Dispatches From The Road - Day 3

This day took us along the old Route 66 from Tucumcari to Gallup, NM.  Following a guide book on Route 66, we decided to stop in Newkirk, NM to see some of the old businesses.  Well, obviously they have deteriorated over the past 5 years.  We did not stop, the 2 dogs that started chasing our car was quite a deterent.

Next stop on our drive was at the Continental Divide.  This area is believed to be where the flow of water divides and flows either to the Pacific or the Atlantic.

Back on the road, we arrived in Gallup at the El Rancho Hotel & Motel to discover we did not have a reservation, even though we thought it had been confirmed.  We were able to get a room, luckily.  The man behind the desk was less than friendly.  Maybe since my first exposure to the hotel was the man behind the desk, my impression of the hotel is less than stellar. Built in 1937, The El Rancho was the headquarters for several movies from the 1940's through the 1960's.  The hotel played host to movies stars such as Jack Benny, Ronald Reagan, Jackie Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Jane Wyman and many others. The restaurant provides Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner serving hamburgers, salads and southwest selections.  The hotel itself was dark and and the hallways to the 1st floor rooms were made of brick, painted beige, narrow and felt more like being underground.  I got the impression this was not in one of the safest areas either, when the man at the front desk said to me "you don't want to park in the back".

Tomorrow we are on to Monument Valley.