Driving Route 66

As we headed towards Utah's National Parks we had to drive I-40 from Santa Rosa where we hoped off Hwy 84 to an hour or so west of Albuquerque to get to our next campsite. We stayed two nights at the Sky City Casino Campground which was nice but no real nice amenities (but did I mention cheap??!!). We took the opportunity to drive parts of old Route 66 which runs along side I-40 along this stretch of the country.

Route 66 runs just north of the Sky City Casino and there was an access road right to it outside the campground. NM 124 is today's name for this section but we loving refered to it as Old Route 66 for our stay. We jumped on near San Fidel and headed west at first and saw some abandoned places along the way including the White Arrow Garage, Acoma Curio Shop and as we continued west we saw the aging sign for Whiting Brothers Gas Station. We turned around there and headed back to the east and saw the Budville Trading post, Khe Sahn Memorial for NM Vietnam Veterans. We continued through Paraje and out to Laguna where we misread the sign and wound up on I-40 also known as old Route 66 in this area.

We jumped off the interstate at the next exit, Mesita, and headed back along 66 through what is one of the most scenic portions of the country! I kept thinking that the folks traveling the interstate were all missing it and didn't even know it! If you are ever in this area take a drive along this stretch and you won't regret it! I'm not recommending you tow your camper this way though as the road is narrow and winding through amazing canyons and vistas. The topography of the area with it's bluffs and red rock formations reminds me of the scenery in the movie Cars!