Gallup, NM

May 31^st - We left Williams almost reluctantly, we enjoyed our stay there so much.  But…lots more to see, and places to go, so we left mid morning and drove what seemed like endless miles to New Mexico.  Certainly no worries about running out of land in the west!  We arrived at Gallup, NM early afternoon and immediately fell in love with this USA RV Park, not so much for the sites, as they’re the typical gravel sites like all parks out west.  But, this owner is patriotic!  Flags, red, white and blue everywhere!  A FLAG POOL, USA fountain and red white and blue picnic tables all over.  They have their own BBQ area – I’m surprised more RV parks don’t do this, as it was well attended, and ideal for folks just arriving, and not in the mood to cook or go into town yet.  We ordered pulled pork sandwiches and went up about 6:30 to pick them up – delicious!  We enjoyed sitting out by the fountain and hearing the sounds of the waterfall.  They’re located right on Historic Route 66 and for my RVing friends, the cost is $32 a night with a Good Sam discount.

June 1^st – Hard to believe we are starting our 3^rd month on the road!  In a way, seems like we’ve been gone for ages, and in another like we just started.  We have seen SO much.  America is truly a beautiful country!

We left fairly early to go exploring, since we’re only here for one day.  Gallup is known as the Indian Capital of the World, and the Adventure Capital of New Mexico!  Founded in 1881, the population is just over 21,000, with an elevation of 6,468 ft., so that contributes to the nice weather in the summer.  Highs here in the summer are seldom over 90 and it always cools down considerably in the evenings, so it’s only from about 2-6 every afternoon that it feels hot.   

Gallup has been voted the most patriotic small town in America!  It really is special.  When  we arrived, we thought it was just our RV park, but it is all over town!  Flags and banners everywhere,patriotic murals all over town.  They are BIG on honoring the Veterans which I love. In the town square every light pole has 2 banners of specific Veterans and which war they fought in.   Very nice tributes.

Our first stop was at the Cultural Center.  Fascinating to see the history of the Navajos and how they live even today.  The Navaho Nation is truly a nation within a nation, and is larger than 10 of the 50 states!

We were fascinated to learn more about the Navajo Code Talkers. In April, 1942, Marine recruiters traveled to NM and AZ communities of the Navajo Reservation to select the first group of Navajo Code Talkers. 29 young men were soon on their way to San Diego for training. When the US entered World War II, the Navajo Code Talkers played a crucial role in combat arenas. The code used created messages by first translating Navajo words into English, then using the first letter of each English word to decipher the meaning. Military commanders credited the Code with saving the lives of countless American soldiers. Major Howard Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, had six Navajo Code Talkers working round the clock during the first 48 hours of the battle. Those six sent and received more than 800 messages, all without error! He later declared, "Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima."  Fascinating stuff.

 The Navajos are unsurpassed in their ability to create exquisite and multi-faceted art. 

Below are what the Navajo call Kachina dolls - interesting to look at, not anything I'd want to collect. haha 

In the photo above, it shows the Navajo at work on their sand painting.  We saw many examples of this all over the area - simply beautiful and extremely creative (as in the photo below)

This is en example of exquisite bead work....

Gallup is known for their artistry and all over the city, there are beautiful murals painted on the buildings.

 Interesting Navajo lady...

The gentleman above was very nice, though very drunk. LOL He came up to us on the street and through lots of slurred speech, the point came through that he wanted money.  In just a moment, a very nice Muslim guy came out of his store, and kindly told him to please leave us alone.  So we went into Ahmed's jewelry store, and I wish I had taken a photo of him, as we talked to him for probably over an hour!  Everything from jewelry-making to faith and religion to ISIS to current American politics to the situation in Israel and Palestine, etc.  He could not have been more polite and was extremely intelligent.  Let's just say our conversation was stimulating.  Below, is Tasha (short for Natasha), a full blooded Navajo who still lives on the reservation.  Such a sweetheart.  She very sweetly obliged all my curiosity based questions about her lifestyle, etc.   It's sad, so much of their culture is based on superstition.  For instance, I asked to see a piece of jewelry that had a piece of bear claw in it, and she immediately called another clerk over (Muslim I assume) and asked her to show it to me.  She then explained to me that she is not allowed to touch either bear claws or snakes, and all the reasons why.  They told us wherever we go shopping for jewelry to always ask for the artist.  ALL of their jewelry in this particular store is custom hand made, no real duplicates, everything is original.

We have learned a lot in just our full day here today.  Most of the Indians here are Navaho, but there are also some Zuni, Hopi and other tribes.  We found them to be very friendly people, although we almost felt like real outsiders as at lunch today, I think we were the only white people in the entire restaurant, with the exception of the owner! We naturally had to eat here because of the NAME.  haha  They put green and or red chili on EVERYthing here!  And spicy HOT!  Whew!!

 This is Earl  the current owner of the restaurant, after he took it over from his parents.  What a really nice guy, so warm and friendly and has such a good work ethic.  We enjoyed chatting with him.  As an added bonus, we share pretty much the same political views.  :-)  Ever since 1947, they allow the locals to sell their wares, so they go around from table to table but are very polite when you say no thank you.  I did indulge in a couple pairs of sterling earrings custom hand made.  These are super talented people, and the vast majority have no accent!  I was surprised!  They speak excellent English but can break into Navajo in a second, which I think would be a VERY difficult language to learn!

Their silversmithing is exquisite, much of which incorporates turquoise.  I have been looking for some turquoise jewelry all over Texas and Arizona, and today I found a beautiful necklace, and a ring (in the jewelry store, not in Earl's Restaurant, haha)  

After lunch, we went over to see the famous El Rancho Hotel, formerly opened in December of 1937.  Drawn by the many films made in the area, Ronald Reagan, Spencer Tracey, Katherine Hepburn and many others stayed here.  Their autographed photos were all over the lobby, so I'm including only a few.  Note the huge circular staircase, heavy beams, Navajo rugs and mounted trophy animal heads. The hotel is located on Highway 66, and is now owned and operated by Armand Ortega, a well known and respected Indian trader, the product of four generations of life among the Indians of the Southwest.

After exploring Gallup, it was getting pretty warm so we headed back to the RV park and swam, relaxed and read by the USA pool there!  The water was nice and warm, just like I like it.  After relaxing a couple hours, we got changed and headed back downtown where EVERY night between Memorial Day and Labor Day, they hold traditional Indian dances in the town square right in front of the courthouse!  We experienced our first "fry bread" - never even heard of it until coming here.  But it's a staple around these parts.  It's surprisingly good!  We just had this plain, but they have it with cinnamon sugar and honey as well as several other combinations.

 This is the famous "fry bread".  They were totally amazed that we had never even heard of it.  ALL of them around us were eating it - like that's ALL - just the bread!!  I guess it's really a staple here.  It was quite good, but generally I'd think you'd want it WITH something else.

This cute little girl was patiently waiting for her piece of "fry bread".

 We have thoroughly enjoyed our short time in Gallup!  Warm friendly people and a very interesting area to visit.  I'd say we packed a lot into a day, wouldn't you?  Now time to hit the road again tomorrow.....