New Mexico – where we broke bad (but s’all good man), had the best coffee in the mid-West, saw 4,000 year old artwork and visited the most patriotic small town in America.
It somehow seems fitting that a place called New Mexico has the highest percentage of hispanic Americans of any US state. More than half the population speak Spanish and there is a requirement under the state constitution that all laws and government documents be published bilingually in English and Spanish.
Tucumcari
We arrived in New Mexico in the early evening and decided to stay the night at Tucumcari, a small town not far from the border. We cruised up the main strip of this small town and found an historic Route 66 hotel; funnily enough called The Historic Route 66 Motel. The place was cheap and comfy enough though.
But the next morning, well, blow me down if they didn’t have the best coffee I had had tasted in a month! Real beans, ground on site and pumped through an Italian espresso machine. Every one of these elements is foreign to most American cafes. I was so excited, I had a second cup straight away which further caffeinated my excitement. Coffee-d up, it was time to explore Tucumcari.
To understand the sort of town Tucumcari is, you only need to look at the history of its name. Tucumcari comes from the Comanche word “tukamukaru”, which means to lie in wait for something to happen or someone to come. Sadly, we did just that. Before being called Tucumcari, it was named Six Shooter Siding (due to the frequency of gunfights) and before that Ragtown (when it was a construction site for the railways). Not a lot to see in Tucumcari. But still, a nice but run-down little town.
The Historic Route 66 Motel – cheap, comfy and coffeelicious.
I loved the Flintstones vanity in our room.
Hear Jimmie Rodgers sing his hit song, the jaunty (and catchy) Tucumcari, with a special Aussie intro by Jimmy Durante.
Our route from Tucumcari to Albuquerque.
Albuquerque
We drove from Tucumcari to Albuquerque where we stayed in Old Town which was much like the French Quarter from New Orleans but this time, of Spanish ancestry. It was a charming step back in time. There are so many beautiful old Spanish buildings that have been preserved in Old Town.
We went to wash our clothes at the laundromat featured in Breaking Bad (we only laundered clothes there) and had lunch at The Doghouse, favoured by Jessie, Skinny Pete and Badger. The Doghouse can only seat about twenty people and the kitchen and seating are all in the same single room. They proudly have a sign on the window saying they were voted number three in America’s Top Ten Dives. It was quite an experience eating there.
The sweeping clover-leaf Interstate coming into Albuquerque.
Statue of Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdés, the Spanish governor of the place who named it Albuquerque in 1706 after the town of the same name in Spain. Albuquerque was a strategic outpost on the Spanish Camino Real, the long trade route established by the Spanish to ship plundered or farmed goods back to Spain.
An example of the Pueblo and Spanish Mission style architecture in Old Town.
San Felipe De Neri Church in Albuquerque. It was named after the then King of Spain, Phillip V (Felipe being the Spanish spelling of Phillip) who was by all accounts a bit of a maniac on both the sex and religious fronts.
Inside the San Felipe De Neri.
The colourful Mexican-influenced styles of Albuquerque.
A street in Old Town.
Michelle pondering a park in the centre of Albuquerque. Or maybe she is just covering up a pimple.
The Wash Tub laundry where we applied suds to our duds.
Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman at The Wash Tub.
The Dog House hot dog shack. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of what it was like inside and also couldn’t find one on the Internet (probably, because it would be impossible to take a picture without a fisheye lens). It is basically a living-room sized room which has the kitchen, cash register and dinning counter all crammed together. It was very claustrophobic. As a result, most people eat in their cars.
Jesse again, this time outside the Dog House.
Breaking Bad Tour
Well by now you will have gathered that Albuquerque is Breaking Bad territory. If you haven’t seen the show, go and do so. If you have seen the show and hate it, skip this bit. For the rest, read on.
Being fans of the show and being in Albuquerque, we had to go on a Breaking Bad tour. After doing a bit of research, we decided to go with a new tour that ferried tourists around in an exact replica of Jesse’s RV. The tour was run by Frank and Jackie Sandoval, a married couple who were actors on the show (they both appeared in the Season Five episode, Madrigal).
