Day Three: Entering The Land Of Enchantment, New Mexico

New Mexico truly does enchant. You won't be able to drive through the state without seeing a beautiful sunset or dramatic storm. From Gallup to Tucumcari is a magical journey that you can make in one day, but you may want to take more to savor this brew of Southwestern culture and Prehistoric landscape.


A trip across New Mexico on Highway 40 (with cultural detours on Route 66) is a trip through the best the Southwest has to offer

Shortly after crossing the western border of the state, you'll reach Gallup and the historic El Rancho Hotel, I-40, exit 22. For several decades the local mountains were the scene of hundreds of movies, so hundreds of stars from the 20's through the 60's have stayed here. It's truly worth a stop if only to board the grand staircase to the beautifully old balcony on the second floor to see the autographed photos of these bygone legends of the big screen.

El Rancho Hotel has all the elements of a great Route 66 Roadside stop: historic artifacts, local food and culture, a gift shop and just enough kitsch
The next stop is Albuquerque, where you could spend an hour or a week, enjoying the food and attractions of this little jewel of a Southwest City. We like to go up the Sandia Peak Tramway to High Finance Restaurant for a nice dinner and beautiful panoramic view of the sunset.




In the next post, we'll continue onto Santa Rosa where we camped once at the KOA and awoke to find this tarantula sleeping under our tent. Then, we'll continue through the wondrous New Mexico landscape to Tucumcari where we'll bunk down for the night.