By Sue Johnson
Our BMW CCA New Mexico Chapter had a great turnout for our Route 66 drive on June 13, 2026 “Getting Our Kicks Heading East” with 19 BMW’s and 30 participants and we couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather.
Starting at the Smith’s in Edgewood, we drove towards Moriarty on old Route 66, seeing various buildings vacated long ago to motels and repair garages still in use today. As we left Moriarty and merged onto I-40, we continued following the post-1937 route towards Santa Rosa. Many in our group were surprised to see all the wind turbines near Clines Corner and further east.
At the exit for Hwy 3, we headed north on the winding and desolate road to Villanueva State Park along the Pecos River for a short rest stop. The group noticed the river was down significantly since we hadn’t had any precipitation.
As we resumed our drive we drove a short 15-20 minutes further north and stopped at the Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway marker near Ribera which was a customs stop for those entering Mexico in the 1830’s and 1840’s. Its church was built in 1806 and is part of the settlement of the San Miguel del Vado Land Grant.
We continued on after our brief stop to I-25 rejoining the 1926-1937 part of Route 66 and headed to Las Vegas and the historic Castañeda Hotel built in 1898. It was a bustling and very busy trackside hotel until just after WWII when railroad districts lost their appeal and highway hotels became popular. The Castañeda was abandoned and vacant for nearly 70 years before it was bought in 2014 and restored. It reopened in 2019 with ongoing restoration and renovation. It sold last fall to new and local owners. The hotel was closed for a short time after the sale for more renovation and reopened just a month before our drive.
We all enjoyed a delicious lunch with a tour afterwards of the hotel learning a lot of the history of Fred Harvey and the hotel as well as future plans the owners had. All in all, we had a great drive, a great day and received many positive comments.
Slideshow of the June 2026 Historic Route 66 East Drive
