Day 13 - Tucumcari, New Mexico to Holbrook, Arizona (revised)

 Another long but good day.  As we got into Arizona, the climate and humidity came down from the 100's into the 80's, making travel so much nicer.  We also have the knack of dialing in the AC now, as it had never been tested in the heat before.  It is very sensitive on the dial, and we froze the coil a few times before learning how narrow the range was.

We drove 66 through downtown Albuquerque (now called Central Avenue). It had many examples still remaining of the architecture of the day and was an easy drive for being downtown.

New Mexico was a bit sparse on sites so we covered a lot of ground.  We located the marker for the Continental Divide on the old highway, just across from an old trading post that used to have a vicious chain smoking monkey many years back.

I think my legs are tanning nicely and no longer look like chicken legs.

We got into Gallop before 2:30 and decided the day could not be over quite yet.  Holbrook, AZ seemed doable, but we stopped in Gallop long enough to visit the famous Hotel El Rancho, which catered to the Hollywood stars of the 40s 50s and 60s.  John Wayne, Clark Gable, Jack Benny, Doris Day and Lucille Ball were just a few of the stars who had rooms dedicated to them.  

Along the way, and on the spur of the moment, we decided to tour the Petrified Forest Nat'l Park, which proved to be very worthwhile for something that wasn't a run down gas station or a dilapidated motel. We spent 2 hours over a 30 mile road.  By the time we reached Holbrook we had logged 12 hours of travel, so not much time to post this evening.  I will post the Petrified Forest pix tomorrow as there are many pix to sort through yet to get a few meaningful ones to post.

Also, from this morning while leaving the Hotel Safari:

https://www.facebook.com/MotelSafariRoute66/