Day 7 - Amarillo to Santa Fe (October 17th)

I was up and away by 09h00 this morning to make the 290 mile trip to Santa Fe. It was going to be one of my longest driving days so I needed to be selective on what to see and what to miss.

My first stop was the Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo. There are 10 cars planted face down in soil and people can stop and graffiti on them. I found a half empty can of spray paint and went for glory!

After a brief stop in Vega, I stopped for brunch at the Mid Point Cafe in Adrian. It claims to be the dead centre point in terms of distance between Chicago and Santa Monica. A massive omelette and a few souvenirs later I was off again to drive some 18 miles of dirt road from Glenrio to San Jon.

This drive was fantastic - so quiet with only the nearby cows and bulls to keep me company. I did not see a single person or car for about 30 minutes. I stopped in the road to take lots of pictures and even get some dirty looks from the "locals". In the back of my mind though was the petrol gauge. It was almost empty and I was hoping for a gas station soon. I need to keep the tank full at all times in future - especially as the desert awaits in a few days.

San Jon itself is a battered ghost town with some examples of its former self. Again, shops have been abandoned and motels lay empty and long out of business. Thankfully one gas station was doing business - but it was near the I-40 East exit.

I had heard a lot before the trip about Tucumcari and its famous motels. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed driving through the town and taking some pictures of the various motels. I would not choose to stay there though unless you had been driving for 15 hours and about to collapse. I would recommend checking out the delights of Tucumcari and buying something to support local businesses instead.

Okay, so it had to happen eventually. My perfect trip had to have some downside...right? Well it came! I continued west of Tucumcari to a dead end. Instead of reversing back for 3 miles and getting back on the I-40 West, I saw some dirt tracks ahead and decided to try it - thinking it would get me back on the I-40 West and I would save some 10 minutes. It did not go to plan. As I got deeper and deeper into this dirt road, it started veering right (away from the I-40 West on my left) and getting very close to the railway line. But still, I failed to go with my instinct and continued until the car was beached and stuck in sand. I could not move, it was 85 degrees and there was nothing in sight. Nightmare!!!! I had no choice but to call 911 and wait. An hour later the deputy sheriff arrived, 15 minutes after that the railway police arrived and the recovery arrived some 2 hours after that. Anyways, to cut a long story short I lost 3 hours of driving time and $310 for the recovery - all just to save 10 minutes originally. I have learned my lesson and certainly will not be doing that again.

Every cloud has a silver lining though. I gained one hour unexpectedly as I had entered mountain time.

I was annoyed with myself. It was 17h00 and I still had some 150 miles to Santa Fe. I decided the only way to make it was to drive the I-40 for a lot of the way. I stopped in Santa Rosa and ignored the temptation to stop anywhere else. I sped up the US-84 to take the pre-1937 loop into Santa Fe.

The US-84 drive was great. Perhaps it was just the feeling of being on good road again, or my relief that I was only out of pocket $310 as it could have been a lot worse with trespassing. However, the long straight road, beautiful sky and even seeing wild deer (or was it gazelle) calmed me down.

I did not have a motel tonight so tried at the El Reyy Inn. They had rooms at $100 and I took it. It's clean and basic but I just wanted my bed.

Tomorrow I will travel some 300 miles to Holbrook in Arizona. It will be another long day so am aiming to leave around 08h30. Today's trip to Santa Fe was 290 miles, taking my total miles to 1,540 miles. I am one week into my amazing adventure and I think the best is still to come!

Click here to see my route so far

I am happy to see that so many people are reading my blog. I hope you are finding it interesting and thanks for taking the time.