WEARY MOTORISTS TRAVELING the Southwest might feel a sudden onset of déjà vu when they glance up at the Sands Motel sign written in neon light, as though the hotel had been duplicated at every exit, its form altered only slightly in each iteration. From Texas to California and Utah to Wyoming, travelers will find a Sands Motel, independent from all its other namesakes, a stone’s throw from the highway. Western folk singer Kerry Grombacher even named his 2001 album Sands Motel after noticing the phenomenon. Why so many Sands Motels? Perhaps these proprietors wanted to evoke the desert setting. While Grants’s Sands Motel shares its name with so many others, the retro 1950s-era budget motel has the distinction of being just three miles east of the Route 66 Vintage Museum and Double Six Gallery, which includes neon signs, a vintage car, and other memorabilia, making it a unique stopover for Route 66 enthusiasts.
Read more: El Vado Motel isn’t the only Route 66 spot dedicated to restoration and reinvention.