Gallup'ing along
Don't forget you can follow our progress using this Google Map I put together!
As is common with most trips, we've discovered that there's really too much to do in the Southwest for one trip. Today, we headed north from Mesa, AZ, to Montezuma Castle National Monument and then briefly stopped in Flagstaff. Sheesh, Flagstaff has a zillion granolas, but there's also a ton to do there. We will definitely need to come back. After Flagstaff, we headed out towards Gallup, New Mexico, where we are spending the night. The 25 miles we've driven in New Mexico have so far been much more amazing than anything we've seen in Arizona. Ellen and I are in awe. We are staying the night at the El Rancho Hotel which is a national historical landmark. All the Hollywood stars used to stay here back in the 1930's and 1940's when they were filming westerns. The hotel has been recently restored to its previous greatness and is a lot of fun.
Now, New Mexico is great and all, but we need some help deciding what to do. Tomorrow, we will hit Route 666 and then barnstorm to Albuquerque via Route 66 (I-40). From there, we have a decision point. We don't really have time to do everything, so we have to narrow it down a bit. We can head northeast and stop in Santa Fe and Los Alamos (we wanted to hit Trinity too but its only open twice a year), or we can head south and stop in Roswell and Very Large Array. We are leaning towards going south, but we are open to suggestions. Feel free to respond or follow along via twitter.
BTW, Ella has been handling everything amazingly well. In fact she's started eating twice as much. It's been so awesome to have her along with us. However, there have been plenty of times when Ellen or I will spontaneously cry over what has happened. It may take a long time for that pain to subside a little. This trip is really helping us take our minds off of it.