In search of Route 66 (ship has landed)

"Route 66 was completed through Santa Rosa in 1930. During the days of early Route 66, after travelers had tired of the long, hot, dusty miles, Santa Rosa became known as a welcome and well-known oasis in the desert. Travelers arrived in Santa Rosa to eat, rest, and perform car repairs, if necessary, at the many motels, cafes and service stations that lined the highway.

In 1935 Phillip Craig and Floyd Shaw built the Club Café. For more than fifty years, thousands of hungry Route 66 travelers would stop to enjoy a tasty home cooked meal.

In 1940, when Steinbeck’s epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was made into a movie, director John Ford used Santa Rosa for the memorable train scene, where Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) watches a freight train steam over the Pecos River railroad bridge, into the sunset.

In 1972, I-40 opened through Santa Rosa, and though the city remained a busy off-ramp, many of the vintage Route 66 businesses began to die. However, others continued to serve the exiting travelers of I-40, including the Club Café that survived for almost another twenty years. Finally, it too, served its last meal in 1991. The Club Café stood vacant and soon fell into disrepair with the passing of the years." (source)

Santa Rosa - a place where, once upon a time, weary travelers could stop and eat, drink, or sleep. In many ways, you still can. Yet there is an undeniable feeling in the air when one arrives of having just missed something special, being too late to the party.






In 1956, Joe Campos Sr. opened La Fiesta Café as a drive-in. It was enclosed in 1962-1963, and Jose passed it on to his son Joseph in 1985. It is now Joseph's Bar and Grill. (From Route 66 in New Mexico (Images of America) p. 27)
The 32-unit Tower Courts, later the Tower Motel, opened across from the Club Café in 1950. Still open.


The La Loma Motel is an authentic vintage motel in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, and has been a favorite rest stop for travelers along Route 66 since the 1940s. You may be interested to know that the Campos family has run the La Loma since it opened, and we still do. We here at the La Loma believe that the route 66 traveler deserves a good nights rest at a great rate, so stop on by and experience the warmth and friendly hospitality of days gone by. (From the La Loma Motel's website)



The Sahara Lounge, around since at least 1957, still standing, but boarded up in 2010.

Being so close to authentic, physical remnants of the Tiki culture craze always seems wonderfully surreal to me. This is one of those neon signs I've actually dreamed about and wanted to see for years, so I can barely believe it when I find them and there they are(!). I felt that a lot on this Route 66 road trip.

The Sun 'n Sand Motel is hard to miss with its restored sign, featuring the sacred sun symbol of the Zia Pueblo Indians.




Lettie's Restaurant, which overlooked Santa Rosa, invited travelers to enjoy the beautiful panoramic view of the valley while dining. It was operated by Albert and Ida Jo Campos, who later ran the Adobe Inn Restaurant. This building still looks much the same, and it is now the Route 66 Restaurant. (From Route 66 in New Mexico (Images of America) p. 26)

Standing there, it felt like 1960 - men were wearing dark suits, thin ties, all in hats, and JFK was president...



Carrizozo, New Mexico
Vaughn, New Mexico
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
Tucumcari, New Mexico

"Mr. Lucky"

We interrupt current programming for a beautiful little slice of musical, retro heaven entitled:

This TV series, very loosely based on the movie by the same title, is about a suave gambler, Mr. Lucky (John Vivyan), his faithful sidekick, Andamo (Ross Martin), and various guest stars (such as Frank Gorshin) who undergo their adventures on Lucky's yacht, the Fortuna II (Fortuna I sank in episode 1). Anchored beyond L.A.'s twelve-mile limit, the yacht is a center of gambling, classy dining, and intrigue. Lucky and Andamo get themselves into all kinds of danger, but always manage to get themselves out by the time the closing credits roll. While the setting is creative, the magic of this series is created by Henry Mancini's fabulous musical score. The theme "Mr. Lucky" plays throughout, as does Mancini's "Chime Time" and other lovely numbers (e.g., "Blue Satin"). (From the IMDb entry for the TV show which ran from 1959 to 1960)
End credits to Mr. Lucky:

Mancini's smooth theme music for the show reached Number 21 in the US singles charts. He released two successful LP's based on the show, Mr. Lucky and Mr. Lucky Goes Latin. On the show, Mr. Lucky carried a pocket watch whose chimes played the first five notes of the Mr. Lucky theme music. See that at around 1:00:

In search of Route 66 (a momentary panic)

Nearing I-40 (Old Route 66)

Checkout any time you like, but you can never leave
After reaching Carrizozo, New Mexico, at sunrise (around 6 am), I arrived in Vaughn just before 8 am. At this point, I had a full day ahead, with Shamrock, Texas (5 hours or 302 miles east of Vaughn), as the planned destination. Coming up, along Old Route 66 (Interstate 40 primarily), were eleven different towns, two being "biggies" - Tucumcari, New Mexico, and Amarillo, Texas. I had a list of around thirty-five things to photograph (with ten specific sites in Tucumcari and twelve in Amarillo alone), and I knew (hoped) I would also come across lots of unexpected items. There was certainly an endurance test ahead of me.

