunted by the spirits of the jumpers as well.

After the bridge, I was on Figueroa.  I followed Figueroa for a while and it was around here where I lost track of 66 and it was a guessing game on which road to take.  I had the GPS to take me in the general direction of the pier via Santa Monica Blvd.  

I had planned to stay with my friend Matt at his apartment at the Grove for a few days.  I first met Matt when he was my teaching assistant up at the Maine Media Workshops.  We've always hung out when I was up in Maine teaching and over the years we've grown to be good friends.  He's a fellow ride since he was a kid back in Maine.  He was kind enough to meet me at the pier to welcome me.  I called him to give him an update on my location and ETA to the pier.  I figured I still had an hour or so.  

Once I was on Santa Monica Blvd, this is the very last stretch of 66.  It was a straight shot to the pier.  Santa Monica Blvd took me thru Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and finally Santa Monica.  

When I was on the phone with Matt earlier. He reminded me that I can lane split in California.  I had completely forgotten about this and was eager to try it and also apprehensive about trying it.  When I was back in Barstow and San Bernardino, the traffic was light enough that I didn't see anyone lane split except once or twice and I though those riders were just being douchebags.  But now here in LA proper, I was seeing everyone lane splitting.  

I finally saw an opportunity to lane split.  I was at a red light stopped behind a bus and a large delivery truck.  There was enough room to get up in front of them.  I took it and when the light turned green, I cruised ahead them and left the rest of the traffic behind.  It felt great!  Finally,  some true benefits of riding a motorcycle in city traffic and gridlock!

I was about twenty miles away now.  Just passed Beverly Hills.  Traffic slowed to a crawl around here.  I was thinking of splitting again.  I could see a few cars ahead of me making quick lane changes - the kind that revs from 5 mph to 40 in an effort to move one lane over.  I had a slightly uneasy feeling, looked around, thought about splitting, traffic moving at 10mph, and then the car on my right lurches forward and left to change into my lane!  Except he doesn't know I'm right next to him.  I weave left and lay on my horn!  He screeches to a stop and continues in his lane.  I swear inside my helmet.  

I rode 5000 fucking miles to get to this point.  I am not going down twenty miles away from the pier due to some jackass.  I keep my head on a swivel double time.  

About thirty minutes later, I am on the very last mile of the Santa Monica Blvd.  I can see the beach on my right.  I see the pier.  I make a right turn onto the pier.  There is a shit ton of people here, mostly in beach gear.  Here I am on my motorcycle in my full leather.  One of these things is not like the other.  

I make a right into a parking lot.  I see my friend Matt waiting for me on a bench!  It's amazing to see him!  It's amazing that I am here.  Actually here.  After five weeks on the road and about 5000 miles.  I am at the end of 66.  I made it without any big mechanical issues, without running out of gas, without getting mugged, cheated, lied to, swindled, without almost dying, and without going down.  Wow.  I can't believe I actually and finally made it.  

I park my bike and Matt gives me a big hug (he's a hugger).  We walk over to the pier where THE SIGN is.  The sign that denotes the end of Route 66.  Never mind the fact that 66 never actually ended here but the sign is here and that's where people go to find the end.  And I'm here at the end.

I throw my crap in Matt's car and we head out to lunch.  We chat about the trip over lunch and then head back to the pier to retrieve my bike and ride to his apartment.  

On my way back to the bike, I had to stop at the booth next to the sign to buy some Santa Monica 66 swag.  I pick out a couple stickers, postcards and a magnet.  The guy at the booth asked me how I was doing.  I told him great!  I just finished the route on my motorcycle!  Turns out the guy isn't just some schmuck making minimum wage selling swag in a booth on the pier.  His name is Ian and he's the vice president of the California Route 66 Association!  

We started chatting about the trip and he asks me if I've been to certain places.  I see photos of him and his wife at many places that I've been to - Catoosa, Seligman, Oatman, Gemini Giant...

We chatted for about twenty minutes and he asks me if I wanted to buy a certificate that states that I've completed the entire 66 route.  The money goes to the national association to promote the route across all the states.  For $7, why the hell not.

After I got the bike from the parking lot, I followed Matt to his apartment in the Grove.  We got on the highway and I did some more lane splitting which helped a lot in better traffic.  We got to his place and amazingly he has a garage space for me to use.  

I have no idea how long I will be here but I am glad to be off the road and staying put for a little while.  It'll be great to hang with Matt since it's been a few years since I've last seen him.  We're having dinner with Kevin, another friend of ours from the Maine Media Workshop days.

So that's the end of my adventure on Route 66 - from Boston to Chicago to Santa Monica, on a 650 standard that most people wouldn't dream of touring on.  I got to see so many amazing sights - both man made and god made.  Got to meet and chat with so many great people along he way.  Some were just a quick little conversations in a parking lot, some were over food and a drink, and some were in little museums in little towns.  Got to spend a few days touring with my girlfriend in Arizona.  And ended this part of the journey with some great friends.  Who knows what will happen after today but it's more than good enough for now.

I woke up in Barstow and went to a local Mexican place for breakfast.  This is definitely the most Mexican food I've eaten in my entire life.  I was never a huge Mexican food fan before and I'm not sure if I am anymore after this trip, but when in the southwest...

After breakfast, I decided to go back to Newberry Springs to see the Bagdad Cafe since it was closed last night.  

The main street in Barstow was 66 but I wasn't sure if it went all the way back to Newberry Springs.  I looked on Google Maps and it appeared that it may.  So I started to follow the road east out of town.  I was leaving the Barstow limits and entering an industrial section.  I made one left turn and ended up at the check point gates of a U.S. Marine facility.  

There was a cop at the gate.  I pulled up to him and said "Hello."  He was cordial and asked me where I was going.  I explained I was following 66.  He said this is a military facility and he can't let me pass.   He also said, I had to take off my GoPro camera and put it away since I can't film military installations.

 So I had to take off my gloves, turn the bike off, open the side case and slide the GoPro off my helmet.  He also had to check my ID.  He then told me to go back on the I-40 and take the next exit to get to Newberry Springs.  I could make a U-turn past the gate but he was keeping my ID until I was on the exit side of the gate.  I swung around and he gave my ID back and gave me directions onto 40.  

