Starting mileage 1440
Ending mileage 1640
I was told Gallup was a nothing place. A small town at the outskirts on New Mexico, a stopover for trips to Arizona. An uneventful ride, the low light being stuck in a traffic jam in over 100 degree heat due to an accident. my factor 15 was struggling to keep me from burning.
The ride through the western parts of New Mexico had started to see a dramatic change in landscape. I had started to progress towards mountains and as I was getting closer the land changed to boulders and small canyons. The views were amazing as I was taken up and down these roads but unfortunately my camera had run out of battery so I could only use my phone. I was very wary to stop on the highways as the lay by lane was constantly used by trucks that would veer off and on at will. Many times it seemed, when following a truck, that these guys would fall asleep at the wheel and suddenly correct themselves when they felt the rumble strip on the lay by. This would be far too late to avoid a parked bike so the times I did stop were rare.
I checked in to my hotel in Gallup and decided to head out to the local Casino in the evening, 2 miles from here. I have never seen a place where the people are larger than the slot machines. This was no exaggeration. I was the only non Mexican person in there and felt the smallest by far. I mean fat, not muscles just lard asses. The diet in this part of the world is terrible. There was a canteen in there and i was a little peckish. There was nothing healthy so I chose a hot dog. The lady then insisted that these come with a big bag of nachos and a choice of dip. I declined and she seemed offended and said they were free. She was also the size of a small house.
I looked for a poker table to abuse to take some locals food money but they did not have one so I played a slot machine for about an hour, made $30 profit and went home happy. That's my gas bill for another 2 days.
Flagstaff tomorrow where it should be a little more interesting.
