Route 66 - We Slept in a Wigwam! (Day #5 - Tucumcari to Holbrook)

Late last summer, Alan and I spent 22 nights on the road in a dedicated effort to travel Historic Route 66 from start to finish, Chicago to Santa Monica.  Eight states, three time zones and 2,448 miles.  The journey continues.

When planning our Route 66 pilgrimage, Alan and I decided that there were two specific iconic motels along the Mother Road that warranted an overnight stay.  We enjoyed our warm welcome at the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico, at the end of Day #4.  On Day #5, we were excitedly looking forward to our stay at the remaining “must do” – the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona.  First, though, we needed to work our way through our remaining scavenger hunt items in New Mexico, and cross the border into Arizona.

DAY 5 Scavenger Hunt Highlights:

Enchanted Trails RV Park - Albuquerque, NM

Enchanted Trails is a good camping spot for travelers on Route 66.

KiMo Theatre - Albuquerque, NM

Exquisite detail!

El Vado Motel - Albuquerque, NM

An excellent photo op in Grants, NM!

Just east of Holbrook, AZ

Painted Desert Inn

Gorgeous views from the terrace

Newspaper Rock - Painted Desert & Petrified Forest National Park

A long view in the National Park

Many pieces of petrified wood can be found throughout the Park . . .

. . . including some that are very large.

An incredibly popular stop for Route 66 travelers

Our #5 Wigwam at the Wigwam Motel - Holbrook, AZ

Note the petrified wood on the right.

Well, that was fun!

Random Comments, Observations and Bits of Info

The good people of Tucumcari, New Mexico, deserve a round of applause for their diligent efforts to keep the spirit of Route 66 alive and well.  There are many old motels, gas stations, shops and restaurants in Tucumcari.  While some of them have deteriorated considerably, many others have been well-maintained.  This living history makes Tucumcari a stop you won’t want to miss on your journey along Route 66.

Off of Route 66 between Tucumcari and Albuquerque is Santa Fe – the capital of New Mexico.  Alan and I spent some time in Santa Fe in 2023 when we toured the states in the southwest, so we didn’t make the detour this go-round.  But Santa Fe is chock full of history and excellent museums that would make it well worth a visit if you can spare the time on your Route 66 pilgrimage.

The loss of the Musical Highway outside of Albuquerque makes me incredibly sad.  Rumble strips cut into the edge of NM Route 333 (Historic Route 66) used to play America the Beautiful if you drove at precisely 45 m.p.h. with your passenger side tires on the white line at the right edge of the road.  Over the years, the wear and tear on the highway diminished the musical quality, and all of the signage was eventually removed.  When Alan and I visited Albuquerque on a previous trip, we spent about 30 minutes trying to “play” the song.  The best we could do was pick up a few snippets.  It was so disappointing that we didn’t even stop to try again when we passed through last summer.  There was a rumor that the New Mexico DOT might try to acquire funding to rebuild the Musical Highway in time for the Mother Road’s Centennial this year, but I never found confirmation that it happened.  If you’d like to give it a go, take Exit 170 off of I-40 (Carnuel Exit), and head east on NM Route 333.  The Musical Highway is located between mile markers 4 and 5.

When we overnighted in Albuquerque on our 2017 West Coast National Parks trip, we stayed at the Enchanted Trails RV Park.  It wasn’t fancy, but the owners certainly embraced the spirit of Historic Route 66, making it an excellent choice if you’re camping your way along the Mother Road.

Also off of Route 66, but definitely worth a stop while you’re in Albuquerque, is Celina’s Biscochitos on Osuna Road.  In 1989, New Mexico chose the biscochito as its state cookie – making it the first state to ever have such a designation.  Biscochitos are crisp butter cookies, traditionally made with lard and flavored with cinnamon and anise - and Celina’s makes some of the best.  They were so good, that we brought some home with us for the kids.  The only thing that kept us from eating them along the way was the stash we bought for ourselves and kept in the car.

The KiMo Theatre in Albuquerque was one of the opulent “film palaces” that were popular in the 1920’s.  It was unique due to its architectural style – a combination of art deco and Native American.  A fire destroyed part of the theatre in 1961 and it closed down in 1968.  Revived in the 1990’s, this lovely theatre still screens classic and modern films.

The El Vado Auto Court Motel, built in the Pueblo Revival style with exposed wood beams, irregular shaped windows and a “show-stopping” neon sign, has been closed for years.  It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.  The El Vado is one of the few examples of an un-altered pre-1940’s motor court left along Route 66 in New Mexico.  Honestly, it looked like a weary traveler could pull right in to see if any rooms were available for the night.