So after a few miles on 40 east, I took the exit and got on a rideable stretch of 66.  It's a good thing I didn't attempt to ride into Barstow on 66 last night since I probably would've ran into the other side of the Marine base and had to be turned away back to 40.  And with me being tired and hungry last night, I probably would've been more grumpy with the cop at the gate than this morning.

It was about 15 miles on 66 from the I40 exit to the Bagdad Cafe in Newberry Springs.   I only know of the Bagdad Cafe from the movie and truth be told, I've never even seen the movie.  But I figure any sort of cafe/bar out here deserves a stop.  

There isn't much on this stretch of 66.  It's hard to believe this is in California.

About 20 minutes later, I see the cafe.  It has a weird Polynesian look to the building, at least to my eyes.

It's a full functioning cafe.  There were a few locals inside having lunch.  And a tourist couple from Belgium.  The owner asked me if I wanted something to drink.  I wasn't hungry enough to order lunch so I glanced at the menu on the board and asked if they had anything besides soda or beer.  He offered up lemonade.  It was watery but at least I bought something from them.  He said "feel free to take photos."

This place is clearly a tourist destination. 

And tourists from all over the world.

I had a chat with the couple from Belgium.  Their English was pretty decent.  They said this place is quite famous.  I asked if it was from the movie and the guy said, he has never seen the movie.  Actually, he wasn't sure why it was famous but many Europeans know the Bagdad Cafe.  They were quite surprised when I told them that most Americans have never heard of the Bagdad Cafe.  

After my watery lemonade, it was time to get back on 66 and head back to Barstow to see a few sites.  The one major 66 attraction in Barstow is the Mother Road Museum.  

It is indeed another museum dedicated to the history of 66.  But what makes this one special is the building it's in.  It's in a former Harvey House.  Imagine the old days when you stepped off the train and you walked into this building for a meal and a night's stay.

There's also a train museum around the back of the Harvey House.  I didn't go in but you can still see all the trains outside.

There's another place that I wanted to visit before leaving Barstow -Tom's Certified Welding and Machine Shop.  

While not technically a Route 66 stop, it was the next town over and while the online guide app didn't show any photos, it said it was worth a stop.  I rode a few local roads across a small bridge into a weird part of town that was a bit industrial and also residential.  The road curved around bend and after I went around the bend, I could see why Tom's was worth a stop.

If you love old signs like I do, this is a pilgrimage.  

I decided to stay overnight at another Wig Wam Motel in San Bernardino.  Even though I already had a Wig Wam experience back in Holbrook, AZ, I thought another stay may be a bit repetitive.  But then I came to my senses, staying in a concrete Wig Wam twice in my life would not be repetitive but twice the fun.  

So San Bernardino was about 95 miles away.  Not too far but there were a few stops in between so I would probably get there by sun down.  

Route 66 in CA is also known as the National Trails Highway.  So I followed the Trails Highway west about 30 miles just past Helendale to this amazing gem of a place:

Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch.

One day, Elmer Long took his dad's bottle collection from decades ago and started to make these trees from them.  Most of the trees have some sort of decoration on top.  

My favorite:

You can hear the story straight from the man himself - (not my video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYvTjbR-eBI

While the Bottle Ranch is on private property, when I arrived, the gate was opened and a sign said welcome.  I called out "Hello" a few times but got no reply.  There was some weird generator looking machine running via an extension cord that led inside the house in the back of the property (I wish I had taken a photo of that little machine).  So basically, they just open the up to the public with no admission fee.  I did find a donation box and I was happy to give them $20 to keep this place going.

The Bottle Ranch is just another amazing place to see along this wacky Route 66.  

After twenty minutes of walking around the Bottle Ranch, I hopped back on my bike and headed west to Victorville.  

Victorville was about 15 miles west of the Bottle Ranch.  It was a small non-descript town, one of those that you would pass right by and wouldn't even bother to stop.  But for me, there was another 66 museum in Victorville.  

There was an older gentleman who volunteers inside the museum and we had a few chats about his family moving to California from Oklahoma.  A real Okie migration story.  Interesting to note the other visitors were a group of three young Aussies.  

The museum wasn't very big and I didn't spend too long here.  After 30 minutes or so, I was back on the road.  

Here's where I had the most troubling staying on 66.  I left the museum and promptly lost track of 66.  I know that I wanted to take the Cajon Pass thru the mountains into San Bernardino.  So I just headed into that general direction.  Somehow I ended up on the highway via some detour that went around a mountain.  I found an exit that said 66 and somehow ended up pretty close to the Cajon Pass.  

I did have one dumb moment where made a left instead of a right and  went up a pretty steep dirt path, realized that wasn't the right way and then stopped on a 45 degree incline.  Even with my front brake squeezed tight, I was slowly sliding backwards down the dirt road.  I gently eased off the front brake and slid myself down and turned the handlebars gently so I was able to turn myself around and go down the hill forward.  

I got myself back on the right direction was voila!  The Cajon Pass.  It was around 4:30 and everyone was taking the pass towards to highway to go home and I was the only one heading into opposite direction into the mountains.  

While the Cajon Pass wasn't the highest elevation or the most scenic, it was still very beautiful and fun.  It was also very challenging due to some very tight turns on narrow residential streets at 40 mph limit.  After a few turns and curves in an residential area, I saw a horse crossing sign and though here?  Lo and behold, around the next block was a dude riding his horse on the side of the street. 

There was one straightaway at 40mph then I saw a15 mph sign up ahead with two 90 degree turns, one right and one left, within ten feet of each other.  

I think the Cajon Pass is around 20 miles.  At the end of it, I went thru some industrial looking areas on my way to the Wig Wam Motel in San Bernardino.  About fifteen miles after the Cajon, I arrived at the Wig Wam.  It was interesting to compare it with the one in Arizona.  These Wig Wams had air conditioners while the ones in Arizona had heaters.  

Wig Wams and palm trees! 

I had one more stop to make to finish the day.  I was going to have dinner at a Juan Pollo - the chicken joint.  If you remember from Amboy, the owner of the town, Albert Okura is also the owner of the Juan Pollo chain.  There was one store just seven miles away and I figured it was worth a stop to patronize a patron of Route 66.  

The alarm went off at 5:30 AM.  My girlfriend had to catch a flight back to Boston at 6:50 AM.  Instead of dropping her off at the airport on the bike, the easiest thing was to get her a cab from the hotel.  

