We decided to stay in Tucumcari for the night having read about it's heyday as route 66's premiere NM stopover. Pulling through town was a lesson in what can happen to a towns economy when it is bypassed by the freeway. This town has been forgotten 80% of the old businesses, gas stations, restaurants, retail stores, motels were empty and rapidly decaying. It was a veritable ghost-town. We kept expecting to see some sign of revitalization but none appeared. There is a certain mystique that surrounds route 66 and it is unfortunate that the magic that was once alive here has faded away never to be witnessed again, at least on this stretch of road.

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