From Cars to Beethoven

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Albuquerque, New Mexico – 552 miles

To prepare for our trip I thought it would be fun to purchase and watch two movies about trips out west. Since Cars is based on Historic Route 66 and I-40 that was a definite watch.  Beethoven 3 is about a family venturing from Colorado to California in a RV so that too was a perfect choice.

Since we got to Oklahoma City late, we were unable to watch Cars as I had planned.  So, Blake and I popped the movie in to watch for the first part of the trip.  Prior to the trip I researched the real landmarks that served as inspiration to the development of Cars and made a list of stops along the way.

First stop: Conoco Tower and U-Drop Inn Café in Shamrock, TX. The U-Drop Inn Café was the inspiration for Ramone’s Body Art Shop in Cars.  

Upon opening the door in Shamrock we quickly figured out just how windy it is along the panhandle of Texas! Our door flew wide open and the hydraulic closer tore off.  This was just the beginning of mishaps for our day!

Regardless of the door incident, we enjoyed our stop in Shamrock. Blake was able to mark Albemarle on the map with a pushpin to show that we had visited this historic location along Route 66. Next landmark: Cadillac Ranch located just outside of Amarillo, TX.

On our drive to Cadillac Ranch we set our eyes out for the Leaning Water Tower of Texas.  This was used as the inspiration for the leaning tower of tires In front of Luigi’s Casa della Tires in Cars.  I had to snap a quick picture or two as we passed on the interstate. 

Cadillac Ranch is just 10 old Cadillac in the middle of a field with their hoods in the ground. Graffiti is the name of the game here and every one stops to leave a mark – for at least a little while - before heading down the road.  Cars line up all along Route 66 to walk into the field. 

The Cadillac Ranch was used for the design of the mountain range behind Radiator Springs in Cars. 

This was a fun stop for us all.  We left our mark, took a few pictures, and headed on our way. 

Next stop Tucumcari, New Mexico (pronounced Two – Come – Karee)

The terrain drastically changed as we made our way across the Texas panhandle and into New Mexico. Not only did the terrain change but also the temperature continued to rise.  Our thermometer in the RV measured 102 degrees!  We were all glad we had air conditioning.  And then things started to change as we drove into Tucumcari.  The fan to the air conditioning just stopped working!  Great – another mishap to our day.

We pulled into the Flying J’s to fill up on gas, check the fuses, and make a few other “repairs” inside the RV. We had no luck and not able to fix the air conditioning problem, but we were able to get some great pics of Tucumcari Mountain.  Tucumcari Mountain was the inspiration for the radiator shaped mountain behind Radiator Springs in Cars. Another landmark checked off our list.

When we left Oklahoma City we knew we wanted to get to at least Tucumcari for the night.  With the air conditioning situation, Al wanted to get to the other side of Albuquerque for the night.  This would make for a shorter drive tomorrow without air conditioning.  He knew we weren’t going to be able to get anything fixed until Monday anyways.  So, off we went ….

With windows open, we experienced Route 66 as it was experienced in the past – with no air! 

We drove down the middle of Tucumcari, which is said to be the inspiration for Radiator Springs.  Some of the fun things we saw as we passed through town included the Blue Swallow Motel (inspiration for the Cozy Cone Motel in Cars) and a Mexican restaurant in the shape of a sombrero. 

I will have to say driving through the desert of New Mexico without any air was not in the plans but I have to laugh because our day began focusing on Cars as our travel theme but seemed to end more like Beethoven!

We arrived at our resting spot at the Route 66 RV Resort located about 20 miles outside of Albuquerque.  We were hot, tired, and grouchy but nothing a little bit if air conditioning couldn’t solve.  After hooking up to power, we all crashed for the night.  Tomorrow includes the watching of Beethoven 3 before heading out towards Williams, AZ.