In the end, we were not sure what was harder: the ride, or carrying our bike up the stairs to the third floor of the casino hotel. The landscape remained vast and unpopulated, but pretty. No matter how poor the town, how remote the community, we’ve found people positive, accepting of others who aren’t exactly like them, and working to make their community a better place. We’ve been so impressed with the people we’ve met so far. People frequently strike a conversation with us. Occasionally we would notice something tucked away in the landscape, like the church in the next picture. They were barely big enough for a pickup, but actively used. We noticed access roads under the interstate that allowed ranchers and coal or natural gas workers to cross. You can also socialise, go to parties, relax by the pool. We passed through a lava field were desert plants struggled to take footing. Albuquerque Get your kicks on more than 400 miles of Route 66 in Oklahoma. But it was actually 100 feet up, 200 down, repeat over and over. The 60 mile ride starting in Grants NM, another town that time has passed by, was a net downhill ride that lost 1300 feet of elevation.
And what better one to stay in than the Route 66 Casino itself, which sits alone in the desert outside Albuquerque. Yes, after passing so many Indian casinos, we are staying in one.