I tried to catch a bit more sleep before packing up my stuff.  I slept for another hour or so and then got up for an oatmeal breakfast at the diner next door.

Before getting on the road, I wanted to go to a locksmith to get another set of keys made for my side case since I was now using a spare.  I went to a place the locksmith last night recommended.  It was away from the Strip, the area I only know Vegas to be.  It was strange to see another part of Vegas, away from hotels, restaurants and digital signs.  It was about 25 minutes away in a strip mall not too far from the highway.

After I got my copies made, I hopped onto 95 South to Needles, CA.  Everyone along this trip has been warning me about the desert.  And this stretch of 66 runs thru the Mojave.  I was ready - I had two 32 oz bottles of water with me and as well as a liter of fuel.  I was gonna drink one of the bottle of water by the time i got to Needles and then fill that up with gas just in case.

About an hour and fifteen minutes of 95 South, I crossed into California.  Wow! The last state of this trip.  I can't believe I made it this far.  The end of 66 is coming up.  I can feel the finish line but the task at hand is to make it thru the Mojave.  I took me about another forty minutes to get to Needles.

I pulled into a gas station in Needles to top off and to fill up that water bottle so I can have a second bottle of emergency fuel.  I also grabbed a healthy lunch at Dairy Queen - a chili dog and a small blizzard.

I had to take I-40 west for 10 miles before I can hop onto a section of 66.  It was at this point that I felt like I was really in a desert.  

My first stop on California 66 was the Goffs school in Goffs, CA.  

Goffs was a town that served as a stop for the Santa Fe Railway.  The train would stop in Goffs for maintenance work and repair.  By 1911, Goffs had grown to be a sizable community and a school was in demand.  By 1914, the Goffs school was built.  But by 1937, Route 66 was realigned and Goffs was no longer on the route and nearly disappeared from the maps.  During World War II, 10,000 soldiers were stationed in Goffs and the school was turned into a cafe to serve the troops.  But the town and the school were both abandoned again after the war.  The school did pass into private hands over the years.  It was converted into a home for these folks but it wasn't until the early 90s that a heritage association was formed and a proper restoration of the school was on the agenda.

After Goffs, my next stop was Amboy - another ghost town on 66.

So many people have warned about this stretch of 66 - about how it's in the desert and there's no gas except in Needles.  I was extremely cautious about counting the mileage since I left Needles.  I was cruising along after Goffs and about ten miles later,  I ran into this place: 

Najah's Desert Oasis on Route 66!  This odd place is indeed an oasis if you're in need of anything out here.  They have gas - $5 a gallon for the cheap stuff!  They have cold beer and drinks.  They have numerous aquariums filled with fishes.  There was a family and their toddler eating a sandwich inside.  I felt like I was in a Wes Anderson movie.  I decided to top off my tank despite the price gouging.  I pulled up to a pump and the guy in the jeep next to me asked if I knew how far the road is closed up ahead.

I had no idea what he was talking about.  He came from the west on 66 and apparently, the stretch of 66 from his direction was washed out from a series of rain storms and the route was closed.  I asked him how far from his direction was the road closed for - he said about ten miles.

I left the pump and continued down 66 and sure enough, I saw this:

Dammit.  Now I have to get on I-40 to Amboy.  About 30 miles on 40, I saw the exit to Amboy.

Amboy was a town that prospered during the heyday of 66.  Roy's Motel and Cafe, one of the few place in the area that had gas, food and lodging, was so busy during the summers from travelers that they had to hire outside help from neighboring towns.  But again, when the Interstate was built in 1973, Amboy was bypassed and eventually turned into the ghost town that exists now.

Once it became a ghost town, Amboy was marketed by its owner to be used for films, tv and commercials during the 90s.

Then the town was sold to Albert Okura, the owner of Juan Pollo, a chain of chicken restaurant in east California.  Okura is a big champion of Route 66 and he reopened Roy's as a snack bar and gift stop in 2008.  He plans to reopen Roy's as a restaurant and build a museum in the town.

I went inside Roy's and bought a cold drink and some souvenirs from the folks behind the counter.  I noticed a functioning post office and asked the guy behind the counter why there's a post office if no one lives here.  He told me that actually four people still live here.  They're all men without families.  That was the oddest and saddest thing I've heard on this whole trip.

Like Glenrio back in Texas, there's definitely an eerie feeling to this place.  But at the same time, Amboy is worlds apart from Glenrio because Amboy actually has some tourist activities.  There's a functioning post office and snack shop.  There are people here.  There wasn't even a place to buy a bottle of water in Glenrio.

In addition to being a ghost town, Amboy is also known for its crater, which is now a national landmark.

It's a two hour hike to see the actual crater impact and I just didn't have enough time to do that.  Though next time I'm in CA, I would make a day trip to come back to Amboy.  

It was getting late in the afternoon and I needed to get to Barstow for the night.  The local guy told me that Route 66 from Amboy to Newberry Springs was also closed so I had no choice but to take 40 to Barstow.

I got on 40 west and started to beat the sun, hoping to get to Barstow before dark.  About 30 miles west, I knew I was gonna have to ride in the dark.  It's pretty cool to see how much earlier the sun sets from the beginning of my trip in the northeast to now, 32 days later in California. It's pretty amazing and mind boggling when I think about it.  

I saw an exit for Historic 66 at Newberry Springs.  I thought, "What the hell?" and took the exit.  Surprising, this stretch of 66 wasn't washed out and I felt triumphant that I was able to salvage a rideable portion of 66 on this part of the route.  

Newberry Springs is clearly a town struggling to survive.  Like so many other towns living on the brink of existence in Missori, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, I saw the same sights off the road - junk cars, burned out trailers, a few homes that looked livable, a lot of homes that are in shambles, abandoned, or should be demolished.  

The road itself was a mix of smooth decent pavement to rough and bouncy.  I rode by the famous Bagdad Cafe but I could see thru the windows that the chairs were on top of the tables already.  Maybe I'll come back tomorrow.  It was close to 7 pm and the road was practically pitch black.  I still have another 30 minutes to go.  I find a gas station and decided to top off just in case.  I could continue on 66 and hope it will lead me all the way to Barstow or jump on 40 and get to my motel and be done for the night.   The GPS told me 20 minutes if I got on the highway.  I pulled out of the station and got on 40.

