We aren’t actually leaving Albuquerque yet but we spent today doing things here in hopes of leaving tomorrow. Our first stop was the UPS store to pick up the new, more padded seat for my Segway. Unfortunately, we got there before the seat did. We thought that the tracking number indicating the seat was in Albuquerque was enough. Nope, it was in ABQ all right but not yet to the store we asked it be delivered to. Normally it would have been there by the time we found the store but today’s delivery driver was running late. So we decided to make our other stops and come back later. But, the delivery driver pulled in before we got out of the parking lot, so we waited after all. At least, we didn’t have to backtrack for it.
Then we went to WalMart. Our groceries were amazingly low for us and I needed to order another prescription. We’ve been moving all our prescriptions from Target to WalMart because there are more WalMart stores than there are Targets once you get out of Minnesota. This may be a bad idea, though. As I’ve indicated previously, WalMart pharmacies don’t seem to have their act together well at all. They treat each new prescription as if I’m a brand new customer so they don’t get the address right nor do they see that they are supposed to give me easy-open caps. This one didn’t notice they were supposed to fill with a generic if possible nor did they file a claim with our insurance company. So Dave had them do it over again. I think I need to Google Target and see if they are more prevalant than I originally thought.
At least, this WalMart had recycling bins. We finally got rid of that bag of cans we’ve been carrying around plus another bag we filled up while trying to get rid of the first one. Yay!
Then we started seeing the Route 66 sights in ABQ. We were supposed to do this earlier in the day so the photos didn’t come out as well as I would have liked. And some of the places we saw didn’t have good photo opportunities at all since they were all along Central Avenue, a busy 4-lane street. But, we did see the De Anza Motel, the Royal Motor Inn, the Town Lodge Motel, the Aztec Motel, the Lobo Theater, the 66 Diner, and the KiMo theater.
We had lunch at the 66 Diner. We almost didn’t because we couldn’t find a place to park. We got trapped in their parking lot without finding a spot then found ourselves turning into a very narrow alley trying to get out again. I got out and helped Dave figure out the maneuvers required. We had about three inches on each side of us as we made the turn but we didn’t scrape anything. Then we parked in a lot next door, with me helping him back up over that same alley so close to a utility pole that when Dave got out of the RV it leaned into the pole. When we were ready to leave, he pulled out of that one before I got in or something would have been damaged.
The diner had lots of memorabilia on the walls including a row of hundreds of Pez dispensers which reminded me of my friend the late Pat Walker who also had a collection of them. I still miss him.
The diner also had George Lopez eating at the table next to our booth. All the waitresses suddenly felt a need to come to our end of the counter to roll silverware in napkins. And a few people stopped to ask for photos and/or autographs. All of this happened behind my back so I didn’t know what the fuss was until he and his friends left. I’ve never watched his TV program so I wouldn’t have known who he was if the waiter didn’t tell us. He did look like he should be somebody, though. Something about his tan and his clothes and the way he carried himself. I wonder if celebrities don’t get tired of never being able to eat a meal in peace, though.
Driving down old route 66 in cities can be a challenge because I see lots of places that look like they should have been on our list and wonder why they weren’t. One of the reasons may be because they bought their signs from this place–The Absolutely Neon Co. How would you like to have that display in your front window?
We also went to the American International Rattlesnake Museum. Sort of. It was in Old Town where the streets were narrow, not as narrow as that alley, but narrow anyway. And the only parking was in a paid lot where we couldn’t tell if we would fit between the gate posts. And the museum, which we only wanted to see because it advertised a display on how to be safe around rattlesnakes, looked more like the old rattle snake/trading post tourist traps than a museum.
So we skipped it and headed back to camp where Dave is installing the new seat on my Segway and we will do laundry to be ready to hit the road again tomorrow–God willing and the creek don’t rise.
TTYL,
Linda
Linda,
I had missed this post! We ate at the 66 Diner, but parked in two parallel spots across the street (and fed both meters). And, not that you need to know anymore, but the V/N does fit into that lot in Old Town. We did it early in the morning and were happy to get out of the lot before very many people came, though….