coffee break

We're reloading the car for today's route to Durango still buzzing from all the news since meeting our Albuquerque friends yesterday.

Before we hit today's new Route 84 we'll drop back into Santa Fe for a last moment on Route 66 and to refuel for the journey.

It's still early morning right now, with already a strong sunlight and blue skies. I'm operating on coffee alone at the moment and will probably hold eating until we get back into the centre of town.

We've already been looking at maps and decided a route which will take us past many Native American sights along the Rio Grande and Rio Chama on the way north-west to Colorado for the next leg of our journey.

Santa Fe

Santa Fe today, which wasn't quite as I'd expected it. I'd anticipated the middle of town to be high rise, but Santa Fe definitely is not. It's a Pueblo revival style of architecture, with most of the buildings around two stories high.

It works well to make a charming centre to the city, which was still sleepily awakening when we arrived in the centre on Sunday morning. We'd started early with coffees 'to go' so that we could be back by 1pm to meet some nearby friends. Not quite our original plan for how to meet, but close enough.

We'd sent them a mail throughout the post, when we left England, because we didn't have the right electronic means of communication. A few mishaps, but we were now all synchronised to meet. It should have been in Albuquerque, but hey.

mah-waan, mah-waan

We're still heading east and spent part of today on Route 66 spotting many shiny vehicles and a large assortment of Harley motorcycles.

Eventually it was time to head north towards the Rio Grande and the mountains.

All along the route are many signs of the native American Indians and tonight we're staying with the people of the Picuris Pueblo. They settled in the area some 800 years ago as the 'people of a hidden valley'. Nowadays, they are an intrinsic part of the scene around Santa Fe.

Getting my kicks

The idea of many of the Main Streets in USA being joined together by the old Route 66 was an interesting one, even if the Superhighways criss- crossing America brought an inevitable end to the old route with the crowded rise of the automobile.

I've travelled part of Route 66 before, but this time am further East, currently in New Mexico, where the road gets its own special signage and every so often there's a strip of it that's been refurbished.

What better place to stop at a brilliant diner and eat a blue plate special from the counter, sitting on one of those spinning stools? And don't forget the milkshake.

Mine's a strawberry.