Day 10 - Route 66 Day 8 Sunday March 14, traveled 197.1 miles today

We went to the Cathedral St Laurence in Amarillo. It was one of the two English masses, with Spanish thrown in along the way. It was again, I say again, because you get a feeling of home with a Spanish music and feeling. The priest, Fr. Gabriel had just returned from Mexico and the people reached out to him like a long lost friend, which I am sure he is. He was helping a parish down there and hopes for a way to legally have the young men who are priests down there come here to help us. The music was led by two men on their guitars, what nice music. During the collection he sat on the steps in front of the alter and the young children came forward and deposited their change. I guess you can look at that a couple ways, but I will think it was to have contact with them. As a Cathedral it was not pretentious, it had old walnut benches, few alter or wall art real quaint. But again it had the people. At the end of the service they acknowledged wedding anniversaries, birthdays, visitors – Minnesota, we were the only ones.

As we headed out of town and hit the road we saw the famous Cadillac Ranch. There are ten Cad’s buried half way into the earth and filled with graffiti. I suspect that the partial of land which is a good 300 feet out in the field is actually a toxic waste dump. Of course you see the people spraying over parts of the car that was done by others, many empty spray cans with plastic tops blowing across the land. We did not see the big dumpster further down or we would have picked up some of the refuse ourselves.

We drove thru another town and spotted another gas station, the Magnolia Gas Station,  built in 1920, it sold Magnolia Petroleum products, two stories high and refurbished to a T.

As we approached the Texas boarder we had lost hope of finding a Route 66 shield, all we could find was Old Route 66, nothing with Texas on the signs like the other states. We reached Adrian TX the half way point of the Journey on The Mother Road mile marker 1139 either way. At this point we had already 1498 miles a little more than they accumulated. This was our lunch spot, Brenda’s Café, no menu, he just told us what they had without the price structure. We both had a diet Coke, Shirleen a California hamburger – lettuce, onions, tomato -with fries and I a California rib eye sandwich which he suggested and fries. The two other tables had the patriarchs of the respective families and having good family time. As they broke up the two families talked together, just fun talk about what they were going to do and grandpa mentioned a couple things he would not do – snowboard. It was just us then and it was there closing time, about 2:15 and a car drove up. the waiter asked the cook if they could eat, the door opened and he asked if they were to late, the waiter said no come on in. a family going to Santa Fe to go skiing, this was the third family we met doing that.

We are to the side of I40 on the old route 66 highway and approach these highway gates. I slowed down and entered, a sign said, watch out for livestock. Well a half block down the road and here are our two new friends just off the road we are on.

A couple miles down the line and Shirleen says there is a narrow way under I40 to the north. As we made our way along the paved way we went up to a corner and it turned dirt again. Around the curve were two of these culverts one under each lane. The bottom scrapped the dirt but no water to get stuck under the road.

We ended up in Santa Rosa at a Holiday Inn Express, at 4 pm they still did not have a room on the second floor ready for us. We set out to look for a car wash and could not find one so Shirleen mentioned a drink and a bite to eat. We bought a bottle of Mondovi cabernet wine, as the good stuff had to go by the bottle and we could take it with. We split a Chiles Rellenos with beans, rice and a small salad. The question in New Mexico do you want red or green sauce, how would I know so I asked for both. I have seen these Rellenos made on the Food Network I have always wanted to try one. It is a green pepper stuffed with cheese and breaded and deep fried. The people in the next both said they stop by each year and have them; they’re the best she said. Jerry