By Mim Swartz
News Travel Editor

ON OLD ROUTE 66 IN NEW MEXICO — TUCUMCARI TONITE! For millions of Americans who traveled this legendary highway in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, the slogan is indelible. The words, emblazoned on red and yellow billboards, beckoned tired motorists to the city of "2,000 motel rooms." And the town on the eastern fringe of the Land of Enchantment wanted to fill every one.

Those were the days when highways connected towns and went down their Main Street business sections, instead of around them, like Interstate 40 has done at Tucumcari since 1981.

Commissioned in 1926 when the Federal Highway Act pulled together a loose transcontinental network of primitive roads, Route 66 in 1938 became the first completely paved highway that tied the East to the West.

The shortest and most direct route between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Coast, it "winds from Chicago to L.A., more than 2,000 miles all the way," in the words of songwriter Bobby ("Get Your Kicks") Troup. It crossed eight states and three time zones, running 2,448 miles, from the shores of Lake Michigan to the Pacific's blue edge at the Santa Monica pier.

If you go Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau, (505) 842-9918, (800) 733-9918, ext. 3342, www.abqcvb.org. Best Western Pow Wow Inn, Tucumcari, (505) 461-0500, www.bestwestern.com/powwowinn. Blue Swallow Motel,Tucumcari, (505) 461-9849. El Comedor de Anayas restaurant, Moriarty, (505) 832-4442. El Rancho Hotel & Motel, Gallup, (505) 863-9311, www.elranchohotel.com. Gallup Chamber of Commerce, (505) 722-2228. Gallup Convention & Visitors Bureau, (800) 242-4282, (505) 863-3841, www.gallupnm.org. Grants/Cibola County Chamber of Commerce, (800) 748-2142, (505) 287-4802, www.grants.org. Mike's Friendly Store, Morirary, (505) 832-4391. Moriarty Chamber of Commerce, (505) 832-4087. New Mexico Route 66 Association, (505) 224-2802, www.rt66nm.org. Ramada Inn Downtown, 717 Central Ave. NW, (505) 924-2400. Route 66 Auto Museum, Santa Rosa, (505) 472-1966. Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, (800) 450-7084, (505) 472-3763.. 66 Diner, Albuquerque, (505) 247-1421, www.66diner.com. The Tee Pee curio shop, Tucumcari, (505) 461-3773. Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, (505) 461-1694, www.tucumcarinm.com.

It was the Mother Road for Ma and Pa Joad and thousands of other penniless farm families during the 1930s' Dust Bowl, as immortalized in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.

It was a black-topped ribbon of opportunity for World War II ex-GIs and others seeking fame and fortune in the Promised Land — sunny, golden California.

It was America's Main Street for restless vacationers obsessed with the automobile. They packed up the family and headed West on the open road, anticipating adventure as they traveled through what was called Indian country, with the red-rocks landscape of Hollywood Westerns. They saw striking sights such as the Grand Canyon and roadside tourist attractions such as snake pits, along with Burma Shave signs and the brightly colored neon of diners.

And although Route 66 officially was decommissioned in 1985 — replaced by I-40, I-55, I-44, I-15 and I-10 — you can still drive parts of it and, yes, get your kicks. But the trip back in time is more than about pavement. It's about people and places.

Tonight, for us, it's Tucumcari — about a seven-hour drive from Denver — and a stay at the Best Western Pow Wow Inn on Tucumcari Boulevard, once Route 66.

Bettie Ditto moved from Chicago to Tucumcari in 1955 after inheriting the motel her father had built in 1939.

"My daddy was deceased and had left nine little tourist-court units to me," she says.

Today, the Pow Wow Inn is more than 10 times that size, with 92 rooms, including four of the original units, plus a restaurant and lounge. It's one of the best Best Westerns I've seen.

"We chose to modernize and grow as we came along."

Ditto, who at a young 84 still actively runs the place, features quality American Indian art throughout the hotel and in the gift shop. She's dripping in turquoise jewelry — necklace, rings, bracelets, earrings.

"I was quite an art collector when I was in Santa Fe and Taos (where she lived at various times). We probably have in excess of $1 million in art," she says.

In the early days of the motel business, Ditto says she used "a little trick" to attract customers, relying on the help of a neighboring Pontiac dealer.

"I'd been told that cars drew cars, so Frank would loan me five or six of his old second-hand cars and help me drive them over every day, and then the next morning we'd drive them back again. It was a great little trick. That was the beginning of my success."

It also helped that this was the only motel with good air conditioning, Ditto says.

