September 7, 2025
Today was my favorite day! I’m writing this from (yes) another La Quinta, this time in Santa Rosa. Maybe La Quinta will give me some influencer money hahaha. Seriously, I do not receive any compensation from any of the companies mentioned here, with the exception of the Amazon links I've added in this post.
So, today was my fave day. I achieved a goal that I wrote about in my Dear Hobie book. I’ve always wanted to drive Route 66 and I’ve always wanted to visit Cadillac Ranch in Texas. I did both today!
Route 66 was established on November 11, 1962. The road was decommissioned in 1985, so it’s not really a route anymore, but it was declared a Historic Monument in 1991 by Congress, so the route (what’s left of it) is marked with signs and you can follow along with it on Interstate 40. But today, we drove ON Route 66 that runs alongside I-40. It was so cool and we laughed.
Then, Cadillac Ranch, which technically is on Route 66 but it’s kind of not. Hard to explain. Anyway, this was a goal of mine for many years because I used to drive a 1963 Cadillac Coupe deVille. The thing was 18 feet long, and had fins. It was such a cool car. I drove that car in high school, during the ‘70s, right around the time Cadillac Ranch was created (1974).
Since two of my friends did not know what Cadillac Ranch even was (one thought it was a brothel – no, that’s Chicken Ranch!), here’s a quick description. It’s a work of art, one might call it a sculpture. The artist placed about ten Cadillacs in the ground, face-down, so as to show the back of the cars because the back of a Cadillac is just fabulous with those fins and huge lights, chrome bumpers. Oh my! it is just quite a car.
The sculpture features Cadillacs from 1949 through 1963! So, today, I had my picture taken in front of the last car in the row.
Now, what’s weird about Cadillac Ranch is that the cars were placed in the ground, then moved to another location, and then, for some reason people started painting them with spray paint. The attraction is FREE, and there were dozens of people there today, on a Sunday in September. Dogs are welcome. There were several dogs besides ours. A quick walk across a dirt field takes you from where you park (on the side of the road) to the cars. Even my Charlie had no problem, and he’s almost 14. He did such a good job! Good boy!
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There is a truck vendor where you can buy spray paint, or you can bring your own. Also, there’s a guy selling souvenir jewelry and keychains made from chips of paint that falls off the cars. We didn’t spray paint anything. We just wanted pictures. I did buy some paint chip souvenir art.
I took a picture of each car. Then had my picture taken while standing between the 1962 and 1963 models.
The cars are loaded with layers of spray paint from the past 51 years. They are sort of unrecognizable as a car. “What is that thing?”, a friend asked when I texted her a picture. Another friend said she knew it was a car, but wondered what was sticking out from the side? I told her it was the open door of the 1949 car, and it has been painted so many times it’s thick, thick, thick with paint making it unrecognizable.
After that, I drove from Texas to New Mexico. Since we were in the Panhandle, it wasn’t much of a drive at all.
The scenery of New Mexico is incredible. I am in awe.
As luck would have it, we rolled into Santa Rosa before our room was ready. So, I parked downtown while Brad mailed a birthday card to his sister and went to the grocery store. I was parked in the shade near a courthouse and I was hesitating to walk the dogs around a government building, but I did it anyway. And then I noticed poop bag stations all around the entire courthouse. It was a dog-friendly park! There was also a bathroom for humans near the park, but it was locked. It’s a cute little town!
This hotel is a little different from the last one, as every La Quinta seems to be unique. This one has no carpeting in the room, so Charlie is a tad uncomfortable, but it’s only for one night.
Tomorrow – more time in New Mexico, exploring. Until then!
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September 8, 2025
Gallup, New Mexico
I can’t believe I’m here. Who’d have ever thought I’d be in New Mexico?!
Today, we cross-crossed Route 66 multiple times, I cheered each time.
We both had a little bit of altitude sickness overnight last night. I had a really bad night, but I have acclimated now. We went from 4,100 feet to around 7,000 feet. Brad said not to worry about it, it will go away in about a day. Well, he was right, it did, and we had a great day. But I’m tired from lack of sleep.
We left Santa Rosa, NM in the morning with the first stop being Santa Fe, NM the state capital that sits at 7,000 feet. We walked around Santa Fe, and went into some shops. Dogs are allowed in almost every shop. Of course, I didn’t know that so Brad waited outside with the dogs while I went into a much-too-expensive jewelry store. The woman working there said “Oh, you can bring them in, dogs are welcome in almost all the stores here.” Knowing I wasn’t about to buy anything at those prices, I politely thanked her and said I’ll be right back with the dogs, and then we left haha. Sorry! But no.
I did get a great picture of Brad and the dogs sitting in front of the jewelry store.
Then, we went to the “Five and Dime” store (that’s what it’s called. It’s a throwback to the old Woolworth-style stores. Dogs allowed inside AND there are restrooms AND food! Yay! We got a Route 66 fridge magnet. If you haven’t seen our fridge magnet collection, it is quite something.
We walked around a little bit, but Petey was barking at all the other dogs, and we still had several stops to make, so we left after about an hour and ten minutes.
We then drove to Albuquerque. Our main objective was to visit the Breaking Bad Store (and Museum for $5 each). Which we did, but not without some hiccups. Another couple with two dogs went into the store ahead of us, Of COURSE. It’s a tiny little store, but we tried to be in there together. No dice. Petey went bananas barking like an idiot. I took both dogs and went outside to wait until the other people left. That wasn’t great either because when they DID leave, Petey went nuts again. We had to go around the corner to get out of the line of sight.
I went into the store, and we bought some more fridge magnets. Some of the stuff in there is so fun and funny. We watched the entire series Breaking Bad while we were dating, and then watched the entire series AGAIN during the pandemic. So, we just love it. Also, its prequel Better Call Saul. Two of the best shows ever made in my opinion. The store was very fun. I didn’t buy anything, but you can buy stuff from them online.
After the Breaking Bad store, we walked around a little and noticed that the setup of that section of Albuquerque was almost identical to Santa Fe, so we laughed about that.
Then, we got lunch at Taco Bell. hahaha I know, here we are in New Mexico and we go to Taco Bell! But it’s easier with the dogs, when it’s hot out.
The weather was actually quite nice and not too hot. Charlie did GREAT, I was so surprised. He’s really being a trooper.
After that, we drove from Albuquerque to Gallup where we are staying overnight. Nothing much to say about Gallup except the rock formations on the drive here are otherworldly!
I feel better. I seem to be past the altitude sickness for now. It feels exactly like seasickness, for the record. Yuck.
Next Monday: The BIG day: THE GRAND CANYON! Stay tuned.
If you haven’t read my new book, “Dear Hobie: Letters to My Heart Dog” you might want to check it out. Now available on Amazon and elsewhere. eBook on Amazon Kindle; paperback available everywhere. Thanks for reading!
