Albuquerque to Gallup

Rolling down Route 66 through the southwest, the vistas are spectacular. Visibility goes on forever, and ever, and ever . . . here's group of us taking in the views.

At Villa Cubero, Hemingway wrote part of "Old Man in the Sea" in the cafe attached to these wayside motel rooms. (Not much sea to be seen around these parts)


While not specifically associated with Route 66, we couldn't resist a side trip to Acoma Pueblo. Built atop a mesa rising over 350 feet above the floor of the valley, it is one of the longest continuously inhabited cities in the country. This location was settled in the 11th century to protect against invading nomadic tribes. The people of Sky City have a fabulous story to tell. Don't miss it if you are in the area.


From this stop, one can see shapes of buildings on the mesa far off in the distance.


San Esteban Del Rey Mission dates back to 1629 and is active today. Thirteen families currently inhabit the pueblo. The rest of the tribal community resides below, in the surrounding area.

The Acoma people's religious practices combine Catholic traditions with their original religious beliefs. This is a ladder ascends to the top of an Acoma prayer house which can only be entered from the top.

The earthen oven is still used during community events. They say it makes roasted corn that is unrivaled by other means.

Some more scenes in the pueblo . . .




"Little Plastic Trailer People" in the pueblo . . . L-R, Judy, Sam,Gloria, Pete, Chris, Dianne, Carol, Rich, Maureen.

That was a great stop, now it was time to get back on the road.

Oscar didn't believe me when I told him about rainwater flowing towards either to the Pacific or the Atlantic ocean, depending on which side of the continental divide it lands. He hopped down from my arm and proceeded to "water" a couple of rocks to test this theory . . . when he was done, he looked at his test samples, looked up at me, snickered, and told me he thought I was nuts.

After another day on the Mother Road, some of us settled into the Quaking Aspen campground in the Cibola national Forest.

Here are Oscar's new best camping friends.

The air was cool and the fire warm as we planned our next day's adventure.


To be continued . . .