The next two nights are to be spent in Gallup, NM. This is near the vast Navajo Nation reservation with some of the more exciting parts of the trip. But first a couple of stops along the way...
Leaving Albuquerque and driving the entire trip to Gallup via the Interstate. This will be a rare treat. Although, even though I have spent a vast amount of time on State Highways, the speed limits are not that much reduced you just have to deal with slowing down for the small towns you pass through. Traveling via the Interstate allows you pass those towns without slowing down, but you miss something in the translation.
The first stop is in Albuquerque - the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. A good but small museum with very fine artifacts from the various Pueblos in New Mexico. They also have Indian dances on the weekends during the Summer. No photography is allowed even without using the flash. But that is not surprising as many things are sacred to the tribes from dances to mountains. Photography is limited on the reservations as well. Extra charges are required to take pictures and an individuals approval is needed to take a picture of them as some think that their spirits exist in the photos and do not want them taken away from the reservation.
Another stop in Albuquerque was in Old Town. Albuquerque follows the Spanish tradition of a church and town square surrounded by homes and businesses. Some of the old homes still exist and are used today as shops. Indians gather on the square to sell their jewelry under the portico of the old Governor's office located on the square. There is a band stand in the middle of the square that was put in by the survivors of the Confederate Army units that were from New Mexico during the Civil War.
Albuquerque is known for its balloon festival every October. They have over 600 hot air balloons that rise every morning of the festival and travel via the winds and chase the target balloon for that day. The pictures are just spectacular and that is one event on my bucket list to see.
After Old Town it was off to Gallup, NM at more of a trot than a gallop.
Along the way to Gallup you pass two spectacular Indian Pueblos. The first is Laguna Pubelo with one of the oldest churches still in use in the US. The other Pueblo is for the Acoma Tribe. The Acoma Tribe is about the only tribe that still lives on a Mesa, also known as Sky City. it is believed that this mesa has been occupied by the Acoma people since the 12th Century.
Before the road was built to the top of the mesa the only way up was to walk a trail up the side of the Mesa. One of the amazing things at the top of the Mesa is a Church built during the times of the Spanish. The logs holding up the church roof are 15 inches in diameter and 30 feet long. That must have been no small feat to get all of the logs from the valley floor up the side of the mesa.
The next stop is El Malpais National Monument. El Malpais is a large lava field from a long ago eruption stuck in the middle of the New Mexico landscape. It seems that the earth's crust burped out this area of lava and never grew a volcano. The Indians traversed it, the Spanish named it but avoided it and the white man tried to irrigate it and live next it. There are some wonderful formations that you can visit.
One formation that is not of lava, but is located on the BLM land which is a part of El Malpais is the La Ventana Natural Arch. This is the second largest arch in New Mexico (the largest being on the Navajo Reservation and only horse or 4 wheel drive accessible). La Ventan is 25 feet thick, 125 feet high and 165 feet across at its base. Unlike other arches we will see in Utah, the sandstone in New Mexico is not red but gray in color. The color makes it look more sturdy than the sandstone arches in Utah.
Cane Cholla Cactus thrives in the El Malpais and flowers in many different colors.
After visiting the El Malpais it was finally onto Gallup at a gallop this time to get there before night fall - which would be a nice change. The plan was to stay in a hotel in Gallup and enjoy the fruits of hotel living - hot showers, comfortable beds, restaurants and inside sleeping. :)
But of course there were just a couple of more stops before Gallup. The first is at a mining museum which turns out to be for uranium mines. It appears that there were quite a few uranium mines in the area and that a couple still are in operation.
The museum makes a point on its advertising that you actually go underground to visit the museum. You do go underground but only to the basement of the building. It is dusty and looks like how I imagined a mine might look so it was realistic. The upstairs story telling part of the museum was not quite as good as the Spam Museum we visited in Minnesota or the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, but it was better than some others.
The final stop before Gallup is the Continental Divide. This is the point where the rivers on the East side of the divide flow towards the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico while the rivers on the West side of the Divide flow towards the Pacific Ocean. I saw many signs of the Continental Divide in Montana and there are signs in Colorado. New Mexico actually has a town called Continental Divide - must have a better marketing team! I have also included a couple of pictures of the mesas seen from the Continental Divide sign.
As I spoke earlier, many Indians believe that their spirits are included in any photograph that is taken of them so they do not allow their photos to be taken. Just as the aliens erased some of the important pictures from Roswell, the great Indian spirits seemed to have wiped away some of the photos taken in this part of New Mexico. My apologies to the great spirits - I hope I do not continue to anger them.
Gallup can be a town with a lot of visitors. It is known for its many pawn shops and fine quality of old pawn jewelry. The town is also a central location being located along Interstate 40 to give easy access to many of the Navajo Reservation sites and small towns. When I arrived at the hotel I was not surprised to see a No Vacancy sign taped to the window. The desk clerk did do a triple take to check the rate I had on my room. Luckily I made the reservation over the Internet for about $60 a night as there were charging about $150 for a room locally. I was also lucky in that the hotel shared a parking lot with Denny's - dinner!
Now for a peaceful night in Gallup for an early start in the morning.
Thanks for traveling along with me.
Michael
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