It was clear that this was a new venture for the two hosts. I say this for a number of reasons. Firstly, the pair had less of the slick rehearsed-spiel of most tourist operators we had encountered and more of the strained politeness of a squabbling couple in front of guests. This wasn’t marital nastiness on their part but rather the kind of anxiousness to get things right that you see when a couple invites friends over for a special dinner party (“No dear, you were the one supposed to be getting John his drink”). Still, this was nice because we weren’t taken for granted and they both seemed genuinely decent people desperate to please.
The second sign that this was a new venture for the Sandovals was the state of the equipment in the van. We were told at the outset that this was a rare van as there are not many exact replicas of Jesse’s 1986 Class A Fleetwood Bounder. Frank and Jackie had picked it up second hand but had not done much to equip it for tourists. In the middle of Summer in New Mexico, there was no air conditioning which made the ride very hot. Frank had rigged up a CB-radio style PA system that he used to narrate the tour and play music from Breaking Bad. However the loud distorted sound coming through the busted-up speakers caused visible grimaces from passengers every time Frank reached to pick up the CB handset.
Lastly, there were the safety features. Or rather, there were no safety features. No seatbelts and several broken seats.
Still, in my book, all of this only added to the authenticity of the tour. We got to eat blue-frosted donuts as we drove around to all of the locations used in the show. It was great to connect the various Albuquerque locations with the show and experience it all in Jesse’s RV.
Unfortunately, certain places were off-limits as the Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul was being filmed while we staying in Albuquerque and the production team didn’t want Jesse’s van accidentally appearing in shot. We also stayed at the hotel where the Better Call Saul cast and crew were staying but despite keeping a weather eye on all comings and goings, didn’t spot anyone. Still, it was s’all good man.
The Breaking Bad RV Tour van – A 1986 Fleetwood Bounder. Apparently there were three copies used for Breaking Bad – The first one which is now owned by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, a second one which is in on display at Sony Studios in LA and a third one that was destroyed at Joe’s Scrapyard in Season Three.
Inside the RV sitting on the couch without seatbelts. This RV hasn’t been retrofitted as a tour bus, it is just a regular camper van.
The fake meth lab inside. They even have a pack of Jesse’s go-to food Funyons which are like Burger Rings.
Frank pulls up in front of Walter White’s house. Yo man, like fix the speakers and stuff.
Pulling the Los Pollos Hermanos pose outside the White House. The real owners of the house don’t mind tourists but do draw the line at people throwing pizza on the roof. For the final season of Breaking Bad where the house is run down, the crew built fake walls and cladding to cover the house.
Walt having a pizza meltdown outside his home.
Outside the Pinkman pad.
Walter White walks to Jesse’s pad in Breaking Bad.
The house used for Jane’s share apartment where Jesse lived next door.
Jesse Jane, the outlaw couple.
The Octopus Car Wash – The location of Walter and Skylar’s A1A Car Wash.
The A1A Car Wash as seen in the show. Have an A1 day!
Having a cook outside the car wash.
Next to the Car Wash, they were filming a new sci-fi series called The Messengers which is due to air in the US in April 2015. One of the actors came up to us and said “I’m happy to be in a picture with you.” We didn’t know who the hell he was or what the show was all about but, not wishing to offend, we said “uh, okay, yeah.” So here he is, that guy from that show.
Tuco’s hideout.
Tuco’s hideout after Walt paid a visit.
Twisters – the location for Los Pollos Hermanos; the headquarters of drug boss, Gus Fring.
Walt visits Gus Fring at Los Pollos Hermanos.
Well, the place is not as clean as when Gus Fring ran it.
An angry customer under Gus’ old management.
Eating Twister fries (they are actually twisted in a coil like the name suggests) and a soda.
The Crossroads Motel was the home of Breaking Bad’s favourite fallen woman, Wendy.
The woeful Wendy outside the Crossroads Motel.
Ace Metals – AKA Joe’s scrapyard, the place where Jesse’ RV was destroyed.
Yo, my RV Bitch!
