Albuquerque to Gallup

And along the way we went to Acoma.
The Pueblo is believed to have been established in the twelfth century or earlier, was chosen in part because of its defensive position against raiders. It is regarded as one the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the US having been established in the 11th century. Access to the pueblo is difficult as the faces of the mesa are sheer. Before modern times access was gained only by means of a hand-cut staircase carved into the sandstone.
Our day saw us departing Albuquerque and gettting the hang of reading the map for Route 66. It is a complex and complicated beast this map. This is because ROute 66 is no longer a "route" in its own rite so to speak. Different highways and interstates have been built along the route that where used to be or in some cases it runs parallel to the interstate and veers off in different directions.
We went off the road to visit the pueblo that is Acoma which involved driving to the area then parking in the visitors centre, getting our camera permits and then taking the 1 hour 15 minute tour of the community.
We got back on the road and drove through Grants and arrived late in the afternoon at Gallup. The drive between Grants and Gallup was spectacular not just for the amazing rock formations but also for the dust that was being blown about by the 37 mile per hour winds.
Finding accommodation in Gallup involved us pulling into the motels and sending an advance party of Jude and Helen to check out if they were suitable- the first was full but Helen managed to get four big cookies from them; the next three were smelly and horrid and finally to the Comfort Inn which met our requirements but required schlepping our stuff up stairs.