GALLUP, NM—I didn’t think this trip would begin with high winds and snow, but it did. Fortunately, the wind was straight out of the west and the snow was in the form of snow pellets the size of garbanzo beans. No problem.
In fact, the snow disappeared and so did the wind in as much as we were riding east at about the same speed.
We left the souvenir stands near Lupton, Arizona on the frontage road which runs close to I-40. This was old Route 66. It meanders back and forth across the freeway before entering Gallup after about 20 miles.
There were three of us riders: Mike Moye, our friend Shuming Chen, and me. Shuming wanted to see how road riding felt, so she rode with us from the AZ border to Gallup. She may continue on with us towards Zuni Pueblo. I’m not sure.
Anyway, the countryside was spectacular in the way it often is here in the Land of Enchantment. Riding with the wind, there was a sort of eerie stillness, coupled with bright blue sky and wonderful, blossoming clouds. Under this drama in the heavens, the buttes and mesas stood in all their wonderful colors, exposing the mineralized history of time itself. No wonder I felt so insignificant today riding on this narrow streak of asphalt called Route 66.
How different from anything east of New Mexico. How early travelers must have let their imaginations go in new, bold ways. One has to wonder, how many just stopped and said, “Let’s try it here for a while.”
Tonight in Gallup is the monthly Artscrawl. it is held the second Saturday of each month. We are going. Right now Mike is trying to glue a mirror back into its handlebar frame. After that, from 7:00 to 9:00, we’re going downtown.
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And so we did. On a cold night in Gallup, we still had fun. It was 43 degrees when we started, and 37 degrees by the time we got back to our motel. But we did have a hot meal at Sammy C.’s Sports Pub and stopped in at lots of art galleries. Bands played. Kids danced in the streets, which were blocked off. Strings of lights criss-crossed the sky above.
Inside one of the galleries, Scott Halliday was demonstrating one of his cigar box guitars. He made me wish I played. “Hey, they look pretty good hanging on the wall too,” he said.
I really liked the big painting titled “Gallup 1900” done by R. Sarracino. He seemed to be tackling the big issue of what does man’s imprint in this great big country look like. The high-fired pottery of Pati Hayes caught my eye as well.
Considering the weather, there were lots of people out on Coal St. wandering in and out of the galleries, eating food from street vendors, and in general just being part of the colorful parade.
We really enjoyed it. Now to bed. Tomorrow morning will be a cold one. Zuni Pueblo awaits.