Driving up to Clovis’ Storage Yard where Jesse would store the RV away from prying eyes.
Jesse and Clovis come to “an arrangement.”
The location of Gustavo Fring’s Lavandería Brillante (Brilliant Laundry), the front for Gus’ super drug lab.
Jesse and Walt leave after a hard day’s work at the lab.
We visited the Candy Lady back in Old Town. This is where all the crystal meth for Breaking Bad was made. Yes, it is just blue candy. We bought some as a souvenir but subsequently became worried that a customs officer would think it was the real thing and arrest us. We kept a copy of the receipt and the Candy Lady bag it came in in preparation for being queried at some point in our travels. We never got stopped once.
Our frosted blue donut and our frosted blue crystal meth candy. Of course, the blue comes from the methylamime Walt uses to make a purer form of crystal meth. As his drug-making partner Jesse says in response to Walt’s quest for perfection “Let’s keep it real, alright? We make poison for people who don’t care. We probably have the most unpicky customers in the world.”
He is the danger. We were worried about taking Harrie on this tour as Breaking Bad is a decidedly adult show. After all, we didn’t take him to the Book of Mormon in New York because of its adult content. Michelle and I talked it over. We concluded that the whole take-out of Breaking Bad is that drugs are bad for your health on both the supply and demand sides and that maybe that wasn’t such a bad message to impart to Harrie. Frank and Jackie even had a talk to Harrie about drug addiction and of peer group pressure. Frank and Jackie also donate five dollars of each ticket to a drug rehabilitation program in Albuquerque.
They actually do have lawyers like Saul Goodman in Albuquerque. Here is a billboard for Bert Parnall that we saw while driving in Albuquerque. Also, check out his TV commercials here.
This was also on display in Albuquerque. Jimmy McGill can be currently seen in Better Call Saul.
Having a margarita at the Hotel Albuquerque.
Driving on Route 66 in New Mexico
Driving from Albuquerque to Gallup, we stopped to see Indian petroglyphs (rock carvings) and explore the beautiful landscape of the Petroglyph Natural Monument. After our walk we got back on to Route 66 to head to Gallup. Just driving on Route 66 was a hell of a lot of fun. There are interesting things to see at every turn. We have come to the view that you really need six months to properly explore Route 66 as you can happily stop at every small town and find something of interest.
From Albuquerque to Gallup.
Looking out over Albuquerque from the Petroglyph Natural Monument.
A walking track at the Petroglyph Natural Monument.
The volcanic rocks that are home to the estimated 24,000 petroglyphs carved by Pueblo indians in the 27km Petroglyph Natural Monument.
A Pueblo Indian petroglyph. The oldest petroglyphs here date back to 2,000 BC.
A petroglyph of a person. Because of the lack of a written culture, it is unclear what is the significance of many of the Pueblo petroglyphs.
The billboard advertising for some of the Trading Posts (glorified gas stations) went in to overdrive at some points. You couldn’t miss the billboards for the Flying C Ranch. Personally, I couldn’t give a flying C.
The Flying C even sold “Guy Stuff.” You girls just wouldn’t get this. Strangely, there wasn’t a similar sign advertising “Girl Stuff.”
The beautiful mesas driving through New Mexico.
The long stretching plains and big open skies of New Mexico filled with both beautiful and terrifying cloud structures.
A wind farm at sunset.
A beautiful sunset as we drive through the countryside.
Driving in New Mexico listening to evangelical Christian preachers. These guys really made for compelling radio. The guy in this clip had a great line about people who don’t adhere to Biblical teachings – “It’s like Listerine, I hate it but I use it twice a day. I think a great many people start out sinning and saying “I don’t like that” and “I don’t like what he is saying” but when they begin to listen they find out that it’s good for them.” That should be the tag line for God’s good book: The Bible – Listerine for your soul.
Gallup
We stayed the night in Gallup which is apparently the most patriotic town in America. Nothing much to see or do in Gallup though. This is possibly the reason so many people leave the place to serve their country.
Gallup, we salute you!
The view from our motel window in Gallup.
Next we head to even more arid zones in Arizona.
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