Ted in New Mexico

 Ted finally got to see New Mexico in the daylight. I think he was pretty impressed.

Here is Ted at the Continental Divide in Gallup, NM

• The Continental Divide is the name given to the mountainous divide of the Americas which separates watershed to the Pacific and to the Atlantic Oceans
• The Great divide is the most prominent because it runs through both the American and Canadian Rocky Mountains
• The Divide begins at Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska and ends in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego in South America
• The Great Divide Hiking Trail follows the Continental Divide closely and crosses it no less than 30 times

Ted LOVES the Cracker Barrel restaurant and general store. The Cracker Barrel is famous for many things, one of them being their rocking chairs. The only downside to the Cracker Barrel is that the nearest one is 146.79 miles away from home, in Kingman, AZ.

• In a typical year the Cracker Barrel serves: 13.1 mil pounds of chicken tenders, 121 mil slices of bacon, 151 mil eggs, 11 mil orders of Chicken N' Dumplins, 37 mil portions of grits, and 56 mil pancakes
• On a typical day Cracker Barrel uses 70,000 lbs of flour to make made-from-scratch biscuits and dumplins
• 10,000,000 Peg Games were made exclusively for Cracker Barrel in the first 41 years
• Cracker Barrel has sold over 4,000,000 Moon Pies in 2010

 Ted picked up his first cache of the day in Gallup, NM at the Donuts and Deli:

The view from Gallup reminds Ted of the movie Cars, which took place along Historic Route 66.

• Gallup is one of the oldest towns in the U.S. and can be traced back to 2500 B.C.
• The railroad paymaster David Gallup established his headquarters in the town and workers were soon "going to Gallup" for their pay
• The main street of Gallup became part of Route 66 in 1926
• The El Rancho Hotel in Gallup has hosted Ronald Regan, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn and Kirk Douglas

 Ted says that this is a sad sign of the times for Old Route 66.

• Route 66 was created when New Mexico was only 14 years old.
• When it began, it was little more than 400 miles of gravel road
• Today there are over 260 miles of pre-interstate era Route 66 that remains driveable
• The Route 66 Neon Sign Restoration project by the New Mexico Route 66 association was been restoring vintage neon signs in Tucumcari, Santa Rosa, Moriarty, Albuquerque, Grants, and Gallup

Who knows where Ted will end up tomorrow! Keep watching to find out whats next on Ted's meandering adventure!

(facts via: absoluteastronomy.com, crackerbarrel.tekgroupweb.com, legendsofamerica.com)

Ted Heads Into Arizona

 Ted finally makes his way out of California and into the great state of Arizona! Here he is just passing through the border into the Grand Canyon State:

Some fun facts about Arizona:

• The state of Arizona has two state colors: federal blue and old gold
• The official state neckwear of Arizona is the bolo tie and the official gem stone is Turquoise
• The amount of copper used to top the state capitol is enough to make 4,800,000 pennies
• In Arizona it is illegal to keep a donkey in your bathtub
• It is illegal for a citizen of Arizona to refuse someone a glass of water
• Camels were once used as a mode of transport in Arizona
• In Tombstone it used to be illegal for persons over 18 to smile and reveal more than one missing tooth

Ted went out for some geocaching while eating out at the famous Roadkill Cafe in Seligman, AZ

He made sure to hide the cache really well for the next cachers who come along.

Some fun facts about the Roadkill Cafe and Seligman, AZ

• The Roadkill Cafe is famous for serving dishes such as: Splatter Platter, Swirl of Squirrel, Big bagged Stag, and Highway Hash
• Seligman was founded in 1886 at the junction of the railroad from Prescott to the Santa Fe's main line.
• In 1987 the state of Arizona dedicated the old U.S. Route 66 from Seligman to Kingmanas Historic Route 66

Ted also spent some time "Standin' on the corner" in Winslow, AZ.

Some fun facts about Standin' on the Corner in Winslow, Arizona Park

•  The Standin' on the Corner in Winslow, Arizona Park began with a land donation from the Kaufman family
• A Trompe L'oeil artist John Pugh painted the two story mural and the life-sized statue (pictured above) was created by sculptor Ron Adamson
• The park is in memory of the lyrics "Well I'm standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see; It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me"
•  Until the 1960's, Winslow was the largest town in northern Arizona
• In 1994 a foundation was started to restore downtown Winslow by purchasing the historic Fred Harvey Hotel and Restaurant and designing the Standin' on the Corner in Winslow Arizona park

 
 
 (fun facts via: buzzle.com, route66seligmanarizona.com, standinonthecorner.com)