Alas, Ye Olde Photographer and his Faire Spouse barely scratched the surface of New Mexico. We passed through the northwestern corner of it on our way from Holbrook, Arizona and the Wigwam Motel to Anonito, Colorado. We caught a decidedly southwestern lunch at the el Rancho Hotel in Gallup, an historic structure on the legendary Route 66. The place was apparently a getaway location for movie stars and other celebrities way back when and the lobby has lots of autographed pictures on display.

(Alas, the low level interior lighting combined with splashes of bright lights or an occasional window provoked the worst of the iPhone 5c. Please think of these as impressionist paintings that may convey some idea of our lunch stop! Ye Olde Photographer is pleased to report his iPhone 6s obtained at the end of 2016 does a better job in low light.)

Our route followed I-40, I-25, and US 285, taking us past Alburquerque and Santa Fe, but this was a traveling day! There are many places — parks, historic towns and cities, and museums — that one could no doubt spend considerable time there. Arguably we did see more of the state, as the next day we rode the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railway, an all day excursion on a narrow gauge steam railroad from Antonito, CO, to Chama NM, returning to Antonito by bus. The route zig-zags back and forth across the Colorado and New Mexico border as it winds through the mountains.

Our brief 2016 visit was part of the Grand Tour 2016, a 5800 mile drive through flyover country!