Day 11

We departed Albuquerque this morning towards Amarillo via Tucumcuri on Route 66. You have to deviate from it a bit as it disappears in places. Being a Saturday we thought the roads would not be too busy. Big mistake! However, it was not cars that were the problem, it was the trucks. They obviously move on a weekend to avoid the traffic. There was probably about 10 trucks to every car. They are huge. and take no prisoners, driving at 75 mph most of the time.

A long drive but arrived in Tucumcuri early afternoon. It is famous for the Blue Swallow Motel, supposedly the most iconic on Route 66. Not sure about that. We did try to book in for the night but they are fully booked until at least the end of June. The town is also famous for its murals, all 100 or so of them. We stopped at a Welcome Office to ask if they had a map of them, and were told by a very gruff sharp lady that no they did not. They used to but ran out and the city is not printing any more. We called in at another visitors centre where a very nice lady gave us a list! We have now done a tour of the town and taken some pics of the murals. There is not a lot else that Tucumcuri has to offer. We thought about staying another night but will move on tomorrow. Not many places to eat so shall avail ourselves of the local Chinese tonight.