As I entered Barstow city limits, I can see signs for Historic 66, which was the main street.  I didn't know much about Barstow but I didn't care.  I will investigate tomorrow.  I arrived at my motel which was off the main street.  I checked in, dropped off my stuff and walked to a Mexican joint a few blocks away.  The best part about walking to dinner:

We woke up in Kingman and headed to breakfast at Mr. D'z Route 66 Diner.  I've been to at least a half dozen Route 66 diners now but I'm not quite tired of them yet.  I mean look at this:

How do you get sick of this?  I wish my local diner had this going on!

Mr. D'z was conveniently located across the street from the Powerhouse Route 66 Museum.

The Powerhouse Museum is pretty huge considering its past as a power station.  There is a visitor center and a big gift shop on the first floor and the museum is on the second floor.  Like a lot of other Route 66 museums, it tells the story of the how the route came to be and what it was like during it's heyday.  But there are some fun things at this one, like the mannequin exhibits of the okie migration and the murals of 66.

We spent an hour here and then headed back out on the road.  Just 20 miles west of Kingman on Route 66 is a stop called Cool Springs Station.  This has got to be the coolest restored gas station that is on Route 66.

Built in the mid-20s, Cool Springs served the many travelers of 66 in this desolate part of northwest Arizona with gas and food.  The rock foundation gives it's a look and feel that's mesmerizes.  The station was burned down in the mid 60s and never opened again until 2004 when a new owner bought it and decided to rebuild it.  

You can find the full history of Cool Springs Station here: http://www.coolspringsroute66.com/history.htm

We went inside for some ice cream bars and cold drinks.  They sell the usual 66 post cards and such but they also had also jewelry from local Native American artists.  We chatted with the manager, a big burly guy, sarcastic but friendly.  

The scenery here is unreal.  There is literally nothing around here except for Cool Springs.

Cool Springs Station could easily be the highlight of the day but the cool thing with Route 66 is there's always more to see around the corner.  And our next stop in Oatman, AZ is even better then Cool Springs.

The road to Oatman is easily another highlight on Arizona 66, if not the entire route.  Batman is only about 9 miles from Cool Springs but it's 9 miles and about 130 turns - not exaggerating.  It's a slow narrow road that climbs up the Black Mountain about 2000 feet with a series of hairpin turns on the edge of the mountain with hardly any guard rails.

http://goo.gl/maps/AeXAn

Not my photo but you get the idea:

It was a crazy road but tons of fun.  Highly recommend if you don't mind the potential danger of falling off the side of the mountain.  After some sweating and some low speed maneuvering, we arrived in Oatman.

Oatman is a former gold mining town dating back to 1863.  It continued to mine gold until the 1940s.  At its peak, Oatman had about 3500 people living there.  When the mining was shut down, Oatman was able to survive because Route 66 ran right through the town, a stop between Kingman and Needles, CA.  But when Oatman was bypassed by the new Interstate in 1953, the town was all but abandoned by the 60s.

Amazingly, Oatman has been able to revitalize itself from the rediscovery of Route 66.  

If you go to Oatman now, you'll see shops selling 66 souvenirs, jewelry, artwork and a few restaurants as well.   You'll  also see a western gun fight show a few times a day.  But there's one main reason why people go to Oatman - Wild Burros!

The burros were used to haul equipment and supplies when the mines were operating.  But when the mining ceased, the miners left the burros to fend for themselves.  Well, the burros survived and even reproduced.  So now, packs of wild burros roam the town freely looking to be fed by the tourists.  You can buy bags of burro food, which are hay cubes, from any of the stores in town.  These burros are not shy!  They will follow people with food and several times I even saw them rip people's bags open with their teeth to search for food.  

These burros are definitely wild animals.  They fight and bite each other over food.  They can stampede up and down the town.  And during mating season, the males will fight each other right in the middle of town.  They've also been known to kick and bite tourists as well.

They didn't seem to have any issues with us.  Overall, they're pretty cute and fun to be around.

Besides the burros, Oatman is also known for the Oatman Hotel.

The Oatman Hotel was once a favorite stop for Clark Gable.  So much so that he had his honeymoon here with Carole Lombard.  The hotel is also known to be haunted.  People have heard voices from the room where Gable and Lombard stayed.  It is also haunted by "Oatie," a ghost of a Irish miner found dead in the alley behind the hotel.  People have seen and heard him in the hotel over the years.  The hotel doesn't rent rooms anymore.  The entire upstairs is currently roped off but they plan to make it a museum.  The bar is active as well as the ice cream stand in the lobby.

After a couple hours in Oatman, we had to head out to Las Vegas.  My girlfriend was flying back to Boston in the morning from Vegas.  As we were getting situated back on the bike, Nikki was putting her sweatshirt away in one of my Givi side case.  Then I heard her say, "Oh Shit."  

She had broke the key off in left side case.  That was the case that held our water, snacks, rain gear, and other important daily use stuff.  Shit, there was nothing we could do.  My only thought was to tried not to explode and then call a locksmith when we arrive in Vegas.

Vegas was over two hours aways from Oatman.  It was mostly 95 north which was pretty straight and fast.  Not a tough of cars but still had a handful of semi-trucks.  About 30 minutes in, I found a couple of Harleys ahead of me and I rode behind them for a good 45 minutes, forming an impromptu group.  Once we got into the Vegas limits, it was a nerve whacking experience navigating the Vegas spaghetti highway system while surround by tons of speeding cars.  

Thank God for my Google maps on my iPhone and my Sena bluetooth headset.  They both navigated us to our hotel on the strip flawlessly.  Once we got to the hotel, I was happy to get off the bike and just walk around.  We had dinner at an Irish pub at New York, New York.  After dinner, I called a mobile locksmith and he said he could extract the broken key for $75.  I thought that was pretty cheap considering the situation I was in.  I agreed.

The locksmith arrived at our hotel room about 40 minutes later.  He comes in his pickup truck and starts to extract the key.  I stood outside with him in the parking lock as he worked.  I saw him use a series of little skinny picks and something that looks like a long skinny drill bit.  He seemed like a real pro but I got a bit nervous as his first ten attempts at the extraction didn't work.  I was really nervous about 30 minutes later and he was still having trouble.  By this point, he was using three different extraction tools in the lock at the same time.  Something was holding onto the broken end.  

