Blue Swallow Motel on Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Unfortunately, with gas and tire rationing during World War II, the motels’ visitors began to decline. The best known of the owners over the years was a woman named Lillian Redman, who operated the hotel for almost 40 years beginning in 1958. Though she faced numerous "ups and downs,” she continued to keep the motel open even after Route 66 was bypassed by I-40, continuing to operate the motel into her nineties. Photo by Kathy Weiser-Alexander.