So when I got to little Vaughn (5.6 square miles, population of 539), I had a brief moment of genuine panic and terror wash over me when this thought occurred: "If each of the eleven towns on my list have as many things to photograph as Vaughn does, I am completely scr*wed!" My mild OCD (joking, I think) was going ringy-dingy-dingy-dingy!!. I knew, for example, any neon signs I saw along the way, I would just have to stop and capture. After all, when would I ever come this way again?? And if things everywhere were like Vaughn, there was a looong journey ahead. But the moment of devastation passed as I reassured myself I would just have to stick to the list and be more discriminating with my choices than I might be if there had been only one or two towns to explore. Wiping away dusty tears (kidding), I took a deep breath and continued on....


Western Motel



Imagine that - a vacancy.


an old Gulf Service Station


Ranch House Cafe






Carrizozo, New Mexico
Vaughn, New Mexico
Santa Rosa, New Mexico

In search of Route 66 (the day begins)

Although technically not on Route 66, Carrizozo, New Mexico, is where my picture taking journey began, just as the sun was beginning to rise.

I was prepared to be satisfied with this sign, as is (turned off), in front of the Sands Motel. But just as I was taking the picture, someone in the office saw me and turned it on(!). This was a great omen for the rest of my Route 66 roadtrip. I felt their goodwill for the rest of the day. And as I walked back to my car and pulled away after giving a couple of thumbs up and a wave, they turned the sign back off again...



downtown Carrizozo
The Lyric Theater, information from someone at Cinema Treasures:

The present "Lyric Theatre" was built in 1916 as an opera house. It opened as the "Carrizozo Theatre." In 1918 the name changed to "Crystal Theatre" and began to show silent movies. First silent movie shown was Till I come Back To You. When sound movies came along, it reopened with sound on June 13th, 1931 and re-named "Lyric Theatre." First Sound Film shown was The Last Parade. It remained open until 1979 when it closed due to some rating dispute over The Exorcist. In 1981, the theatre was bought by the person that lives in the theatre. He also owns the three buildings north of the theatre as well.


There is much, much more to come! Let's just say I found nearly every single thing (over 35 sites) I was looking for (and lots of awesome things I hadn't planned on) along the legendary "Mother Road."

a momentary panic

ship has landed

getting kicks

the wasteland

Amarillo by....midday

you'll get gas

journey's end

"(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66"

As I am prepping to be motoring west and taking the highway that is best (pictures are forthcoming), I thought I'd do something on Bobby Troup's classic homage to "The Mother Road."

From the Wikipedia entry:

"(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66," often rendered simply as "Route 66," is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961, The Rolling Stones in 1964, and Depeche Mode in 1987. The song's lyrics follow the path of the U.S. Route 66 highway, which used to run a long distance across the U.S., going from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California. The title was suggested to Troup by his first wife, Cynthia.

Troup conceived the idea for the song while driving west from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, California, and the lyrics — which include references to the U.S. highway of the title and many of the cities it passes through — celebrate the romance and freedom of automobile travel. In an interview he once said the tune for the song, as well as the lyric "Get your kicks on Route 66," came to him easily, but the remainder of the lyrics eluded him. More in frustration than anything else he simply filled up the song with the names of towns and cities on the highway.

Troup with Julie London at Ciro's in 1960
The lyrics read as a mini-travelogue about the major stops along the route, listing several cities and towns that Route 66 passes through, viz. St. Louis, Missouri; Joplin, Missouri; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Amarillo, Texas; Gallup, New Mexico; Flagstaff, Arizona; Winona, Arizona; Kingman, Arizona; Barstow, California; and San Bernardino, California.

This smoothly cool, live performance was done in Japan for a 1964 Julie London (Troup's protege and later wife) television special:



On a sort-of-related note, I think it's funny amusing interesting how Bobby Troup and Julie London were both on the early '70s TV show Emergency, one of the first things I can remember watching. I wonder if that was a package deal? What's the story there? Were they still married?

Imagine Gaga

Wonder who put that towel (door mat? carpet?) on the bench.
I realize planet Earth is bound to have Lady Gaga fatigue at this point. I mean, for heaven sake, if Exquisitely Bored in Nacogdoches is posting about her, you know things have reached epic saturation points. But maybe this'll be her last publicity stunt for a while, she'll disappear for a few months, reinvent herself and then receive a world reception friendlier than Christina Aguilera's. Sean Lennon Tweeted recently: "With gaga at mom's house, she's belting on the white piano..."

People are saying things like "John Lennon is spinning in his grave," etc., but I think he would be thrilled. She is the kind of recording artist (experimental, irreverent, original, talented, a little different, etc.) he'd have probably liked and even collaborated with if he were still around. Remember, he did things such as this (with Elton John) and this (with David Bowie).

And, of course, Yoko has always been out there, Gaga-style:

Groovy McDonald's ad

Ommmm
This is a McDonald's TV commercial from 1971 in which they essentially rip off the creators of hours of entertainment and careless brain-warping for me and my generation, Sid and Marty Krofft. I'm sure I saw this on TV back in its day, but I don't remember. You tell me, does Ronald McDonald have a funky afro in this, or what?:


McDonaldland
Yes. Yes, he does have a funky fro.