$75, 45 minutes, three extraction tools, a vice grip and a set of needle nose pliers later, the locksmith finally got the broken key out.  Thankfully, I had a spare key with me.  We opened the case with the spare key and found my girlfriend's hoodie all jammed up in the lock mechanism.  I was annoyed with the situation but glad he got the case open and it was useable again.  

I climbed into bed to get some sleep since we had to get up at 5:30 for her flight.  Oh well, another unforgettable day and night on this amazing adventure.

We spent all day yesterday at the Grand Canyon and today we're leaving the park and heading south to pick up 66 and continue west thru the rest of Arizona.

We head south on AZ-180 south as that was the only road out of the Canyon.  Thirty miles late, 180 splits east and continued to 64 south which meets up with I-40 west.  There is really no drivable 66 in this part of Arizona.  It isn't until we reach Seligman where Route 66 is still alive and well.  

Seligman is an important point on Route 66.  It was once a thriving town but when the I-40 was built, it bypassed Seligman - the typical story of many towns on 66.  By the late 80s when 66 was officially decommissioned, things were really bad in Seligman.  That's when Angel Delgadillo, born and raised in Seligman, decided to do something about it.  

A barber by trade, Angel founded the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona as a way to bring life back into his town.  This eventually led to a Route 66 association created in the other seven states on the route.Angel has been called the Father of the Mother Road for his efforts in keeping 66 alive.  

I was pretty excited to see Seligman.  It's like the Mecca of Route 66.  We were hungry so we stopped at the Snowcap.  This diner was built by Juan, Angel's brother.  

They serve the typical burgers, hot dogs, and shakes.  But they're also known for serving jokes on their customers - squirting fake ketchups, rubber spiders, hokey stuff but funny nonetheless.

All around the Snowcap were old vintage signs, cars and other visual jokes.

Next door to the Snowcap is Angel's old barbershop is which now a gift shop and a small museum.  You can still see Angel's old barber station.

The rest of downtown Seligman is only about three or four blocks long.  There are a handful of gifts shops here and a few motels.  Not much really but they're still surviving.  We talked around for about 40 minutes and then headed back to my bike.  As we were crossing the street, a tour bus roars down the street and parks on the side of the road next to the Angel's barbershop.  

A lot of Europeans disembark from the bus and the downtown population just doubled.  One of them started to film me and Nikki putting on our gear  on her video camera- no doubt they were excited to see real Americans on an old motorcycle riding route 66!  Or they were just tired of filming the same old Route 66 signs.

After our filming session with the Europeans, we continued west on 66 to Hackberry.  Sixty miles away, Hackberry is another highlight on Arizona 66.  On paper, it's another old restored gas station that sells souvenirs but you have to see it in person to appreciate the location of this place and what's there.

After Hackberry, it was a 30 mile ride to Kingman, our last stop for the day.  It's a great ride out here on 66 - small road, not too much traffic, the amazing Arizona scenery, and trains roaring by - the iconic Santa Fe Express.  It's an amazing sight to see a train of this length roll thru a landscape of desert and mountains.

We made the right choice to stay inside the park.  We woke up, walked to breakfast and then walked to the "central station" of the South Rim where you can catch the buses.  It's pretty amazing - the buses are free and run every ten minutes.  They take you to numerous outlook points around the rim of the canyon or you can walk if you'd prefer.  

It made getting around the canyon so easy and by staying inside the park, we can stay out late to watch sundown without having to worry about riding back to our hotel.

And that's basically what we did all day.  We rode the buses to different outlooks around the canyon and took a lot of photos.  We stayed until sunset and took photos of that.  The canyon is indeed very grand.  And it's amazing to be able to stand on the edge of it and see and feel the breadth of this place.  

And then it was sunset.  There were so many people hanging out, setting up their tripods to take photos of the sunset.

I had a chance to sleep in this morning because I didn't have to pick up my girlfriend from the Phoenix airport until 11am.  But my body is so adjusted to the road schedule that I woke up at 7 am anyways.  I rolled around in bed for a while and got up and checked email and such.  It was nice to take it easy in the morning for a change.

I got some free continental breakfast from the motel and eventually packed up my bike and headed to the airport.  I had to park the bike in the garage and go inside the terminal to wait for the flight to come in.

I pulled into the garage and pressed the button at the automatic gate to get a ticket.  But the button didn't work.  I pressed it a few times and the gate didn't go up.  Then I saw a sticker that said "pay with credit card and don't need to take a ticket."  So I fished out a credit card from my waller and stuck it in the slot.  The card reader didn't suck in the card like it usually does, so I pushed it in all the way - nothing.  

So now what?  I pressed a button that I think is an intercom button but nothing happened.  I looked around for an attendant but didn't see anything.  Good thing there were no cars behind me.  I figured even if I don't park here, I need to get my credit card back.  I turned off the bike, put the kickstand down and opened my side case to get my multi-tool.  I was gonna get the pliers from the multi-tool to pull out the card.  Just as I was about to flip out the pliers, I see an parking attendant walking towards me. 

He said that I had to back the bike up about four feet to hit a sensor before the gate would activate.  So I pushed my bike back and behold - the credit card reader spat out my card and the gate opened.  So that's the reason why a lot of parking garages don't allow motorcycles.

I went inside the terminal and about 40 minutes later my girlfriend came out of the gate with her helmet in hand.  We decided to eat at the airport before we hit the road.  After lunch, we still had to pack her stuff into my bag inside the garage. 

We finally got on the road about two hours later.  

I decide to take I-17 up north to Flagstaff for the sake of time.  She was nervous about the interstate but the scenery was so foreign for her that it took her mind off the numerous cars around us.  Once we got outside the city limits, we saw mountains and cactuses.  We're not in New England anymore.  

We stopped a few times so she can stretch her legs.  I guess I was used to the time in the saddle by now.  We had a longer stop in Flagstaff.  The cool thing about going thru Flagstaff was that she got to finally see a stretch of 66.  We had a pee break at a Walmart and filled up the tank before the final stretch up to the Grand Canyon.

We took AZ-180 up to the Canyon.  By now, I was resigned to the fact that we were gonna have to ride in the dark into the Canyon.  We decided to splurge and rent two nights of lodging inside the park.  This way, we don't have to ride in and out of the park and we can just walk the rim and take their free buses.  But that means we have a longer trip to go inside the park that night.  

