Epic Route 66 Trip - Day 5

We really didn't pack for this weather.  We're going South, just bring some shorts and tee shirts we said.  Today the high was 52 degrees with 20-30mph winds.  It's not warm.

With the hotel in the rearview mirror, we headed West...but not for long.

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Cadillac Ranch

In 1974 some art-hippies, The Ant Farm,  from San Francisco and a local billionaire wanted a piece of art to baffle the neighborhood.  They came up with the tribute to the Cadillac Tailfin style cars.  

The cars range from a 1949 Club Sedan to a 1963 Sedan de Ville and are buried half in the ground.  It's been a tradition to bring spray paint and leave your mark on the site.  We didn't have any with us and it was too windy.

In our short 15min visit at least 4 other car loads of people pulled up to walk out and take pictures.  It is a pretty good walk out into the field.  The sign says not to park there or deface the property, but it's been going on for years.  If you look close at the picture with the sign you can see the cars far off in the background.

Right down the street we saw this 2nd Amendment Cowboy with more Cadillacs.

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Once again we found ourselves sidetracked and heading in the wrong direction but Boy was it worth it.  

We love to pull over for Brown Signs.  Brown signs in the states are for State Parks, National Parks or Forests and other historical attractions.  

This Brown Sign took us across flat boring plains and farm fields.  Where are we even going?  There is nothing out here.

WOAH!!!

Welcome to Palo Duro Canyon!

Palo Duro Canyon State Park is located about 30min South of Amarillo.  In the map above, you can see the start of the 120 mile long Canyon in the bottom right.  It has an average depth of 800ft with cliffs reaching over 1000ft and a width of up to 20mi!

Everything is Bigger in Texas, but this Canyon is in 2nd place behind the Grand Canyon.  Unlike the Grand Canyon, you are able to drive down into this one.

Once you arrive the drive back to the canyon is just flat fields, then you get to the first turn and see the canyon.  WOW!!!

Then your second turn gives you a perfect view of the canyon looking the other direction.

They offer a visitors center at the bottom of the canyon, an authentic American Indian handmade giftshop and handicap accessible restrooms.

The 30,000 acre park has camping for every type of person.  From Rustic campsites for tents to luxury cabins to rent, your sure to find something to fit your needs.  In the park you have access to 15,000 acres of trails for hiking and biking.

You could never take enough pictures of this place.  We're planning a return trip here in the future.

After spending hours here soaking in the sights, we needed to hit the road.  We aren't even 30min from where we started and it's already afternoon.

Route 66 would take us into Glenrio New Mexico and then onto Tucumcari. Oops.  We headed South on 60.

I've noticed down here there are way more trains and they are huge.  We saw trains up to 6 engines and I can only imagine over a mile long.

We are from a small community with Dairy Farms all around.  I've never seen anything like this!  The fields were black from all the Angus that were being loaded onto trains and trucks to be moved around the country.

Finally!!! We made it to Texico New Mexico.

At this point we were way off track.  But today we had a destination.  Roswell! 👽👽👽

I'm all about the Cryptids, Aliens, Sasquatch and everything in between.  Then we arrived.  Honestly, I expected it to be a small desert town with nothing but UFO stuff.  It wasn't like that at all.

The majority of the UFO museums and giftshops was confined to a 2 block area in town.  They did have a really cool McDonalds that was shaped like a flying saucer and alien holding the Dunkin sign.

The sun fell quickly and we were ready to call it.  Here is our trip for the day.  Only 4hrs of driving but took in plenty of beauty.

Thanks for following along and stay tuned for Day 6!!!

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