At the evening of day five we checked into the El Vado Motel in Albuquerque, a refurbished motel on old Route 66, right in the heart of the city near where it crosses the Rio Grande (hence the Spanish name, which means ford). Albuquerque is the most "Route 66-ish" big city along the old route, in preserving the character of that old road and its place in America.
There we linked up with Jessica's folks--his father and his wife, who had flown from New Jersey to meet us. The motel was pleasant and lively. We dined at a local downtown indoor hipster food mall, where we selected the dishes we each wanted from the various indoor vendors, and ate in the pleasant courtyard. The next day we went to the Albuquerque Museum, which was a very nice experience. At a nearby farm-to-market-style grocery (Jessica loves those kind of places), I noticed a "free library" on the counter by the cash register. It had a sign encouraging people to take the books. From my experience, one is doing a service that way, as there is usually not enough space for the donated books. I took the copy of the Signet paperback edition of Hamlet, well-worn and marked up by its original owner many years ago from a college class, including the date and location of the final examination written in the inside flap. It's the kind of treasure I love finding. It is sitting on my shelf next to me as I type this, next to other titles in that particular Shakespeare paperback series. Someday I will own them all..
Albuquerque was very relaxed. Such a nice change of place from Phoenix. I liked it so much better than I did ten years before when I last visited, and found New Mexico too rough-hewn for my taste. Like Las Cruces, I was now ready to move there---the last place in America with slack. Thank God it exists.
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