Our Route 66 Daily Journal: October 9, 2026

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Today we did Route 66 from Tucumcari to Santa Rosa, NM mostly with stops at museums.

We started our day with good conversation about Tucumcari and Route 66 with locals while getting coffee and lemonade at Kandel’s Street Sips.

As we were driving to get coffee, we spotted the train station, which we had read about being restored on a historical marker yesterday. We were going to just go take some photos of it, but learned that there was a museum inside, so we decided to wait about ten minutes for the Tucumcari Railroad Museum to open.

Our next stop was the Tucumcari Historical Museum.

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We then enjoyed Mesalands Community College’s Dinosaur Museum.

Since we were ahead of schedule even after an extra museum, we decided to have lunch in Tucumcari at La Cita.

Before leaving Tucumcari, we stopped to take photos of the Tucumcari Route 66 Statue.

Our next stop was at the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa.

As it was only around 3pm, we decided to also visit the Route 66 Auto Museum today instead of waiting to do in the morning as originally planned, which should allow us more time in Santa Fe tomorrow.

Before heading to the hotel, we drove the musical road in Santa Rosa several times to get an okay video of playing "My Country Tis of Thee."

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Our Koffee Trail: Kandel’s Street Sips

Date of Visit: October 9, 2026

Location: Kandel’s Street Sips (Tucumcari, NM)

Rating: ❤️ (Love)

Our first stop this morning was for coffee and lemonade at Kandel’s Street Sips. We enjoyed good conversation about Tucumcari, New Mexico, and Route 66. We also picked up the New Mexico Route 66 Main Street Passport and the got the Tucumcari Main Street sticker.

As they didn’t have decaf lattes, I got an Electric Berry Solution Lemonade (blue raspberry syrup, butterfly tea, flavored cubes). It was delicious.

Dad enjoyed a latte.

See full list of Our Koffee Trail stops here and Our Koffee Trail Google Maps list here.

Our Route 66 Daily Journal: October 8, 2026

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Today we started with a side trip to some National Park units and then did Route 66 from Amarillo, TX, to Tucumcari, NM, including some Dirt 66.

Our first stop of the day was at the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area visitor center for the America 250 stamp. We then drove out to Fritch Fortress campground to takes some photos of Lake Meredith.

We then drove to Alibates Flint Quarries National, where we took a short hike before watching the movie at the Visitor Center.

Back on Route 66 in Amarillo, we found coffee at 806 Coffee.

Our next stop was at the Milburn-Price Culture Museum in Vega.

In Vega, we also took some photos at the old Magnolia Gas Station.

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At Mama Jo's Pies and Sweets, I got a slice of pie for later (meant to have for dinner, but ended up having for breakfast the next morning).

We had a late lunch at the Midpoint Cafe and Gift Shop.

After lunch, we took photos of the Route 66 Midpoint.

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We also stopped for photos and souvenirs at Dream Maker Station.

As we left Texas, we stopped at the abandoned Last/First Motel Stop in Texas for Dad to put the New Mexico sticker on the car.

In New Mexico, we were originally planned to take the Interstate and visit Russell's Travel Center, but I had heard that they were selling off the museum and that it might not have much to see, so we decided to skip it and take Route 66 as it turned into a dirt road to San Jon.

There ended up being a sign for local traffic only partway along the dirt road, so we ended up going back up to the Interstate at the exit for Russell’s Travel Center, so we did stop and to see the car museum. There were not any cars still on display, but they was still quite a bit to see, although not for long as a good amount is on auction ending in two days (and yes, for a few hours we did seriously consider bidding on an old gas pump...)

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We continued on Route 66 as mostly frontage road to Tucumcari, where we first stopped at Tee Pee Curios.

As we headed to the KOA, we stopped at some Tucumcari Historical Markers.

After it got dark, we headed back into Tucumcari for some photos of the neon signs including the Blue Swallow Motel and Tee Pee Curios.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Our Route 66 Daily Journal: October 7, 2026

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Today we did Route 66 from Shamrock to Amarillo, TX including museums, car ranches, and mini golf.

Our first stop of the day was the Devil’s Rope and Texas Route 66 Museum in McLean.

Next we visited the McLean-Alanreed Area Museum.

Before leaving McLean we stopped at the restored 1929 Phillips 66 Station, which was the first Phillips 66 station in Texas.

As we continued on Route 66, we found the Old 66 Service Station in Alanreed.

Next we stopped to take photos of the Leaning Tower of Britten in Groom.

Our next stop was at the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries, which has the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere.

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We had lunch at The Big Texan in Amarillo.

After lunch, we stopped to take some photos of the Slug Bug Ranch.

Next we visited Texas Ivy Antiques.

We then went to the Texas Route 66 Visitor Center.

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Our next stop was at Cadillac Ranch.

Afterwards we stopped at the nearby 2nd Amendment Cowboy, where there ares some non-graffitied Cadillacs and a gift shop.

Next we played mini golf at Starlight Ranch Mini Putt.

Our last stop of the day was at Buc-ee's Amarillo.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.

Our Route 66 Daily Journal: October 6, 2026

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Today we did Route 66 from Foss, OK to Shamrock, TX as well as detours to Washita Battlefield NHS and a Route 66 themed Interstate rest area.

I did not have a coffeeshop planned, but we ended up happening upon The Turtle Hole in Cheyenne, OK,

Washita Battlefield NHS is not on Route 66, but it is close enough that they have a Historic Route 66 stamp. The Washita Battlefield NHS America 250 stamp was my 250th NPS stamp of 2026.

As we drove through Sayre, we stopped for a photo of the WPA 1939 Pedestrian Underpass.

Also in Sayre, we happened upon the World's Largest Horseshoe.

As we drove through Erick, we stopped for photos of the Roger Miller and Sheb Wooley murals.

Before leaving Oklahoma, we visited the Erick Tourism Info Center to collect our keychains for completing the Oklahoma Route 66 passport.

In Erick, we also found their Route 66 Community Unifier statue.

Near the Texas/Oklahoma state line, we stopped at the Will Rogers Highway Marker and Dad added Texas to the back window of the car.

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Our first stop in Texas was at the Conoco Tower Station & U-Drop Inn Cafe, where we had lunch.

After lunch, we visited Shamrock's Pioneer West Museum.

We then checked out the Blarney Stone Plaza.

Down the road a little, we stopped at the Tower Plaza with the largest water tower of its kind in Texas.

In Shamrock, we also stopped for photos of a big boot outside a steakhouse.

We then took the Interstate to check our the Donley County Route 66 themed rest area.

After sunset, we took a short walk from the hotel to take photos of the U Drop Inn's neon.

See full list of Our Route 66 Adventures here and Google map here.