I decided to leave Albuquerque by one of the older alignments of 66. To achieve this, I went south through an older and, to be frank, poorer section of town. I continued south until I reached Los Lunas, where I turned west onto state road #6. This old alignment of 66 passes through areas seemingly untarnished by the presence of man. I fear I'll not be able to clearly communicate this to you, dear readers, but there truly is something unique about this place, New Mexico. I could describe for you the individual elements of this particular drive - the buttes and mesas in the distance, the waving fields of golden grass, the shockingly vivid blue canopy of sky draped over it all - and not even begin to communicate to you the magic and mystery of this place and this road as it winds through it all.

Back now to the old road (as opposed to the old, old road), SR 6 joins it at Mesita, then on through the Indian villages of Old and New Laguna, Paraje, Budville, Cubero, and San Fidel. Just past McCarty's, the road winds through vast fields of pitch black lava rock and into Grants. A few more dots on the map and I climbed up over the Continental Divide and slid down into Gallup.

I was excited to reach Gallup not only because it's reputed to be a great 66 town (it is) but because I was going to splurge and stay at a hotel here (that's hotel, with an H, not an M). The El Rancho Hotel has been serving travelers here on 66 since 1937. In those days, many films were shot in the area and most of the stars of these films stayed at the El Rancho. I do mean stars, too: Errol Flynn, Jack Benny, Clark Gable, Jane Fonda, John Wayne, The Marx Brothers and Humphrey Bogart, just to name a few.

The El Rancho was on the ropes for a while but was refurbished and resurrected a few years back and now seems to be more than holding its own. Each room in the hotel carries the name of an actor or actress from the glory days of Hollywood and I was assured by the desk clerk that those stars did actually stay in the rooms named for them at one time or another. It's entirely possible that two months of outlandish claims from countless tourist traps have left me a bit gullible but I believed her. I was first offered the Jack Benny room but asked instead for the Marx Brothers'. "I'm sorry, sir, but that's a family suite," was the response. We agreed instead on the Humphrey Bogart room. I was quite pleased; Bogie definitely ranks high in my personal pantheon of stars from Hollywood's Golden Age. In fact, he's my favorite.

Gallup also boasts a recently renovated vintage movie house, the El Morro, that's worthy of a visit. I didn't get to see a film there, though. I had asked the desk clerk at El Rancho if there were any old theatres in town and she said no. I even checked the yellow pages, but El Morro had not yet re-opened when that edition went to press, so it wasn't listed. Anyway, the upshot is, I'm finding these old movie houses after I've missed my chance to catch a film there.

All in all, a nice little burg. So, pack up the kids and head for Gallup. There'll be plenty of room for everyone if you book the Marx Brothers' Suite.

Continue on the American Odyssey.
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