Day 4: Shamrock, TX to Tucumcari, NM – 250+ Miles of Giant Mortars, 72-oz Steaks, and the Blue Swallow Neon
Last night was a wild one in Shamrock. I saw three or four more bikes roll into the motel under the dark, but the real story was the guy in the vacant lot next door. I’m convinced the man was retiring from the fireworks business and had about three tractor-trailers of inventory he needed to get rid of before midnight. These weren’t your everyday backyard sparklers—we’re talking giant professional mortars that looked like a display straight out of Disney. He kept them firing off late into the night, but it was a hell of a show.
By morning, the heavy rain had dragged the temperatures way down. It was a beautiful, crisp, almost chilly start when we kicked the stands up and hit the pavement.
Roadside Nuggets and Two Massive Revolvers
Our first stretch took us past the McLean Devil’s Rope Museum. It was closed for the morning, but we’ve already earmarked it for a stop on the return trip. Just out of town, Tyler’s sharp eyes spotted an awesome vintage mural of a 1970s biker on the side of a building. We pulled a quick U-turn so he could strike a pose and get his picture next to it.
Further down the road, the horizon was completely dominated by hundreds of massive wind turbines stretching across a giant wind farm. Just past the turbines, we hit the next exit to see an iconic Mother Road landmark: the leaning water tower of Groom, Texas. It sits at a solid 10° tilt with a Texas star painted on top. Blake spotted another gorgeous mural on the side of a large building nearby, so we swung around for another quick photo op.
Next up was the massive Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Standing an incredible 190 feet tall, it was built in 1995 and features life-sized bronze statues depicting Christ’s trial, the crucifixion, the last supper, and the empty tomb. It’s an incredibly moving and well-done space.
When it came time for fuel, we pointed the front tires toward a nearby Love’s, but as we exited the highway, we had to marvel at the neighbor’s driveway next door—his entire gate is lined with two ginormous replica revolvers. Just past that on the right was the Route 66 peace sign in Conway. There are so many of these unique little nuggets of coolness spread along the asphalt; you really have to keep your eyes peeled or you’ll miss ’em. We eventually rolled into Buc-ee’s to top off the tanks, load the coolers with fresh ice, and grab a case of water.
Meeting the Mexico Pack & Tagging the Ranch
While walking out of Buc-ee’s, we ran into the exact same group of bikers who had checked into our motel the night before. Turns out they rolled all the way from Mexico! We stood by the pumps, swapped stories, and handed them one of our Stator Haters chapter chips. They were incredibly excited, promised to check out our blog, and even invited us to come down and ride Mexico City with them sometime. Maybe one day!
We knocked out another closed-holiday dealership check-in for our records, and then made a bee-line for the world-famous Cadillac Ranch.
Created in 1974 by the Ant Farm art group, these ten Cadillacs are buried nose-first in the dirt at the exact same angle as the Great Pyramids of Giza. We grabbed our official 2026 milestone coin photo and pulled out the spray paint. Naturally, we tagged the cars with “Stator Haters,” and I (Mike) made sure to leave the Birthday Bear tag for my girls.
Just up the road, we hit the VW Bug Ranch. It’s the same basic concept but with Volkswagen Beetles, though it’s changed a lot since we were last here in 2020. Back then, it was just a raw dirt field; now it’s been upgraded with gravel paths, a couple of stretched limos, and there’s even a putt-putt course across the street.
The 72-Ounce Challenge at the Big Texan
All that walking explicitly worked up an appetite, so we rolled up to the legendary Big Texan Steak Ranch for lunch. We ordered up some fantastic steaks and got front-row seats to the action. There were already two guys sitting at the elevated center table attempting the infamous 72-ounce steak challenge, and a third guy from Dallas was just getting started.
The contestant who was already eating when we arrived actually pulled it off—he polished off the entire 72-ounce steak, the baked potato, the salad, the shrimp cocktail, and the roll to secure the free meal and the t-shirt. The guy from Dallas? Not so lucky. He tapped out a little later. No shirt for him.
Midpoint Cobbler and an Official Uniform Change
Leaving Amarillo, we spent the afternoon successfully dodging rain cells. We pulled over for a quick fuel stop near Vega, then pushed hard for Adrian, Texas—the official Midpoint of Route 66.
[ Chicago: 1,139 Mi ] <—> [ ADRIAN, TX ] <—> [ Santa Monica: 1,139 Mi ]
We parked at the Midpoint Café for their famous ugly crust pie and cobbler, and we didn’t hold back:
- Tyler (T2): Cherry
- Blake: Apple
- Pete (Billy): Apple… mixed with baked Hatch green chilies! I took a bite of his; it was definitely different, but dang good.
- As for me? I snagged the very last of the peach, had them mix it with cherry, and of course, we all got a massive scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
A little further up the road, we pulled into Russell’s Travel Center. I had eaten at their vintage diner years ago on a Colorado trip with a crew from Mississippi. Their car museum was closed today, but we’ll try to catch it on the way back. While we were in the parking lot, I officially changed into our custom Route 66 shirts that we had made last year featuring our riding photos. We wanted the whole pack matching perfectly when we rolled up to our final destination for the night.
Standard-Setting Neon at the Blue Swallow
Crossing the state line into New Mexico, we rolled into Tucumcari. It was awesome to see how many local classic motels and vintage shops have completely fixed up their establishments to celebrate the big 100-year anniversary of the road.
We pulled the Harleys right up to the legendary Blue Swallow Motel and introduced ourselves to the owner, Robert. We told him we had actually stayed here back in 2020, just a month after he first bought the place. We talked shop, shared our Stator Haters origin story, and handed him one of our challenge chips.
Right on cue, a light sprinkle started coming down, so we unloaded the gear into our garage-equipped rooms and walked down to Side Kix Diner for a killer dinner of homemade meatloaf and hearty pot roast.
Texas Vision Photography & The Perfect End Note
By the time we walked back to the Blue Swallow, the rain had cleared out. We pulled our chairs out front onto the walkway, cracked open some vintage Route 66 root beers and orange sodas, and lit up our pipes and cigars.
As the famous blue neon flickered to life, the courtyard filled up with travelers snapping pictures. We met a great couple, Joe and Lisa, who run Texas Vision Photography LLC (they’re also licensed rodeo photographers, and Joe showed me some absolutely mind-blowing shots of live rodeo action). https://joeduty.com/ They asked if they could film our bikes and the custom murals painted inside our attached garages.
Blake has some killer custom neon lighting on his rig, so he started moving his bike around the courtyard while they set up a wild multi-camera array. They were linking two and three cameras together, using hand-held flashlights to manually paint light over the bikes, and layering the photos in real-time. The test shots looked incredible.
Our very last photo of the night was the four of us sitting in our lawn chairs right outside our rooms, our Harleys lined up right beside us under the humming neon glow. I can’t wait to see how that print turns out.
Time to prep the gear and get some shut-eye. Tomorrow, we kick stands up at 7:00 AM sharp and point the front tires toward the historic El Rancho Hotel!
