We have stopped in Tucumcari for the weekend enroute to the Kansas City area. This is another one of those Route 66 towns. After seeing a few of these Route 66 towns it does get somewhat depressing to see what was and what is now. These towns cling to the past to get some tourism dollars into the town but for the most part they are very depressed areas. Empty and falling down buildings with very few thriving businesses.
You can tell that Tucumcari was a very busy place during the 50’s and 60’s just by the number of motels, café’s and gas stations. Most of these are no longer in business but the signs still remain to give you some nostalgia. Some have taken the initiative to restore a motel or an old gas station, but who would really want to stay in one of these old, very small motel rooms. It is amazing how our tastes have changed. These old rooms have enough room for a bed and a TV.
It is cool to see the old signs as drive you on Route 66. Here are some of them.
![[Cactus%255B2%255D.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Sau07r2B6zEidN8Zf2GkBs4zwlOysEbSeT4QgwCurTY7t5Jjej84HigpYDX1MfMLVa4URLotbbBuj7aZBP5liqhOGtc5BQVmwcaqQ5ZK4F0ypBi1F4ORvWSmiexZN-B9gcOVZ1w_Mtsa/s1600-h/Cactus%25255B2%25255D.jpg)
The RV park we are staying in is part of an old Route 66 motel. The rooms are still there, but I don’t think they rent them out. There were 4 RV parks in town and this one got the best reviews of the 4, but when we drove into the park all you see is 4 very small run down sites just behind the motel. If this was all they had we were moving on. The owner came out and told us he had more, very large, spaces in the back. It is a pretty run down place but the site was long and level with full hookups and only $20 a night with our Passport America discount. For a weekend it is fine, but any longer and we would have passed.
What was funny is that after we set up the owner came by to get payment and asked us why we were in Tucumcari for 4 days! I would guess he does not get many people to stay longer than a night.
So glad you stopped in Tucumcari. We are know for friendliness. We do have many motel choices and many of the restored rooms are large and very comfortable. Wish you could have taken time to visit our convention center. We have a wonderful photo exhibit and and veteran's display. We host many conventions because we are affordable. We have a great convention center staff that is a pleasure to work with. Hope you took time to visit our world class dinosaur musuem and the worlds tallest classroom at Mesalands Community College. On your next trip through we hope to have our railroad museum up and running at our newly renovated train depot. Also take time to tour our building murals and our reto painted gas stations. We are working to put a new face on our community and build our community pride. Hope you will make many trips through our town over the next few years to watch our progress. Happy travels.
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