Mary Panttaja

An interesting conundrum for some small towns seems to be that they evolved on major thoroughfares—for all the right reasons, I’m sure, but now people live on major thoroughfares, which is not the most comfortable spot these days.

We slept over in Grants, New Mexico. Nearby is a traditional travel route from the Acoma area to the Zuni area, used for centuries by native Americans to travel from one major community to another. On that path is a famous bluff called El Morro on which natives and adventurers, leaders and common soldiers have inscribed their insignias, names, and dates. The bluff itself was valuable because of a persistant pool of water at its base, a old fashioned rest stop. The oldest European signature is from the Spanish governor of the area in 1605.

So this is a natural travel corridor and no less so for us. Highway 40 runs through here and a major rail line. Highway 40 is better known as the historic Route 66. The highway traffic is constant and, surprisingly, so is the rail traffic. Every 30 minutes or so another one goes through.

The bad news is that this small town (like the town of Palisade, CO where we stayed earlier) can’t afford proper train signals on their roads—you know, the ones that blink and come down across the road to prevent you from trying to cross at the wrong moment. It turns out that if you do not have such fancy barriers, the train must, for safety’s sake, sound its whistles all the way through town—every train, every trip. Makes for an interesting night for a newcomer. Our friend Valerie, new to Palisade and innocent of history, asked the town fathers why they put up with the whistles. They explained patiently to her that it cost $500,000 to put in the signals and, of course, as a small country town, they didn’t have an extra half million to spare. And, I’m sure that every small town in America adds up to a pretty bill for the shipping industry as well.

So each small town puts up with the noise, and unwary travelers have a occasional surprisingly noisy night’s sleep. Most of the campers are in big RV boxes sealed on all sides and insulated with air conditioners, so they may not even have noticed.

But the thunderstorm last night was fun to watch as it steamed by us, not a drop of rain fell on us so we could sit out and watch, but just a few miles off it was quite stormy.

PS. We will probably drive home on Route 66 as it is the most direct way and takes us through Jim’s old home town of Barstow. He spent part of his youth wandering the Mohave Desert, which is why we are sort of desert rats.

PPS. I just found our hotel in Albuquerque on a map—turns out it is on the historic Route 66, now known as Central but noted on a map as the “post 1937″ Route 66.

PPPS. We were not yet employed when we booked this hotel and were looking for something close to the convention center but cheap. This Econo Lodge is very nice, clean, great service, a warm pool, close in. (Okay, it is on the freeway and nothing is fancy.) I am very pleased by it and for only $55 per day.  I really do think it is valuable to economize—you experience a place more directly without a lot of insulation from everything. (Though I am enjoying the air conditioning this afternoon. Sorry.)