Kenny described it best, saying it looks like someplace in a Stephen King novel.

Our main destination for Wednesday night was the famous Big Texan Steak Ranch and Hotel, home of the free 72-ounce steak. Free, that is, if you can eat it and all the trimmings in an hour or less.

Day Four: Amarillo, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico (380 miles)

Just west of Amarillo is the famous Cadillac Ranch, home to 10 of America's finest mid-century luxury cars buried up to their A-pillars.

We exited I-40 to pick up a great stretch of Route 66 in Vega. There we met Harold and Tresa Whaley, who gave us a tour of their Vega Motel. Unlike many motor court owners along Route 66, they've resisted the urge to convert the garages into rooms and are working to return the motel to its former glory. The effort has been helped by the establishment's recent addition to the National Register of Historic Places.

The next stop was across the New Mexico state line in Tucumcari. Well-known for the billboards that once proclaimed "Tucumcari Tonight" (referencing the 2,000 hotel rooms within its city limits), it afforded us two great photo opportunities. The first was the famous Blue Swallow Motel, where I photographed the Mach 1 with the legendary neon sign.

The second was at Mesa Motors--in another life, an Oldsmobile and AMC dealership. I photographed all our cars under the AMC Select Used Cars sign and canopy. You can almost imagine you're looking at Mesa Motors circa 1975, when four such vehicles would have been unwanted