Ultimate Road Trip - Day 6

Arriving in Gallup last night.

We knew were were only about a three hour drive from our destination of Sedona so we slept in and left the hotel after our free breakfast around 9:30. We then drove to downtown Gallup and strolled around.

Gallup is known as the "Heart of Indian Country" because it is in the middle of many Native American reservations and home to many tribes. It also was a big player in the history of Route 66 and has preserved many of the relics of that time.

The Gallup Cultural Center is housed in the renovated Amtrak train station which is still used by Amtrak. It contains a gift shop, cafe and the train station. Greyhound has been relocated.

Chief Manuelito of the Navajo 

WWII Navajo Code Talker stand outside the Gallup Cultural Center.

The historic El Rancho Hotel & Motel has hosted a numerous array of movie stars including John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Humphrey Bogart,Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Kirk Douglas, Doris Day, Gregory Peck and Burt Lancaster. The rugged terrain surrounding Gallup was popular with Hollywood filmmakers during the 1940s and 1950s for the on-location shooting of Westerns.

At 10:30 we headed out for Sedona. We crossed into Arizona and made many stops along the way mainly at various "Indian Trading Posts" some less tacky than others.

World's largest petrified tree

We did a quick lunch in Winslow. We had been here before but really wanted to see it again. 

Mention the name “Winslow, Arizona”…and it’s sure to trigger the question “Are you from Standin’-On-A-Corner-In-Winslow, Arizona?”

The lyrics from the song “Take It Easy”, written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey, were made famous by “The Eagles”. It’s a song almost everyone knows, hums and sings. It has put Winslow on the map.

While we were there the girl from the gift shop came out to take a photo of a man with the statue. she later told us that he was the son of Merle Haggard an old country singer.

It was now time to seriously hit the road and get to Sedona for 4PM check in time.

As we climb to 7,000 feet above sea level there are more and more fir trees.

We pull off I 40 at Flagstaff and begin our descent to 5,000 feet in Sedona. And then you enter Sedona and the red rocks just loom over you. 

We get checked into our unit and I'll post about the resort tomorrow.

It was time to pick up groceries to last us the weekend, we needed some staples as well then it was back to the unit to have BBQ chicken with fresh bread for dinner. The rest of the chicken will make a pot of soup for later this week.

Ahhhh...........we will not be getting into a car tomorrow, the first time in nine days (we had been to Montreal the weekend before we left so that counts as three of the nine days).