Russell’s Truck & Travel Center off Exit 369 I/40 NM

Russell’s Truck & Travel Center - off Exit 369 I/40 - NM, a photo by PatMinNYC on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
After the Big Texan stop (see prior posting) in Amarillo we crossed into New Mexico by mid afternoon and stopped for gas in Endee (exit 369) not far from the state line on I 40 (Route 66). After those Rattlesnake IPAs we both needed to make a pit stop and we are so glad we did. Don't forget that many of the stops were unplanned. Turns out that we had stopped to pee and gas up at none other than Russell's Truck&Travel Center. Basically it is a full service facility that caters primarily to the trucker community with a cool 50's Diner - a massive super market / gift shop - tire shop - service station etc ... The main and in my opinion coolest attraction is a FREE museum that houses a great collection of classic automobiles as well as a boat load of fun collectables. Okay, so maybe by now you are beginning to realize that this road trip was turning into a trip down memory lane. It was about to turn into a total mind warp/flash back nostalgia moment triggered in true Proustian fashion not by a tune, food or a scent but buy the lines and color of an automobile. Not a classic American car of the 50's or 40's as most of what is housed here but by a small two seater with a body designed in Italy on a German chassis....

Nestled between some larger American cars I could not believe my eyes - an almost pristine (note the small dent) 1972 Karmann Ghia!! I owned a 1970 model in this exact color for seven wonderful years and many many thousands of miles. The same Ghia that took me almost to Alaska when I drove it from Homestead Florida to the West Coast and up into Canada eventually bringing me back to NYC about 3 months later after my discharge from the USAF. An epic road adventure that started in May of 71. The same Ghia that made several trips back and forth to NYC from Florida and up to Nova Scotia - down to the Great Smokeys and again out West as far as Utah in 76. Not the most comfortable car in world for some but a pure fun car to drive AND easy to fix and maintain … What an incredible little mind trip seeing this 72 gave me there in the middle of this pitstop ;-)