As we climbed up to the park, we can feel the temperature drop.  After 30 minutes, I had to pull over and switch over to my cold gloves.  I'm so glad I brought these with me because there's been about six or seven times that I had to use them.  

After another 30 minutes, we reached a gas station and I had to pull in to get a hot drink.  I got some crappy hot chocolate from a machine but the sensation of a warm beverage felt so good!  It warmed me up enough that I could keep going.  

Another 20 minutes or so we entered the village of Tusayan.  There are hotels, restaurants, and liquor stores here.  We rode past a steak house and we both wished that we had booked a room here just so we can stop and eat.  But we marched on.  

Flagstaff has a pretty cool historic downtown that Route 66 runs thru and the town has embraced the route wholeheartedly.

Another day in the Southwest and another southwest breakfast at MartAnne's Cafe.

I had a few hours to explore Flagstaff before I have to head to Phoenix.  There are a few notable 66 stops in here - the most famous one is probably the Hotel Monte Vista.

Built in 1927, the Hotel Monte Vista housed many famous people of the past like John Wayne, Spencer Tracey, Humphrey Bogart, and Clark Gable.  It is also currently known to be very haunted by multiple ghosts. 

Here's another building that caught my eye:

They also have a mini giant outside this restaurant.  

  I walked around downtown and went into a few shops but before I knew it, it was time to head south to Phoenix.  Now those of you that looked at Route 66 know that Phoenix is not on 66.  The reason I'm going to Phoenix is that my girlfriend is going to join me for a few days and the cheapest airport for her to fly into is Phoenix.  So I'm gonna get down south, pick her up and then head north to the Grand Canyon.  We're going to stay inside the canyon park for two nights and then head west and pick up 66 again in Seligman, AZ.  Then we'll going to Kingman and Oatman and then drop her off in Las Vegas where she'll fly back to Boston.  I will then head south and pick up 66 again in Needles, CA and then continue west and finish in Santa Monica.

I decided to skip the interstate south and instead take AZ-3 and 87 south through the Tonto National Forest.  This would also be a preview of a road that we may take back north on our way to the Grand Canyon.

Getting out of town was easy enough and the first 50 miles or so was nice gentle single or double lane roads thru wooded areas and eventually I would see the edge of Mormon Lake.  All very beautiful roads.  The weather dipped a bit and it got a bit chilly so I pulled over on the shoulder and put on my hoodie.  

About 50 miles south of Mormon Lake, I pulled over into this little town of Pine to document this particular moment:

I first got this bike in February 2013 with about 9500 miles.  Now I've reached 20,000 miles and while being in Arizona no less.  Amazing! 

After Pine, I entered the town of Payson.  As I rolled thru town, I felt rain drops, then a drizzle.  I thought about pulling into a parking lot to put on my rain gear.  Then I realized I just past the last gas station and I was already outside of town with nowhere to pull over.  It was now officially raining.  The road started to climb up a mountain.  It was at this point that I realized that I may be a little fucked.

As I kept riding, the rain kept pouring.  My leather jacket held up and keep the rain out for a good ten minutes or so and then I felt dampness under my jacket.  The same with my leather pants.  

Once I was up on the mountain, there was no where to stop or pull over.  I had to keep going.  The rain was coming down enough that cars was slowing down.  Maybe the fact that we were climbing up and then cruising down a mountain had something to do with it.  And maybe the fact there was a motorcycle crazy enough to be next to them also made them slow down a bit.

It rained maybe for 20-30 minutes.  And then it stopped.  And then there was sun.  Instead of being wet, the sun and the wind are now air drying me as I zipped up and down the roads.  

My girlfriend doesn't like taking the interstate so that's why I'm scoping out this AZ-87, plus it should be pretty because it runs through the Tonto Forest.  Well, apparently my New England definition of a forest is quite a bit different from the Arizona definition of a forest.  There were probably trees on this road but I didn't see them because I had my eyes wide opened on this crazy road that was taking me up to ridiculous elevation at 75mph and then back down.  It was seriously like roller coaster on the bike.  The whole time I'm trying not to look over the edge of the mountain.  

It was as scary as it was cool.  This is another road that I recommend on your motorcycle as long as you're not afraid of heights.  

After a good 45 miles of this, we come back down to a flat straightaway that leads into Phoenix city limits.

And this is what Phoenix looks like.  Not a bad view from the parking lot of a McDonald's.  The problem with heading west is that the sun is always in your eyes at the end of the day when you're trying to reach your motel.  Even with my internal sun shade, it was pretty hard to see things clearly.  There were a few moments where I thought of just pulling over and wait 30 minutes for the sun to get low enough that I can see where I'm going.  But I keep going and squinted my way thru.

I booked into an Econo Lodge by the airport so I can just hop over the next morning for a quick pickup.  The area seemed a little sketchy but I was deep enough in the back of the property away from the road that I felt good enough for one night.

"Have you slept in Wig Wam lately?"  That's the motto of these Wig Wam Motels on Route 66.  There are a number of them throughout the country, each denoted by a number.  This one in Holbrook, AZ is Wig Wam Motel Village #6.

I know this may not be the most politically correct name or concept these days, but I just get a tickle out of these motels.  A big teepee made out of cement with a little octagon room inside - a piece of Americana that is a little wrong but a whole lotta silly and fun. 

After I checked out of my wig wam, I headed over to Joe and Aggies Cafe for a southwest breakfast.  Joe and Aggies is another famous RT66 food stop.  They also have a great mural on the side of their building.

And here's the typical southwest breakfast that I've been having religiously since New Mexico.

After my delicious breakfast, I was going back to see the rest of the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert.  

That long dark road from the night before looks a lot more inviting and fun during the day.  I was cruising around 65mph when I noticed two ravens picking at a roadkill at the side of the road.  When I got near them, they decided to take off - right in front of me.  The first one flew by with lots of clearance.  The second one nearly missed my headlight by about three inches.  I don't know why but I started to laugh out loud to myself inside my helmet.  I couldn't stop laughing for a good ten seconds.  

I arrived at the front gate of the Petrified Forest and realized that my ticket from yesterday was still good!  Free Admission makes a good day even better!

I rode to a section of the park where you can walk a short loop that takes you thru many fallen petrified logs.  It's such a weird thing to see, these trunks, once wood but turned into stone by millions of years of being covered by sediments.

This petrified log acted as a bridge that early surveyors actually used to walk across this gap. 

