With my round of golf at the Albuquerque Country Club scheduled for mid-afternoon, I spent the morning relaxing with a breakfast at the Standard Diner two miles from the golf course. Fortunately, I was able to move the round to mid-morning and was back on the Mother Road by 1:30. I was apprehensive about what the Mustang would deliver mechanically but during the 137 mile trip to the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, NM, it was spinning like a top the whole way.

I had a late breakfast (for me) at the Standard Diner in downtown Albuquerque. Although this version of the restaurant was established in 2006, it goes back to the late 1930's. This is another Route 66 establishment that has been featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives."

As usual, I had a basic breakfast.

From the diner, I drove directly to the Albuquerque Country Club to check on the possibility of moving my tee time from 2:30 to an earlier time. I understand how busy private courses get on Friday afternoon which might lead to a very long round for me and a very late arrival in Gallup, NM.

My timing could not have been better. Golf Professional Jim Davison asked me how soon I could be ready to go and I was on the first tee by 10:30.

The Albuquerque Country Club is unique. There is not a single water hazard on the entire course. It is not ultra-long so its only defense is the trees that line every single hole. It is a dead flat course near Old Town Albuquerque.

One of the things I really like about the course is the lack of cart paths. Cart paths exist only around the tees and greens. There are signs of heat damage on the course. I'm sure it is due to the "magnifying glass effect" when the sun burns down through puddles of rain after a storm.

Albuquerque is considered high desert with high temperatures and low humidity so I thought the course would be dry and hard. But the course was way more soft than I thought it would be so there wasn't much roll on drives. I noticed fairways were being watered throughout the day.

Although it was in the mid-90's, there was a nice breeze and lots of shade so heat was not an issue.

I played behind a twosome the first nine and after they quit at the turn, played through one other twosome on the 13th tee and was off the course by 1:15.


I was able to secure a logo ball so the count now stands at twenty-two for thirty-three. 

It was a little tricky navigating out of Albuquerque and trying to stay on Route 66. And of course, I was anxious to see how the Mustang was going to do on the open road.

So as soon as I could, I got on I-40 and brought the car up to speed. No issues! What a relief!!

I got off I-40 at the first exit and tried to find Route 66 again. But I got on the East Marginal Road instead of the West and drove 7 miles out of my way towards the Albuquerque Landfill before turning around and correcting my mistake.

The drive to Gallup consists of both Interstate driving and the old Mother Road driving. I stopped in Budville to snap a picture of an old business that is no more, the Budville Trading Company.

The next town I passed through was the small village of Cubero. One of the myths of Route 66 is that Ernest Hemingway wrote "The Old Man and the Sea" in an old cafe in the town. Nobody really knows for sure.

About 25 miles from Gallup is the Continental Divide which is the point at which water either flows into the Pacific Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.  My altimeter showed the height at 7254 feet. One sign said 7245 feet and the other sign said 7275 feet. It is also reported this is the highest point on Route 66. But on the way to Santa Fe yesterday, the elevation climbs over 7500 feet.

There was a horrific accident on I-40 that had eastbound traffic backed up for miles. As I was driving on Route 66 parallel to I-40, I noticed traffic on Route 66 was heavy. Then it hit me that traffic was being re-routed onto Route 66.

My hotel for the night is a Route 66 landmark established in 1937. The Hotel el Rancho was once the premier hotel in the entire Southwest and became the playground of celebrities who were filming in the area. There is a collage of photographs of all the celebrities who stayed at the hotel while making Westerns during the late 1930's and 1940's. The hotel touts itself as "The Home of the Movie Stars." Rooms are named for the celebrities who stayed in them. Here's a short list of the some of the stars who stayed at the hotel: Doris Day, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Mitchum, Errol Flynn, William

Holden, Troy Donahue, John Wayne, W.C. Fields, Jackie Cooper, Jane Wyman, Spencer Tracy, Jimmy Stewart, Alan Ladd, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Gene Autry, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth. There is a Ronald Reagan Suite where both the Ronald Reagan and Paul McCartney have stayed.

I was hoping I'd be in the John Wayne room or even the Jimmy Stewart room. I am in the Jane Wyman room. Interestingly, the room right next door is the Ronald Reagan suite. Of course, Jane Wyman was Ronnie's first wife. I looked for a passage between the two rooms but couldn't find one.

There is also a very good restaurant attached to the motel where I had a good catfish dinner.

So that brings the New Mexico piece of the trip to a close. I've now played 33 of the 44 courses on the list and have five more days to play the final eleven courses.

Tomorrow I'll be on the road by 6:00 A.M. for a 128 mile drive to Winslow, AZ to "stand on the corner." Then it's another 55 miles into Flagstaff for breakfast at Miz Zip's. 43 miles later, I'll be in Williams, AZ for a round of golf at Elephant Rocks Golf Course, the only Arizona course on Route 66. Finally, I'll travel 142 miles for dinner at the Oatman Hotel Restaurant & Saloon before driving 23 miles to my motel in Needles, CA. That's a 390 mile trip, the most ambitious one-day drive of this adventure.

Day 15: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-15-standin-on-the-corner-elephant-rocks-and-california-here-i-come.html