Just a 500-Mile Sunday Drive in the Country

From Gallup, our next stopping point for the night was a little speck of a town along Route 66 in Texas. I’ll share a bit of McLean’s charm with our next post. We’ve got to get there first. There’s over 7 hours of driving ahead of us and some “must see” stops along the way.

Our first planned stop of the day was in Albuquerque, an easy 150-miles down Hwy 40 as it crossed back and forth along the famous Route 66. While it wasn’t our intention to travel along this famous stretch of highway on its historic 100th anniversary, that’s just the way things worked out. For the most part there didn’t seem to be a whole lot going on to celebrate with the exception of all the 100th Anniversary souvenirs for sale in every little town along the highway. They offered everything from jackets to shot glasses marking the 100th Anniversary. Some towns did spruce up the road as well, while others did not.

In Albuquerque there was but one thing on our itinerary – to visit the Museum of Nuclear Science and History. A Smithsonian affiliate, this one of a kind museum boasts both an indoor walk through time and an outdoor display of military might. The museum opened in 1969 as the National Atomic Museum. It tells the story of New Mexico’s contributions to the Atomic Age with the hope of putting a positive spin on the benefits of nuclear development in fields such as power and medicine.

Interestingly enough, the museum was originally located on the Kirkland Air Force Base. However; on September 11, 2001 due to obvious heightened security measures, a museum open to the public on an actual military base was deemed a bad idea, and so it closed for a year while seeking a temporary location until a permanent facility could be created. The museum has been at its present location since 2009 with some of its indoor displays rotating with other Smithsonian institutes. We began our tour at the outdoor display before moving inside to see all the pretty little bombs all lined up in a row.

Perhaps visitors do walk away with a sense of awe and marvel at all the achievements in Nuclear development. I for one walked away with a clear understanding that people are great at figuring out how many ways we can think up to destroy ourselves. It seems an unfortunate necesssity of the modern world. And all while making it appear family-friendly.

From Albuquerque it was another 275 miles to our next stop – the Cadillac Ranch just west of Amarillo Texas. Cadillac Ranch is a one-of-a-kind “living” art sulpture in that it is in a constant state of change. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels. They buried ten Cadillacs (1949 to 1963 models) nose-first in the ground. It’s said that the cars are inclined at an angel to match the pyramids of Giza. Today visitors to the ranch can purchase cans of spray paint and add their own artisit touches on the road, the fencing and the cars themselves.

The sun was just beginning to set when we finished our contributions. Hope you all get to do the same some day. Imagine, a place where griffiti is not only welcomed, but encouraged!