First was the Route 66 Auto Museum. I know, I know, right? This is becoming a thing with us; auto museums, I mean. There was the one in Reno and now this one. Well, the two are similar only in that they both have "old" cars. That kind of stuck in my craw a little, here in Santa Rosa. Most of the "old" cars in the museum were cars I coveted in high school. Many of the rest were cars I coveted in college.
This museum is run by a couple who apparently own the garage across the street, "Bozo's Auto Repair." They are very sweet and friendly. We enjoyed chatting with them. I am not sure, but I think Bozo restores some of the cars and then sells them through the museum. There are some cars, including a 1953 Corvette, that are in their original state, having never been restored.
Here's the front of the museum. One of the nicer looking buildings in town.
1949 Ford Station Wagon (woodie). This car was mostly restored, but the interior had been dolled up with front bucket seats and a custom center console made of wood.
My pick was this 1931 Auburn, which you can buy for a mere $48,000. Except for paint, it appears to be all original.
1956 Mercury Montclaire hardtop convertible
(meaning no post between the front and rear side windows.)
1957 Chevy Nomad wagon with 454 CID V8. One of my coveted cars in my younger days.
This motor scooter was marked 1956.
There were a couple of early Mustangs, and notice all the memorabilia on the walls.
That's a Plymouth Roadrunner second from the front.
More memorabilia, and a 1979 Datsun 280Z,
or as a friend of mine would say, "A 28 Ounce Datsun."
This is obviously a picture of a picture, but considering
the trailer we are traveling in, I had to have a copy.
Here's our little home away from home.
This Ford is labeled "Bozo's Auto Repair."
And goodness only knows what this is! 1958 Edsel, I think. Perhaps the next picture explains it!?
This museum was a lot of fun and at $5 it was pretty cheap entertainment. It seems to be one of the most prosperous businesses in town. I recommend it, if you find yourself in Santa Rosa, NM. In addition to this fun spot, I can recommend the Santa Rosa Campground and RV Park, our home-away-from-home in Santa Rosa. They have a cafe attached that serves some very tasty BBQ. The young man (mid 20s) who checked us in is the chef, and I think the waitress is his fiancee. They work hard and put out a good product.
We wouldn't have known about either of these enterprises if it weren't for the persistent severe weather in the region. We are attempting to stay behind the severe thunderstorms and golf ball sized hail that are just to the east of us. Our original plan was to drive across mid-Texas, but a lot of that area has had storm damage, including flooding. Then we were going to head for Amarillo, TX two days ago, but the weather there is threatening, too. So, here we are in Santa Rosa. Nomads gotta do what nomads gotta do.
I said we did both of the things there are to do in SRNM. So, the second was to go see the Blue Hole. This is a famed place that is one of the many natural "lakes" for which SRNM is actually famous. It is a sink hole in the sandstone, created by underground springs and rivers. It is prized by scuba divers, not because it is so big, but because it is so deep and the water is crystal clear.
There were, in fact, what appeared to be several scuba classes having lessons in the Blue Hole today.
So, that is pretty much the extent of SRNM's offerings. To be fair, there is a nice park in the center of town with a lake of about an acre in area that is very nicely appointed as a swimming lake. At 10AM when we passed by, some local children were already swimming, in spite of the 25 mph winds we are experiencing today. (Remember my comments about weather?) The weekend is expected to be windy here, but the really nasty weather is heading east, and we hope to proceed to Amarillo next week.
In the meantime, we found the local Baptist church, where we plan to worship tomorrow. It being Mothers Day, my hope is that there will be a good turn out. There are five churches in SRNM: two Roman Catholic, reflecting the historical origins of the town; a Southern Baptist; a United Methodist; and an Assembly of God. The internet suggests there is a Church of Christ, but we went to the address, and there are nothing but houses there. Perhaps, it is a house church, since the community is so small. None of these churches seems to have any substantial web present. The Baptist has a Facebook page that was last posted on in August of last year!
So, now we are hunkered down riding out the wind. There is a ball game on TV, so I think I'll just relax until we go out to dinner for some Northern New Mexico cuisine. Tune in later for more in the exciting tale of Tom and Jill's Big Adventure.
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