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A Movie Star and a Fish Peddler?

Monday started with a carrot cake chockfull of 94 grams of fat. It was absolutely delicious and was exactly what we needed along with extra-caffeinated coffee.

The first stop for the morning was the Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa NM. With over 30 cars on display from almost every decade in the 19th century and hundreds of pieces of Route 66 memorabilia it was a charming place. Several of the cars were in mint condition and were on sale. Unfortunately neither Lisa nor I had the $40 000 to spend on a car so we both walked out empty handed. Before we left the lady working there told us that they were working on painting an old tow truck to look like Mater from Cars. We missed it by a day or two so be sure to stop by and see it if you re driving through.

We made a quick stop at Clines Corners NM for gas. As far as we could tell it was a gas station/truck stop/gift store that had its own exit off the interstate. Aside from its collection of painted horses they also had a large selection of salt water taffy and fudge. We stocked up on both and headed towards Tinkertown in Sandia Park NM.

I don t think either one of us really knew what to expect at Tinkertown but words definitely cannot describe it. Started as a hobby by Ross Ward over 45 years ago Tinkertown is a collection of miniature villages circuses and farms along with various other odd items. We tried taking pictures but they didn t do it justice. It is definitely one of those places that you have to see to fully comprehend.

Tinkertown also had old games and arcade pieces from circuses. One of them was a game where you put in a quarter and it tells you what you should be in life. I inserted a quarter and found out I was meant to be a movie star; Lisa wasn t quite as lucky and found she missed her calling as a fish peddler. Lisa and I were also surprised to find the pants and shoes of Big Louie Moilanen who at 8 ft 4 in and 430 lbs was once the biggest man in the world. The surprising part was that he was born in Hancock MI which is a short drive away from the small town where we went to school together.

After we left Tinkertown we decided to drive to the top of the Sandia Mountain range Sandia Crest. At an elevation of 10 678 feet it was a long winding trip to get to the top. Poor Lola was suffering the entire way and definitely did not like the drive. The breathtaking views at the top were well worth the effort. We could see for miles and miles and with the exception of a few clouds it was a beautiful day.

We weren t too far from Albuquerque so we decided to stop at the Route 66 Diner along Historic Route 66. We walked in and weren t surprised to see it decorated just like a diner straight out of the 1950s. The servers were all wearing turquoise uniforms which matched the décor perfectly. Both Lisa and I ordered milkshakes and burgers which were quite tasty. It was exactly what we needed and expected.

Unfortunately an oversize truck snagged some power lines over I-40 which caused it to be closed for more than 9 hours. We were stuck in traffic for a while and had to be diverted to the frontage road. It took us almost an hour to go just a few miles. Because of that we didn t make it to the Petrified Forest until 6:45. Since it closed at 7 neither one of us thought it would be worth the $10 to drive in and then have to turn around right away. Though we were both disappointed we hit the road again.

As it turns out many places close rather early in Arizona. We had to stop at four different gas stations before we finally found one that was open. We made one last stop at a random place we kept seeing signs for along the road. I don t remember the name of it but it advertised free petrified wood meteorites and an opportunity to feed the ostriches. Not surprisingly it was also closed but we drove up to it anyways. We saw a couple ostriches in the distance and I started taking a couple pictures. Suddenly hundreds of ostriches started running down the fence towards us. They weren t able to get anywhere near us but we were both amazed by the sheer number of them.

Holbrook AZ was just down the road so we made it there relatively early. Lisa had called Wigwam Village twice and emailed them a couple times but never heard back from them so we weren t sure what the status of our reservation was. We stopped in and much to our disappointment they had no record of Lisa s calls and were all booked up for the night. We were both saddened by this and ended up at a motel down the street.

Since it wasn t that late we decided to check out the local bar scene. We headed to Young s Corral which was right across the street from the hotel. On the way a strange guy started following us and we were both slightly freaked out. We stuck close together and made it to the bar safely. There were about four other people in it including the bartender. We ended up staying for a few hours and having a decent conversation with the bartender about the differences in lifestyle between Chicago and Arizona. Lisa and I were also quite amused at the number of wives/girlfriends that either called or came to the bar to yell at their significant others. Apparently the thing to do there is to take your dog for a walk and the end up at the bar which does not please the women.

After getting our fill of guys getting yelled at we headed back to the motel to get ready for bed. Lucky for us we had a visitor waiting for us when we returned. That s right a little (well maybe not so little) cockroach was on the floor in the bathroom. We didn t really have anything heavy to kill it with so I trapped it under a cup and went to bed. Tomorrow is spa day!!

Hoping our friend doesn t have friends

Ida and Lisa