There is an area called the Blue Mesa which has a one mile loop that takes you to the bottom of the mesa and back.  It was a warm day and even warmer with my leathers.  But I decided to walk on the loop.  And this is what you saw at the bottom.

I can't recommend visiting The Painted Desert and The Petrified Forest enough, especially if you can ride your motorcycle here.  It's really amazing that you can ride next to natural beauty like this.

After walking the loop, it was time to leave and head to Flagstaff.  36 miles west of the Petrified Forest is Joseph City, home to the famous Jackrabbit Trading Post on Route 66.  Their famous sign telling you that you've arrived.

The Jackrabbit Trading Post contains all things Route 66 and all things branded with their Jackrabbit logo.  Including this:

There was a lot of fun stuff in there but I think the highlight is the giant jackrabbit that you can ride out side.  A friendly passerby helped me with this shot:

Unlike a lot of other trading posts that are in a town, there is nothing around Jackrabbit Trading Post - except for the train tracks that parallels the road.

After the fun stop at Jackrabbit's, it was 70 miles of highway riding to Flagstaff.  This is another section of Arizona where the alignment of 66 just funnels you onto I40.  

After an hour of riding into the sun on I40, I pulled into my Howard Johnson motel parking lot.  I noticed a big tour bus with a crowd people in the lot.  I figure it's tour bus heading into the Grand Canyon the next morning.  As I unpack my gear from the bike, I notice an oddly dressed man raising a bottle of booze towards my direction.  I figured he was trying to get the attention of someone behind me so I ignored him.

A few minutes later, a guy walks up to me and starts to ask me about my bike.  I notice his accent.  Turns out he's Swedish.  Then another Swede comes over.  And then the guy who raised his bottle at me comes over.  These guys are all Swedes, been boozing for hours, and bikers.  They're here in the US on some odd music venue cross country tour!  

Only the guy who approached me speaks English and he explains to me that the guy with the bottle is named Anders, rides a Norton and is a big fan of my bike.  Anders looks over my bike and reads out loud some of the stickers on my side cases - "Cadillac Ranch!"  Apparently, they went to the Cadillac Ranch as part of their cross country trip.  They hear that I'm riding Route 66 and this earns me a ton of street creds with them.  This news gets passed around the entire Swedish cadre. 

Anders gives me his bottle of whiskey with a two fingers of whisky left.  His friend tells me to have a drink.  I comply.  It was good whiskey.  

Anders wears a black cowboy hat, big ass belt buckle, and a leather vest filled with commemorative pins.  He shows me his Norton motorcycle pin.  I love this guy already.  He asks his friend to take of photo of us.  They invite me to their room for some more post dinner boozing.  Drinking with a bunch of drunk middle aged music crazed Swedes would make a great chapter to this amazing trip but sadly, I didn't run into them again.  But I'll always have this photo to remind me of my time with Anders.

I was told there isn't much in Gallup, NM and they're pretty much right.  I rode into the downtown for breakfast at a local Mexican place.  But since Gallup is on Route 66, that means there a few cool things to see.

They have a giant cowboy on top of a auto shop.  Haven't seen one of these since Illionis!

Richardson's Trading Post is a famous 66 spot.  They've been in operations for over a 100 years!  I bought a Kachina doll here.

For a little town, there's a big Native American heritage appreciation here.  They're especially proud of their Navajo Code Talker heritage.  There are Navajo reservations in New Mexico where many Code Talkers came from, so hence the connection.  There is an exhibit of the Code Talkers at the Gallup Cultural Center with a statue commemorating the Code Talkers.

After a few stops in Gallup, it was time to cross into Arizona.  Route 66 from Gallup was pretty well marked and about 30 miles in, I was in Arizona!

Whatever you think of these teepee buildings, you have to admit it's a pretty striking visual with that mountain in the background.

I was going to stay the night in Holbrook, AZ but along the way was the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park.  To be honest, I wasn't that excited about them but since it's on the way, I thought what the hell.

But getting there was not easy, there was a few moderate rain showers and in this part of Arizona, 66 didn't exist that much, so it was highway most of the way.  Rain and 75MPH highway wasn't much fun but I didn't have much of a choice.  So I toughed it out, made a few stops along the way when I felt it was a bit unsafe or when I just had enough of semi trucks kicking up a mist and fog cloud around me on the I-40.  

One odd sight that I kept seeing around this part of the country are SUVs of Native Police.  I knew the reservations had their own police. I have just never seen them in person.  I wish I had some photos of their trucks and SUVs but I only saw them on the road.  

Eventually, the rain let up and the sun came out.  And I was entering the Petrified Forest.  

I didn't know much about this place and was tempted to bypass it due to the rain.  But would I ever regret it if I did!  This place is amazing!  Again, I am not skilled enough to describe in words just how beautiful and amazing this place is.  But this photo should give you a hint of its beauty.

And the best part is that there is a 30 mile smooth paved road that you can ride thru the park with little detours for side trips, hikes, and outlooks.

Another cool thing about this place - Route 66 used to run right thru the park!

And they left some relics from it.

I had three hours to spend here before sundown and I thought that would be plenty.  But turns out that taking a crap load of photos takes a crap load of time.  

I had only seen half of the park when the sun was going down.  I hopped on my bike and raced thru the remaining half of the road being bummed I wasn't going to see the rest of the park.  But I know enough from my many days on the road that areas like this would be pitch black once the sun goes down due to the lack of street lights.  I had about 30 miles from the park to my motel in Holbrook - not a long stretch but long enough.  

I got to the end of the park which took about 25 minutes and not surprisingly, the gate was shut.  I saw a sign on the gate that said "Approach Gate Slowly."  I let out a sigh of relief since that means it's an electric gate with some sort of sensor.  I slowly rolled my bike towards the gate - 10 feet away, nothing.  7 feet away, nothing.  5 feet away, nothing.  3 feet away! Nothing!  I literally bump the gate with my front tire.  Nothing!

Ok, now I'm guessing like a lot parking lots and some traffic lights, the sensor isn't picking my bike up.  Normally, I may be worried but I wasn't. I passed a couple parked cars about 100 feet back.  I knew they were getting ready to leave and sure enough, about a minute later, a Prius rolls up behind me and the gate opens.  

