Day 21: Santa Rosa, NM to Gallup, NM

Only around 250 miles today; we started early enough due to the thunderstorm in Santa Rosa this morning. It began around 1:30 AM and the winds threatened to flatten our tent; then the lightning and thunder---so loud it made the ground (or at least, our air mattress) shake! It continued off and on again until we broke camp around 7:00 AM.  We headed west to Albuquerque where we rode the aerial tram to the top of Mt. Sandia; at around 10,400 feet!  There were some clouds at the top but we still enjoyed the ride and took photos. As we headed toward Gallup, we crossed the Continental Divide at around 7400 feet. Just past this point a tremendous thunderstorm dumped inches of hail on the ground leading to a very serious series of car wrecks; we were about 15 minutes behind these so we only got caught in the traffic snarl which resulted. But we passed the wreckage of a couple of vehicles and it looked very serious. More thunderstorms tonight and Gallup is around 6400 feet so we're not tenting it tonight.  Tomorrow we should get to Williams, Arizona where we will spend at least one night & we plan to spend a day or two at the south rim of the Grand Canyon before going east and north to either the north rim of the canyon or to Zion National Park. We also want to visit Bryce and possibly the Arches national parks. Have gone 8000 miles on this trip so far! It's been great. Here are a few pictures:

Thunderstorm near Gallup, NM.

 View from the tram to the top of the Sandia mountains near Albuquerque, NM

 Looking down the east side of Sandia mountain where the ski slopes are located.

 No 'trick' photography here; the clouds all had a bright outline and were an amazing sight.

 From the tram car.

Oncoming thunderstorm near the Continental Divide in New Mexico.