Another day, another state, this time New Mexico.
Route 66 dies out just east of Winslow and the published alternative is I-40. We said, "meh" and headed northeast on Arizona Highway 87 into the Hopi and Navajo Nations. This is 4 Corners, Painted Desert and Petrified Forest country and it is stunning.
The high plains of the Colorado Plateau are above 7000 feet, and rising above them is a series of mesas that are striking in their geometry, geology and color. The scenes are straight out of Tony Hillerman's novels.
In Gallup, we stayed at the Hotel El Rancho, a place that is comfortable with its past, and why not. Pictures of clientele like John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Jimmy Stewart and Mae West cover the walls, along with posters of the movies that were shot in the area.
Also staying in the hotel was a Harley tour of about twenty motorcycles. The leader (of the pack) said this was his 61st tour and by October he will have done 66. Oh, my achin' whatsits.
Today's mileage: 216.0
License plate count - Alaska, Arizona, Arizona Navajo Nation, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee. Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the US Government. And from Oh Canada - British Columbia and Quebec.
As we mentioned, today's ride took us through the heart of Tony Hillerman country. If you have not read any of the Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee books, the first book is called
The Blessing Way. In honor of my niece Naomi, I recommend you start at the beginning. If you have already read the books, I recommend a book that was published by his daughter Anne and her husband, who is a photographer, called
Hillerman Country.
We are going to shock the nieces and nephews and pick a song from this century. The Shins are a band from Albuquerque and wrote this song about their hometown in 2004, called New Slang.
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RnB we are enjoying your postings very much. A great lot and surprising amount of variety Another wet day in Anacortes but even a wet day in the boat beats any day in the office!
ReplyDeleteTom and Chris
Great to hear from you. It is funny about the weather. As we drive we watch the temperatures go up and down, depending on time of day and altitude. Today I see a red flag warning in the area of Santa Fe - so maybe you can count your blessings up there in Anacortes. Wave across the water to Arnie for us.
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