Day SIX (10/12)

Today was Columbus Day and Indigenous People's Day, which meant a day off for many people at our facility. And we didn't spend it sitting around!
The first day of the challenge we all walked 574,380 steps, and a week later we walked 452,753. Those two days combined are just over ONE MILLION STEPS or roughly 438 MILES. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I never imagined that we'd take all of these steps!! Blown away, I am. Which is presenting a bit of a challenge for me with the challenge.
I decided that we'd walk along Route 66 to see if we could make it from Chicago to LA. Well, we will make it there WAAAAAAY ahead of schedule. So what will we do with the remaining days? I'm working on ideas, so stay tuned and keep walking!
Ok. Where are we now? Yesterday we made it to Shamrock, TX, and by the end of the day today (through Monday, 10/12/2015), we have made it ACROSS TEXAAAAAS. Yep, the stubby part at the top.
We breeeezed through Amarillo, TX, but not before we stopped at the Amarillo VAMC. Why? Because their version of our Route 5 is ROUTE 66!!
From their public site: Approximately 25,000 patients are treated annually.  The health care system maintains 55 acute care inpatient beds for general medical, surgical, and intensive care.  Geriatric and extended care is provided in the 120-bed skilled nursing home care unit.  A modern ambulatory care center and medical arts building facilitates the delivery of primary care, specialty care and preventive health services." The Amarillo VAMC is roughly 1100 miles from our starting point in Chicago. Whew.

Lots of cool stuff coming up as we finish out day six...the first thing we come to is the famous Cadillac Ranch. Ten old caddies stuck into the ground up to their dashboards.. Here's a short video made by some guy I don't know. I watched a few videos before I chose this one, mostly because it was the only one that some talks during.



Fill up on snacks soon, because we're headed to Tucumcari, New Mexico for our next brief visit. Not staying there, though, just a visit. Tucumcari is at about 4,090 feet in elevation, (for reference, Camel's Hump in Vermont is 4,081 feet tall) but their record snowfall for one month was only 26" in December 1923 (source). In Tucumcari Rte 66 diverges into two routes, one heading north toward Conchas Lake State Park, and the other is the same as Highway 40, which we've been following off and on most of the way. Because we're from New England, we'll head up to the lake for lunch. To see some great pictures of this high desert location, click here.
As luck would have it, tonight we're stopping in Encino,NM. Our challenge members will nearly outnumber the full time residents in this town that time has forgotten. According to the 2000 Census, there are only 94 people in Encino. Images show it to have once been a bustling town, but likely has fallen apart after Route 66 was all but abandoned. Admittedly, though, the travel junkie in me wants to visit this town that lies just over an hour (by car!) to the west.

house in Encino, MN

former store and post office in Encino, NM