New Mexico

The two main roads used for this part were The National Old Trails Road and The Ozark Trail. It ran est-west across the center of the state and it was not fully paved until 1937. Nowadays all this road was been taken over by the Interstate 40 and the road finally closed in 1985.

So, just as a fact, this is the state with the longest part of the route, with 784 kilometers of road where you will be able to find hundreds of interesting places. Besides being able to discover a lot of the American history, we cannot forget this used to be a Spanish province and later after the independence of Mexico in 1821, it also became Mexican land, so this is a great opportunity to absorb the history that this land holds and learn all about the important events there were.

Blue Swallow Motel

The construction of this motel started a little bit before World War II and it finally opened in 1942 until its owners died a few years later and it passed onto new owners. These new owners decided to modernize the place by enhancing the rooms and adding a bigger neon sign.

During some years the motel had a lot of tourist staying in it, since it was right next to the route but unfortunately, at the end of the 1960’s, the Interstate 40 was built, which drew away the traffic of the previous road, causing the end of the motel’s success.

Route 66 monument

This monument is a pretty recent one, which was constructed in 1997, after the New Mexico Highway department asked Tom Coffin, an artist, to create it.

The sculpture, which is set on a sloping base made out of sand and tires, is the top of the monument, with a chrome tail light and two tubular sixes.

I bet right know you are thinking this is not worth visiting whatsoever, as it is just a pile of sand with a piece of metal on top, but that is not what you should be thinking. The place where it is placed is beautiful, and as I have read on many comments, the sunsets there are delightful, so do not fail to visit it, as it is a monument to the route you are driving on and the place is amazing.