"We had evaporative air, which was unusual, and people would stop around 3 or 4 o'clock and they'd sleep until midnight, and then continue on the road. Then my son and daughter and I would get up and make the rooms over again and open up the office and re-rent the rooms."

A few blocks away stands another '39 fixture. The famed Blue Swallow Motel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, remains a small budget motel, with garages for some of the 12 units (a queen with garage goes for $29.90 a night).

"Motels had garages to keep the cars out of the sun and out of the cold," explains Dale Bakke, a former Coloradan who moved from Penrose 21/2 years ago after buying the place through a classified ad.

A master electrician, he and his wife are remodeling the units one by one, and so far have completed nine.

The Route 66 Museum, in a small red barn behind the Tucumcari Historical Museum, pays tribute to former longtime Blue Swallow owner Lillian Redman, who lived on or near Route 66 for most of her life. She died last year. The museum also features Route 66 posters, framed murals, photos, old license plates and a 1926 Chevrolet fire truck. A sign asks visitors to turn on the lights as they enter and turn them off as they leave.

Across the street from the Blue Swallow, you can get your kitsch on Route 66. Mike and Betty Callens run The Tee Pee, a curio shop built in the mid-1940s in the shape of — guess what? — a tepee.

He recalls the TUCUMCARI TONITE! billboards, which still show up on the way to town, but not like before.

"In Route 66's heyday, they were all over — to the east of town and to the west. We used to see the signs way out there in the middle of nowhere. Everyone would know the phrase. It was the greatest advertisement for this town that ever was."

Callens, who was born in Tucumcari but raised in California, took over the shop 15 years ago when his aunt and uncle retired. Originally a gas station that sold groceries, meats and curios, The Tee Pee was one of dozens of such shops that lined the boulevard. Now, it's the last one left.

"We know that when we're through, no one will take over," he says.

Callens doesn't see a national boom in Route 66 interest — Europeans seem to be more engrossed that anyone else — but he does expect big turnouts next year for celebrations of the highway's 75th anniversary.

"I don't think interest will die — there are always people who want to travel it," he says. "But I don't see a boom."

In addition to postcards, Southwestern jewelry and other curios — I love the cowboy cactus radio antenna cover — The Tee Pee carries scads of Route 66 logo souvenirs at reasonable prices, among them margarita glasses, salt and pepper shakers, playing cards, coasters, magnets, shot glasses, computer screen savers, ash trays and even a Route 66 beer.

Callens rings up my basketful of stuff.

"You're not going to believe this," he says. "It's deja vu all over again."

"What?" I ask.

"It comes to $66."

"You made that up."

"Well, it's actually $66.28. But you can forget the 28 cents."

On to Santa Rosa on a portion of the original U.S. 66. State Road 156 is as straight as a ruler's edge and as lonely as the sand dunes of the Sahara. Not a single car in sight, and you can see for miles.

In Santa Rosa, we stop for lunch at the Route 66 Restaurant. It must be good because lots of cars are out front, including a vintage Caddie. Inside, we discover there's only one other couple — this may be the old cars-draw-cars trick, but whatever. The food is tasty.

Nearby, the Route 66 Auto Museum offers another nostalgic journey with its display of more than 30 custom oldtime cars from the 1930s, '40s and '50s. James "Bozo" Cordova, who owns Bozo's Garage across the street, and his wife, Anna, opened the museum in September. In addition to the cars, they have Route 66 memorabilia, including the original "Fat Man" symbol from Santa Rosa's popular Club Cafe, known for its biscuits and old-fashioned gravy. It's gone the way of many other Route 66 businesses.

We go our way west on Bobby Troup's "highway that's the best."

Some say Moriarty, a town of 2,500 people 30 miles east of Albuquerque, is the epicenter of New Mexico politics. Former Gov.Toney Anaya is from Moriarty, and ex-Gov. Bruce King comes from Stanley, just up the road about 10 miles.

When I-40 bypassed Moriarty in 1972, the town didn't sit quietly and wither. First off, the interstate initially was to run 7 miles to the north, but Moriarty's movers and shakers were successful in getting the highway located closer to town. Then they got an anti-bypass law approved to assure proper access from the interstate. Now, the tiny town has three exits from I-40.

"We kept pushing. We were very successful. Other communities died on the vine," says Mike Anaya, 71, brother of the one-time governor, former state chairman of the Democratic party and a member of the Moriarty City Council from 1954 to 1974.

Anaya owns Mike's Friendly Store, a supermarket he opened in 1949, and the adjacent El Comedor de Anayas, a 250-seat restaurant that's been in the Anaya family for four generations and, which he says, is "a watering hole for politicians."

"Former Gov. King comes in every morning and drinks coffee with the people," he says.

