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Just half an hour from the Arizona border, 65 miles west of Grants, the famous
Route 66
town of
GALLUP
is a handy but uninteresting I-40 pit stop. A five-mile line of the old Route 66 frontage contains some of the least expensive
motels
in the US, ranging from the
Ambassador
, 1601 W 66 Ave (tel 505/722-3843; up to $35), and the
Blue Spruce Lodge
, 1119 E 66 Ave (tel 505/863-5211; up to $35), to the pricier national chains. Unless you're falling asleep at the wheel, the only place really worth stopping for in Gallup is the lovely
El Rancho Hotel
, 1000 E 66 Ave (tel 505/863-9311 or 1-800/543-6351,
; $35-75), built in 1937 by the brother of movie director D.W.Griffith as a home away from home for the many Hollywood stars filming nearby. Nowadays you can ogle their signed photos in the spacious Spanish Revival lobby, grab a bite in its decorative restaurant or spend the night in the
Ronald Reagan Room
, the
Marx Brothers Room
or the
Mae West Room
. Some guestrooms are in the original ranchhouse, the rest in a two-story motel building alongside.
The Navajo and other local Native Americans come together in
Red Rock State Park
, four miles east, on the second weekend in August for the
Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial
, the largest such gathering anywhere. Four days of dances and craft shows have as their highlight a Saturday morning parade through the town.
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