I made a right after the gate onto AZ180 heading to Holbrook, AZ.  It's a long straight road with nothing on it.  Straight, empty, pitch black.

http://goo.gl/maps/46amc

This would be lots of fun during the day but at night - a bit hairy.  I cruised around 65mph and with my hi beam on, keeping an eye out for wildlife, deer, coyotes, armadillos, chupacabras...

After 40 minutes or so, I see civilization.  I arrived in Holbrook and pulled into my motel for the night - the awesomely famous Route 66 attraction - Wig Wam Village Motel #6!

I woke up at 5:30 am to ride to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival.  I've never heard of this event but it's apparently the Tour De France of hot air ballooning.  It lasts a week long and there are hot air balloons from all over the world.  Now I like hot air balloons as much as the next person but walking up at 5:30 am to watch them is a stretch for me.  However, I've been told of this event all the way back in Tucumcari.  It seems like this is THE event of the year in all of New Mexico.  My airbnb host told me it's worth the early start.

So that's what I did.  I got on the road in the early dark morning to the Balloon Fiesta Park - yea, they even had a park named and dedicated to this event.  Not just that - they even have a hot air balloon museum.  

There was a long line of cars making their way into that park.  They weren't kidding.  This is a big deal.  

I paid my admission but got herded on the field.  The park is huge and there are dozens of vendors selling coffee, food, and balloon swag.  

I needed coffee and found my savior:

So far, this morning was getting off to a great start.

Apparently, the morning was a little windy so they were holding off sending any balloons up.  I didn't really care since I had four Krispy Kreme donuts to eat. 

I was enjoying my breakfast and watched the sun come up.  After a good hour or so, I started to see some inflation going on.

And a while after that, I saw one balloon floating up into the air.  

And then more:

And then a crap load more:

And then a car balloon:

And then some purple thing:

And then a Spider Pig:

And then a dueling shark and diver:

And then freaking Darth Vader!

I have to admit - this hot air balloon festival is pretty awesome!  After a few hours, I had to get going.  But this was what I saw on my way out from the top of the hill.

I had to go back to my airbnb apartment to pack up my stuff and get on the road to Gallup.  There was an stretch of 66 out of Albuquerque and an older stretch outside city limits on the way to Gallup.  It was pretty barren with not much there but it had New Mexico beauty.

Outside of Gallup, about 120 miles from Albuquerque, I reached the Continental Divide - Wow.

It is at this point where the rainfall is divided.  To the west of this point, rain drains into the Pacific Ocean.  To the east of this point, rain drains into the Atlantic.  Hard to believe I rode to this point in the country.

Speaking of rain, it started to drizzle at this point.  I put on my rain coat and continued on my way.  I reached Gallup about 30 miles west of the divide.  I stopped at the El Rancho Motel, which is a famous old motel that catered to the old time Hollywood stars like Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, Spencer Tracy, and Kirk Douglas.  Maybe that's why they wanted $100 a night for a room.  

However nice the history is, I decided to opt for a cheaper option at the other end of town.  I took a few photos inside and It's a hoot of a lobby.  

My first agenda in Albuquerque was to take my bike in for an oil change and safety check.  Back in Tucumcari, something felt and sounded weird  whenever my front forks dove.  I thought it had something to do with my flyscreen support.  I couldn't figure it out and let it go considering it's an old enough bike and had taken some abuse from the past couple weeks to have some funny sounds and what not.  

Then my last evening in Santa Fe, I was determined to tighten the flyscreen to eliminate that weird clicking sound.  I took out my allen wrench to hunt for a loose bolt to tighten.  And I did indeed found one bolt from my front fork had rattle itself loose but another bolt on the opposite side had rattled itself completely out and was missing.  

Well, that's not good and a bit scary.  But there wasn't anything I could do about it at that point since it was a Sunday evening.  The next morning, I went to a Lowe's in an attempt to find a matching bolt.  Thankfully, I was able to.  Screwed that sucker back in and the clicking noise went away.  Second on the road fix.

Everything I know about Albuquerque I learned from Breaking Bad.  So I had no idea what to expect when I got into town.  But from riding around a bit, it appears to be a sprawled city like most other cities.  Lots of Mexican food, that's for sure.

I rode to the old town district of ABQ.  This is an area very similar to the Plaza of Santa Fe.  Lots of adobe building selling art, jewelry, and food.  Lots of tourists.  

I walked around a bit, had a Mexican lunch, and kinda had enough of Old Town.  Granted, I probably only felt this way because I spent so much time at the Santa Fe Plaza just a couple days ago.  If you're going to ABQ, it's worth visiting Old Town, especially if you haven't been to Santa Fe.

So by mid-afternoon, I decided to go a matinee.  I felt a bit guilty going to a movie while on this awesome road trip adventure.  But I was feeling a bit home sick and wanted to do something I know I would enjoy, so fuck it, I'm going to the movies.

I found a theater about 15 minutes away and I saw a 4pm of Gone Girl.  The film was pretty good and I enjoyed the two hours in there where I didn't have to plan anything or figure out where to go and where to be.

I was going to spend a little bit of time in the Museum Hill district of Santa Fe before leaving for Albuquerque.  There was the Museum of Indian Arts and the Museum of International Folk Art. 

Both were interesting, had cool art and exhibits to see, and worth the time.

After a few hours at Museum Hill, I headed off to Albuquerque.  My friend Matt suggested I take NM 14 down to Albuquerque instead of I-25.  Since I had good luck veering off 66 from Tucumcari, I took his advice.  New Mexico is the only state that I deviated off Route 66 on purpose and it's worked out pretty well.  

The highlight of NM 14 was a little town called Madrid.  This is a success story of how an old mining town transitioned itself into a little tourist town with galleries, ice cream shops, one bar and one bed and breakfast.

They even shot a small part of the Wild Hogs motorcycle movie in this diner here in Madrid.  Wasn't supposed to be a good movie but I would see it now after being in Madrid.  

I stopped for an hour, got a root beer float and walked around the town, which is about five blocks long.  It's truly amazing that a place like this can exist and seems to exist in a decent manner.

After this little stop I continued down NM 14, picked up 66 west and went straight into Albuquerque.  I even got there before sun down.  I checked into my airbnb apartment, dropped off my stuff and headed out to dinner.

I found this old Route 66 Diner. 

I had the green chili burger which is what New Mexico is known for - all things green chili.  Red chili is also available.  Or you can opt for both red and green, which is also known as Christmas.