Day 15 Route 66 - Albuquerque to Gallup (Including Petroglyph National Monument and 'Sky City' at Acoma Mesa) 219.5 miles

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We decided yesterday afternoon to make an early start today so that we could visit Petroglyph National Monument, just west of Albuquerque on Interstate 40, before it got too hot. It was a good plan and we were at Rinconada Canyon by just after 9.00am but ... it was already stinking hot!! Not to be deterred, we made sure our water bottles were full and set off on the 21/2-mile round trip on an unpaved trail. The outward bound trail along the base of the escarpment was pretty heavy going in loose sand.

There were petroglyphs (Native American and Spanish) all the way along the escarpment with an impressive concentration of petroglyphs at the furthest point of the walk. On our outward bound walk we talked to a couple who advised us that we could have picked up a trail guide from the Visitor Centre another mile up the road. Hmmn, THAT would've been a good idea. The return walk was further away from the escarpment and, for the most part, the sand was packed a bit more firmly which made for an easier walk back to the car.

When we finished our walk we drove along to the Visitor Centre and acquired a map - even though the walk had been completed, we decided that perhaps it will help with the identification and labelling of our photographs??!

We could have continued west on I-40 but, as we had decided that we would follow the pre-1937 alignment through downtown Albuquerque and south to Los Lunas via Isleta , Bosque Farms, Peralta and Valencia, we headed east back to Historic Route 66 and picked it up where we left it yesterday when we went to Old Town. As we drove out of Albuquerque we photographed a couple of 'icons' - the Red Ball Café, 'Home of the Original Wimpy Burger and a Giant Roadrunner, whose reason for existence could not be fathomed??! Unfortunately though, we didn't take the opportunity to dine at the Luna Mansion, a historic 1881 mansion in Los Lunas. More on that later.

After driving south down to Los Lunas we started heading west and north to Correo where we picked up I-40 westbound to Mesita. At Mesita we were able to return to Historic Route 66 for a spell north of the interstate through Laguna, New Laguna, Paraje and San Fidel before crossing back to the south of I-40 at McCarty's.

At McCarty's we took the option to travel down Route 38 to 'Sky City' the physical and spiritual homeland of the Acoma people. The history of the Acoma people and the Pueblo dates back to as early as 1100 A.D. The settlement has the unique historical distinction of being the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America.

We arrived just before 2.00pm and booked onto the 2.30pm tour which left us half an hour to have some lunch in the Y'aak'a (Corn) Café. When we still didn't have our meals at 2.15pm someone had a bit of a hissy fit because he was already over hungry and was worried about having to join the tour without eating. Just a minute or so later our food was in front of us and we were able to eat before boarding the minibus to the top of the mesa!

On top of the Mesa our guide was Dakota a young Acoma man who is very proud of his heritage and passionate about sharing it with outsiders to give them an insight into the Acoma culture. Dakta took us on a tour around the adobe and sandstone dwellings and the San Esteban del Rey Mission and gave a detailed history of his people's determination to preserve their religion and culture despite the concerted efforts of the Spanish to enslave them and convert them to Catholicism.

Our admission package included camera permits that allowed us to photograph the settlement and the exterior of the Mission. Although we had been impressed with the scenery on our way to Acoma Pueblo we had resisted the urge to take any photographs until we established whether photography was allowed or not. I understand completely their desire to have some control over people photographing their homes.

After we returned to McCarty's we continued along the south of I-40 through the rough lava flows that hindered early travel through this narrow valley before crossing to the north of the interstate to drive through Grants, Milan, Prewitt and Thoreau to Continental Divide. The town is named for the fact that it is the point which divides the water drainage to the Pacific from that which drains into the Gulf of Mexico. A photo op, of course!

After a short section of interstate driving we headed to the north of I-40 again at Iyanbito for our final leg of the day into Gallup. By the time we arrived I had a splitting headache and we were grumpy with each other. Maybe we tried to do too much today?? We covered 219.5 miles today and walked around quite a bit at between 5,000 and 7,000 feet in almost 40° heat.

The staff on the desk at the Hampton Inn recommended the Badlands Grill for dinner. Apparently that is where the locals go for a fine dining experience. Hmmn, I would rate my trout (?) as the worst meal that I have had on this holiday. Bernie thought his steak was fine though. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for eating out ... again!?

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