May 12, 2016 Gallup, New Mexico

We had a rental RV pull in next to us last night at the Crysatl Forest. There was a couple and 5 boys. They flew into Las Vegas, rented the RV and are touring around for a month. Each child got to pick one thing they wanted to do. One of them chose rafting the Poudre River in Fort Collins.  The kids seemed well behaved, what a trip for them!

The free camping place we were at was so route 66 I had to take photos of it. The Crystal Forest-Petrified wood. It is right outside of Petrified Forest National Park, where it is illegal to take a rock with you. They say they will search your car when you leave, but they don’t. The Crystal Palace has 150 acres and they harvest the petrified wood from their own property , process it and sell it. It is really pretty stuff. The whole lot is edged with petrified wood. There is another establishement across the street, they have Geronimo the Worlds Largest Petrified Tree, which you can see for free.

I love the dinosaurs in front. The top photo is on our side of the street, see the bus between the dinosaurs, the ones across the street are in a little better shape. I love the eyes on the little on. We drove on Historic Route 66 to Gallup.

Into New Mexico. The view of red rock cliffs on the highway going into New Mexico.

We are now camped at Red Rock Campground in Gallup. 80 degrees and sunny. Not too crowded. This bird flew into our mirrored window and was stunned. John picked him up and put him safely in a tree and he flew off when he recovered.

Historic El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico. All the famous movie stars stayed here when they were in town for filming movies. The rooms are each named after a different star, so are the menu items.

The lobby at El Rancho. The second floor has signed photos of all the stars. We had dinner at Jerry’s. It was one of the highest rated resturants in town. John bought me a pair of hand beaded earrings from one of the Indian artists bringing their work through the cafe.