Anaya recalls seeing the Dust Bowl-era's "Cali-Okies" traveling through town with chicken coups on top of their cars. And his wife, Mary, says there was so much traffic on Route 66 that she couldn't sleep.

Now, all the traffic's on I-40.

"Over half of the traffic is trucks.It used to be freight trains that carried the freight. Now it's 18-wheelers," he says.

The entire 18-mile length of what once was Route 66 through Albuquerque extends the distance of Central Avenue. It is a heavily congested commmercial strip, packed with car dealers, manufactured housing sales lots, big-box hardware stores, gas stations, auto body shops, liquor stores, restaurants and fast-food joints, along with the State Fairgrounds and the University of New Mexico. There also are upscale storefront specialty shops in the 15-block-long classy Nob Hill, 3 miles east of downtown, Albuquerque's first suburb established in 1947.

And there are motor courts/motels, about 40 of which are Route 66 keepsakes, with their Pueblo Revival (adobe, flat roof, rounded parapets and vigas), Southwest Vernacular (stucco walls, flat roofs, irregular parapets), and Streamlined Moderne (rounded corners and windows, cantilevered awnings, finlike piers) architectural styles.

For a heavy dose of nostalgia — and Blue Plate specials — regulars flock to the 66 Diner just east of downtown, a reincarnation of Sam's 66 Service Station, built in 1946. The rear dining room and the kitchen of the 3,500-square-foot Streamlined Moderne structure were Sam's service bays.

The diner, which seats about 190, is known for its milkshakes and the Route 66 Pile Up — eggs, pan-fried potatoes, bacon, cheese and green chile, topped by red or green chile. Three dozen other items challenge the waistline.

The restaurant invites patrons who have a tastier recipe to bring it in and "let us try it. If we decide we like yours better, we'll put it on the menu (we're not proud) and we'll treat you and three of your friends to dinner."

Nothing can be finer than a Route 66 diner.

" ... Now you go through St. Louie, Joplin, Missouri, and Oklahoma City's mighty pretty. You'll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico ... "

Gallup already was on the map before Bobby Troup's Get Your Kicks on Route 66. Born in 1881 of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad (later the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe), it was headquarters for construction of the company's southern transcontinental route. After the line was built, railroad workers stayed on to mine coal.

The town 16 miles east of the Arizona border still is a rail center, with 80 freight trains a day, plus Amtrak's Southwest Chief running round trip daily between Chicago and Los Angeles.

Gallup also is the world's hub for authentic American Indian jewelry and arts and crafts, drawing from the 250,000 Navajo, 10,000 Zuni and 10,000 Hopi based in the surrounding Four Corners area.

"Some 80 percent of the Indian arts and crafts in the world are from Gallup," says Perry Null, owner of Perry Null Trading Co., one of the more than 100 shops that line old Route 66. "That's what these people do for a living — they make it. If someone is in the market for Indian, Gallup supplies the world."

Null and others also deal in "pawn" with the Indians. Merchants loan up to $2,000 (set by law) on personal items and collect interest — 10 percent the first month and 4 percent a month thereafter, up to a maximum of 54 percent a year. Items that aren't reclaimed after five months can be declared "dead pawn" and put up for sale.

"They've been doing this a long time," Null says. "A lot of the things are personal. They've had these things for years. I'm not trying to get it to sell it. I'm in the interest business ... Most will be short term. Most have a reason for the money. I hear one story after another."

Null says a lot of movie stars come to Gallup to buy Indian goods. They first came to the area in the 1940s and '50s to make Westerns in the surrounding red- rocks country.

Hotel El Rancho, on Route 66, was headquarters for many of the movies and their stars, among them Ronald Reagan, Wallace Beery, Gene Tierney, Dennis Morgan, Robert Mitchum, Joel McCrea, William Holden, William Bendix, Errol Flynn, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Alan Ladd and Burt Lancaster.

We're staying in the Betty Grable Room, but I don't think the former pin-up idol would lodge here today. Although the hotel has been renovated (its motto is "Charm of yesterday ... convenience of tomorrow"), it still is "charmingly rustic," with exposed water pipes — the gurgling sounds can be noisy — running the length of the hallway ceilings, among its other rough characteristics.

The price is right though. Our room is — deja vu again — $66.79. And for that total retro Route 66 experience, it's a fitting way to end our sentimental journey.

Regrettably, we don't have time to continue Bobby Troup's musical motor trip West on the highway that's the best. But next time we won't forget Winona, Kingman, Barstow and San Bernardino.

Contact travel editor Mim Swartz at (303) 892-2552 or e-mail swartzm@RockyMountainNews.com.