Day 9 - Welcome to the West

Well we survived the storm. I have never seen rain come down like that and so fast. You wouldn't have even known there had been a storm in the morning though, blue skies and the sun shining. We packed up and went out for some breakfast. We found a Denny's which have been meaning to go to since the start of the trip so we could nail some pancakes. We all got pancakes and eggs, hash brown. George who has postponed his vegetarianism while we are here even smashed down some sausages, cant stop him now. Sam is sticking to his guns and had pancakes and eggs. Our entertainment was guessing the gender of the waiter/waitress. We are still none the wiser.
 It was amazing stuff.
Feeling absolutely stuffed we headed off to a place we had read about called "Palo Duro Canyon" directly south of Amarillo. Didnt take long to get there and we quickly got changed as we saw you do a small 1.5 mile hike down into the canyon. We set off enjoying the scenery and the sheer heat, was around 35 degrees now and not a cloud in the sky. The canyon was really good. A much smaller version of the grand canyon but still good practice for when we get there in a few days. It was immediately feeling more like the scarce wild west which we had set out to see. Walking down the trail past cactus and dry shrubs we started to see lots of lizards scuttling around the rocks. We were about half a mile down when i noticed the most amazing little lizard i have ever seen. It was bright turquoise and a little bigger than the other ones and stood out on the rocks. I chased it through some rocks until i could sneak up on it and got a great picture of the little fella. It was fantastic. Sat still and posed for me.
We got to the bottom, refilled water and then started the journey back up. It was quite steep and still very hot so when we reached the top we were quite sweaty.

After a quick rest we popped back past Amarillo where Sam bought some books and then headed west again to try find a place i've been looking forward too since the beginning, Cadillac Ranch. Its basically a bunch of Cadillac's put upside down into the ground and put in a row in the middle of a empty field. Might not sounds good but it was really really cool. There was cans of paint left around so you can leave your own mark on them, which we did.

After cleaning layers of mud off our feet from the field we got back on the road and heading for a town we read about called Tucarmari, over the border into New Mexico. There was a motel called the Blue Swallow with an amazing sign thats mentioned in our route 66 book. We tried there but it was all booked up sadly, it looked amazing but they recommended another motel down the road. Turns out it was just a huge strip with lots of motels and restaurants. The one we ended up in was called the "Historic route 66". It was amazing. Best motel so far.It was only $49 for all 3 of us and it had so much character and charm. It was like walking into the 1950's when you entered the room. I suppose best of all it was just so clean as well. Outside under the motel sign there was a huge plane just sitting there. So random, only on route 66.

We had a walk down the street to a nearby restaurant "Del's" which turned out to be the best meal of the trip so far. I had steak covered in jalapeno sauce and cheese with jacket potato, with soup and salad to start. Was fantastic. George had chicken fajitas which he loved and Sam veggie quessadillas which he equally loved so turned out to be a good choice. We bought some beers and went back and sat outside the motel. It was still really warm. The woman who owned the motel with her husband came past and we ended up chatting for a good hour about everything from politics in the UK and USA to her getting punched in the face by guests. She was a really nice lady, but we never did get her name. Probably see her in the morning for breakfast as she runs and espresso shop also. Gotta get to bed as we getting up early to go find some Blue lagoon place.