Tucumcari New Mexico
I wanted to share some info about me and my town to help you get to know me a little better.
We moved to Tucumcari in 2012. Ok, moved here is sort of an understatement. The truth is we broke down here and just fell in love with the town. This is a town that time forgot for sure. It's a small town, maybe 3000 people right now give or take. It's one of those places where neon still shines on the main strip, hanging out at the Drive-In resturant is cool, and the radio stations play nothing but 50s and 60s music.
Outside of town are stunning mesas and formations that have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. Our major landmark, Tucumcari Mountain, is one such structure. First mentioned by explorers in the 1700s, it is a stunning example of Cretaceous age deposits. The town of Tucumcari officially formed in 1901 ( though it was known as Six Gun Siding then), and took the name from the mountain in 1908.
We moved to Tucumcari in 2012. Ok, moved here is sort of an understatement. The truth is we broke down here and just fell in love with the town. This is a town that time forgot for sure. It's a small town, maybe 3000 people right now give or take. It's one of those places where neon still shines on the main strip, hanging out at the Drive-In resturant is cool, and the radio stations play nothing but 50s and 60s music.
Outside of town are stunning mesas and formations that have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. Our major landmark, Tucumcari Mountain, is one such structure. First mentioned by explorers in the 1700s, it is a stunning example of Cretaceous age deposits. The town of Tucumcari officially formed in 1901 ( though it was known as Six Gun Siding then), and took the name from the mountain in 1908.
Located on Historic Rte 66, Tucumcari inspired the creators of Disney Pixars movie Cars. Radiator Springs even features a mountain deeply resembling our mountain!
Today we have lots of Rte 66 motels and motor courts (and some modern hotels too), a historic movie theater that has been in operation since 1937 and the Rock Island-Southern Pacific train station built in 1926.
The area around us looks like you would expect the old west to look, so it should be no surprise that the TV show Rawhide taped near here in the 60s, mentioned by Tom Cruise in Rain Man, and name dropped in shows like NCIS and Supernatural. We even had Chris Pine here a couple weeks ago shooting scenes for a new movie called Comanceria!
Just outside of town are the remains of Five Mile Park, built in the 1920s and covering more then 18 acres. At one time the park had the largest outdoor pool in the entire state of New Mexico, a playground with lots of equipment, a fully landscaped drive through park with bridges, creeks, a pistol and rifle range, a skeet and trap shooting range, and off-road course, horseback riding and was home to the then annual Founder’s Day Picnics. Sadly after a massive fire in 2010 the site was razed and all that remains is the shell of the pool covered in graffitti.
Living here has it's pitfalls too, that's for sure. There is one grocery store in town with limited selection so we drive over 100 miles to go to Clovis and shop at Albertsons, Walmart and the butcher shop. There are two local pharmacies, really nice people running them, but it's one of those towns were things close by 6pm and aren't open on Sundays. In fact, most of the resturants are closed on Sundays as well! Certainly takes some getting used to.
We live on a small farm just outside of town. We are far enough that we have no real neighbors, yet close enough that we could walk to town if need be. It has an amazing charm to it that I wouldn't trade for anything.
And did I mention the weather is almost always sunny and warm? Who could ask for more?
Stay tuned for our next geting to know me post where I'll share a bit more about me, where I am from and what makes me tick! See you soon :-)