A really up “down day”!!

Sunday May 29, 2011
Enchanted Trails RV Park
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Woke at 6 to check with our official weather watcher about whether the winds were going to let us travel today. 
The wind forecasts said we could be driving in winds
gusting to 35 or maybe 40mph. 
We decided to chill and play it safe.

Did a little e-mail
then made some chocolate chip pancakes with sausage for breakfast. 
All is well.

 
Chatting with the man in the office
as I paid for another night
and snapped pictures of the model collection of travel trailers
and motorhomes in the lobby,
I learned that there was a FREE car show
up at the casino just 6 miles down old route 66
(actually the I-40 frontage road at this point). 
Wow, a perfect day for a free car show! 

I did not expect Sherry to want to go given the winds
and I was right about that. 
She also would probably not want to go to the bar
I found that offered the greatest selection
of microbrews on tap in Albuquerque. 
Right again
- could be a record day for me.
 
In fact she was happy to have me go
and leave her to catch up on the blogs. 

We were both happy & off I went down old 66
toward the Route 66 Casino.

On the opposite side of I-40 from the casino,
I spotted six really big (exceedingly long) rigs
chilling in a big empty lot
- I assume because these huge wind turbine blades
they were hauling are difficult to keep on the road
in heavy wind. 
Felt better about our decision to stay another day.

 

The casino is the only thing in sight for miles
from either direction on I-40
and they sure do want everyone to come in
and have a good time. 

I resisted the urge to go inside
and had a blast in the parking lot
where there was a DJ pumping out the hits
for the car crowd - rock 'n roll, beach tunes, cruising music -
all the right stuff. 
This was sweet for me
- a lot of cars and no time limit. 

This was a custom car show
though there were many close to original. 
Here are some of my favorites:

Custom '57 Chevy,
love the two tone paint and chrome fin trim.

 

Thanks to Michael Champos
for this '37 Buick 4 door sedan.

I'm guessing '50 on this Chevy 3100 pickup.

This '50 Ford (I'm sure about this one)
is a Custom Tudor Coupe. 
This is the same model car my parents gave me
around 1967 and I drove for 16 years
before retiring it in 1983.

 

Sweet two tone drop top '55 Chevy Belair.

 

Ray Baca brought this '56 Mercury Montclair
- rarely seen any more.

 

A '59 Pontiac Bonneville with "V" fins!!

 

Donnie Hamilton's '31 Ford Coupe hot rod.

 

Straight up '52 Chevy optional fender skirts and sun visor.

 

Thanks to Gary and Sue Frey
for this '33 Chrysler Touring sedan.

Thanks to Michael McMahon
for his '37 GMC T14 truck.

 

A beauty of a station wagon
- the '56 Chevy Nomad. 
Don't see many of these either. 
Thanks to Cris Baca.

 

And finally, going out in flames
with Jimmy Hardyman's '30 Ford Sedan hot rod.
(Sherry thinks this is ruining a perfectly
wonderful car) 

 

Oh well, I was figuratively and literally blown away
at this show, so what could be better
than to finish the job with a fine microbrew
on old route 66 to top off a fine day. 

I stopped by the coach on the way
just in case Sherry was getting burned out
and changed her mind. 
Ha!!  I couldn't tear her away,
she was blazing away at the keyboard.

 

So I'm off again
in the other direction on 66
going into Albuquerque. 
It turns out Kelly's is right
in the neighborhood of the University of New Mexico
- that explains why they have so many microbrew choices
on tap including 10 or 12 of their own.

Cool thing about this bar is
it used to be the Jones Motor Company
when it originally opened in 1939,
and after many years housing other businesses
and periods of dormancy,
the present owners restored much
of the original motor company
to preserve the historic flavor
on Historic Route 66. 

Original picture from their web site
showing the building in 1939.

 

And today
- the "Ford" logo on top now says "Food"
in the original Ford logo font,
and over the garage door openings
are the original signs
for "Service"
and "Lubrication". 

I had to laugh
- first you get served, then you get "lubed" -
assuming you are drinking some of
the new fuel they serve up.

I only had one Imperial Stout which was very fine
and this lead me to the old men's room
where I found a clever set of ads above the urinal
from JohnnyBoards.com
- so clever I just wonder why these are not everywhere.
And no graffiti.  

 

So far, so good. 
In fact, GREAT DAY already. 
Finished the day by picking up a six pack
of Red Ale from the Marble Brewery,
another local brewery
along with fixings for homemade tostadas.

Homemade tostada!!

After dinner,
I was reading about the section of Route 66
preserved in the Petrified Forest National Park
and came across the original lyrics
to the tune "Route 66",
by Bobby Troup,
and this great playback
of Bing Crosby's version with the Andrews Sisters
played on a replica Victrola. 

If you remember this song
and the days of 78 rpm records,
you should give this one a spin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_8UhH21jz0

I was really UP for this down day!!
You just never know what they may bring.