We woke up to beautiful morning light at our campsite.

We got up, had breakfast and drove into a town that had transformed itself from an almost ghost town on Sunday night into an active commercial centre.

We didn’t make it far in Gallup. We parked at the visitor centre and walked across the street to First American Traders. This is a native arts and crafts store, both retail and wholesale.

We agonized for about two hours over a selection of pottery from different native tribes. Now we have problems using the bathroom in the van because there is a huge box wedged under the sink.

We needed to get some more cash and looked for an ATM. We’ve found that in the U.S. ATM machines are generally drive-through units and one needs to line up with the cars to use them.

Our next stop was Earl’s Family Restaurant. We had discovered this restaurant on our Route 66 trip in 2013 and wanted to visit again. One unique feature of this restaurant is that it allows native vendors to sell wares table to table that they or a close family member have made.

Now we booted it on I-40 to Albuquerque to meet-up with our neon sign making friend. We caught up on the last two years, had proscuitto sandwiches and then headed out to a New Mexican restaurant for delicious enchiladas with green sauce. It was a fun night.

We spent the night at the American RV Park on the west end of Albuquerque.

Note: Map track is approximate as GPS unit was lost. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post.