Jody went to find parking.
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Happy Friday, Reader! We made it through New Mexico, which means I’m writing this somewhere on the other side of it with dust still on the windshield and a week’s worth of stories I’m still processing. The landscape here has a way of slowing you down. Big skies, red earth, and sunsets that made our campsite one of my favorites! The road had a few surprises in store too. More on that below. This Week's FeatureThe Blue Swallow Motel has been glowing on the side of Route 66 in Tucumcari since 1939. Most of the motels that used to line this highway are gone now. Boarded up, caved in, or just quietly forgotten. The Blue Swallow is still here, still lit, still doing exactly what it was built to do. We didn't stay. We pulled over because you can't not, which is easier said than done when you're hauling a fifth wheel through a small New Mexico town at night. We found a spot, made it work, and I grabbed the camera before Jody could change his mind about the parking situation. The neon hits differently at night. That turquoise glow against a black New Mexico sky is the kind of thing that stops you mid-sentence. I didn't put the camera down for an hour. There's something about photographing a place that has outlasted almost everything around it. It's not nostalgia exactly. It's more like relief. Some things hold on. THE FIVEThe staircase inside gets all the attention. I kept pointing my lens at the light coming through the windows instead. This is why we do it. A peaceful campsite with a view that will stop your heart and then be gone four minutes later. The vendors were set up before the storm rolled in, every color in New Mexico spread out on one street corner. Pueblo Deco on Route 66 at dusk. Jody dropped me at the stoplight and went to find parking. I didn't mind waiting one bit. The Route 66 neon arch over Central Avenue and my first time using Live Comp on the OM-1. I planted myself on that sidewalk and let the cars do their part. One TipThe Loretto Chapel wasn't on my list. A friend mentioned it in passing when I told him we were in the area. I checked it out and knew we had to go. My best tip for road tripping through a new state is to hold your itinerary loosely. Do the research, know the highlights, and then leave a few blank spaces. Some of the best things we've seen on this trip were never on the map to begin with. Next week we're in Texas, where a week somehow turned into a single day and we made it count anyway.
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