Mother Road

From Santa Fe, I headed south to Albuquerque for my next stop on the road west.

Downtown sits right on historic Route 66, and the old road still shapes the city’s personality. The KiMo Theatre’s bright marquee stands out against its Pueblo Deco facade, and the Alvarado Transportation Center echoes the Spanish mission style of the old railroad days. Murals and street art covered walls throughout downtown, and one building was dressed up as a row of giant books stacked along its front. At the edge of the city, the Rio Grande wound past cottonwoods with the mountains on the horizon.

Albuquerque felt gritty, colorful and unpretentious, a city that knows its roots and isn’t afraid to show its edges. Driving the Mother Road, I felt like I was following generations of travelers who headed west before me.