We left Gallup and headed west on Route 40 into Arizona. It was early June and unseasonably hot but luckily this section of 40 parallels some of the best old Route 66 stops. If you like trading posts and dinosaurs and tee pees there are a lot of fun photo ops, just perfect for travel days when it's 100 degrees out and you want a quick stop.
Yellowhorse Trading Post is on the border of Arizona and New Mexico with buildings in both states. On the New Mexico side there are even ancient ruins in the cliffs behind the trading post.
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| Yellowhorse Trading Post |
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| Fake Animals |
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| Ancient Ruins |
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| My big ($5) purchase |
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We made it as far as Williams, Arizona where we finally decided it wasn't going to get any cooler along our planned route and decided to turn back and head towards Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. We did have a few more fun Route 66 stops on our way back.
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| Jackrabbit Trading Post |
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| Standin' On A Corner in Winslow, Az... |
We had flights scheduled for late July and late August out of Albuquerque and needed to stay relatively close, so our time in Colorado was brief. It was great to finally escape the heat though. We stayed at Navajo Dam State Park in Northern New Mexico over the 4th and then spent time in Durango and Pagosa Springs before heading back towards Albuquerque. Here are a couple of photos from Pagosa Springs...
We're back in New Mexico after two great trips by plane to visit family in California and Maryland. (We miss you all so much!) We're probably going to head back up towards Colorado before it starts getting cold. We want to see the Aspens in their Fall glory and maybe pick some raspberries at Salmon Ranch on the way up. Stay tuned and thanks for visiting!