Grants, New Mexico, is a small railroad town that transitioned into an agricultural community and a center for uranium mining.  It also has two small parks that sit adjacent to each other – Fire & Ice Park and City Hall Park.  You’ll want to stop at these parks.  Why?  Because you’ll find a very cool 18’ arch shaped like a Route 66 sign.  This, my friends, is one of the best photo ops along Route 66, so don’t miss it.

The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park was our first stop after crossing into Arizona.   This is the only National Park that protects a portion of Route 66, and it contains the world’s largest and most colorful collection of petrified wood.  Two “don’t miss” stops in the Park: the Painted Desert Inn and Newspaper Rock.  (My two cents.)  The inn was built with petrified wood and stone in the Pueblo Revival style.  Between 1940 and 1942 (when it closed), the inn was managed by the Fred Harvey Company to service passengers on the Santa Fe Railway.  In 1947, famed architect Mary Jane Colter renovated the inn with updated colors and lots of glass to showcase the magnificent scenery.  The Painted Desert Inn now houses the Park’s museum and bookstore, and it’s quite the visual treat to walk through.  Newspaper Rock, within the Park, contains more than 650 petroglyphs etched into its boulders.  We have never seen that many etchings in one place before - and they're very well preserved.  Both the inn and the petroglyphs were highlights of our visit to this unusual National Park.

As we drove through Holbrook on our way to the Wigwam Motel, we spotted Joe and Aggie’s Café.  This café, which had opened back in 1943, had been quite a popular stop for Route 66 travelers.  Allegedly, some of the best Mexican food in the state – green and red chili dishes, Navajo tacos, cheese crisps – was served here, and the souvenir selection was plentiful and kitschy.  Notice that I used the past tense to describe Joe & Aggie’s.  Despite the fact that it was up and running whenever my guide book was published, the café had been closed down sometime before our arrival, and it didn’t look like the closure was recent.  So sad.  If a Route 66 trip is on your bucket list, don’t wait too long.  It seems like every year we’re losing more and more of the Mother Road’s iconic attractions.

Now, for the Wigwam Motel . . . Seven “Wigwam Villages” were built across the country in Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Arizona and California beginning in 1937.  (Fans of the film Cars will recognize them as the “Cozy Cone Motel” in the movie.)  Only three of the villages remain and, of those three, only two are on Route 66.  One is in Cave City, Kentucky (Wigwam Village #2); one is in the Rialto area of San Bernardino, California (Wigwam Village #7); and the third is the one we stayed at in Holbrook, Arizona (Wigwam Village #6). The experience was memorable, that’s for sure!  Tucking ourselves inside our tiny wigwam for the night, it was easy to imagine travelers from the past century doing the same.  Let’s face it – how many times do you have an opportunity to sleep in a wigwam, manufactured or not?  It was quite the treat!  I will say that our welcome was nowhere near as warm as the cheerful reception we received from Rob at the Blue Swallow Motel.  The desk clerk in the Wigwam office was polite and efficient, but she certainly didn’t exude the same “labor of love” attitude exhibited by Rob and Dawn back in Tucumcari.  When she instructed me to leave our key in the wigwam in the morning, I assured her it would be no trouble to drop it off in the office on our way out.  Her reply?  “The office doesn’t open until 3:00.”  So, no fresh morning coffee to enjoy over a conversation with the owner?  Nope.  No one around to recommend the best place in town for breakfast?  Nope.  This stop felt like nothing more than an impersonal moneymaker to me.  The office at the Wigwam Motel seemed more like a dusty relic of the past than a welcome stop for travelers.  Plus, despite the fact that this establishment displayed many more antique vehicles than the Blue Swallow, most were in considerably worse shape.  (I didn't post pics of the old rust buckets.)  Speaking frankly, we were rather disappointed.  Are we happy we stayed in a Wigwam?  Absolutely!  Are we happy we chose the one we did?  Unfortunately, no.  If we ever decide on another Route 66 trip, I’d give the Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino a try.  Because that Wigwam had been completely renovated by new owners in 2005, I thought the experience in Holbrook might be a little a more authentic.  Now, I’d pass on authentic and jump at the chance to stay in San Bernardino to see if we could conjure up some real Route 66 wigwam magic.

What’s next?  Day #6 was such a full day that I might have to break it up into two parts.  Time will tell.  Meanwhile, come along and stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, with us!