31 May 2007
80 and mostly cloudy
Friends of Charlie and Barbara ..
As you see we are making some progress across the Southwest. Our destination is Oklahoma City (actually Norman just south of OKC) in another couple weeks. The blue line is Historic Route 66 that we are following.
You see that Santa Rose is on a river, the Pecos River that starts up north of Santa Fe and flows into the Rio Grande at the Amistad National Recreation Area. Amistad Reservoir is a 36 mile long lake on the Mexican border created by the damming of the Rio Grande. Amistad was a considerable surprise to us a few years back when we drove the Rio Grande from source in Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Pecos flowing through Santa Rosa (toward you). The railroad trestle, now owned by the BNSF, was built by a previous railroad company about 1900.
We explored a decommissioned stretch of the pre-1937 Route 66 and came to the transition from dirt to “improved” gravel. 
The old 66 as it came down into the town of Santa Rosa.
Charlie visited a Route 66 Museum in town that featured more than 30 reconditioned historic vehicles. He realize that the old Model A type car, common through the 20’s, was only about 5’ wide as this picture illustrates.By the 60’s cars had broadened to 6’. This explains why the original Route 66, where paved, had only 9’ lanes and no shoulders. Today’s common highway lane width is 12’6” plus 5-6‘ shoulders.
For more on Santa Rosa, click on the Wikipedia page below for a pretty good history and description of the town. Wikipedia is a primary resource Charlie uses in his research along 66.
Next: Tucumcari, NM. Who could pass this way and not spend a couple days in a town so romantically named! Charlie says that the town was named after a famous Indian dog known for pulling a large two-dog travois all alone, Tucumcari.
… Humphrey for Charlie and Barbara
