World's Longest Tramway to Route 66

This morning we drive to Budget in ABQ to see if I can be added as a driver on the rental now that I'm 25. They say yes, but for $13/day. Well what about swapping with Nick? No. Swapping with Matt? No. Okay then, thanks for the help. Looks like I get a full 24 day break from driving (which is actually kind of nice given how much I drive for work back in Calgary). We head to WalMart and stock up on snacks and juices, but not beer because for some reason this one doesn't carry beer. Not sure if that's just this location or all of New Mexico. So we carry on and stop at a little Mexican restaurant called Burrito Time for a delicious, fresh lunch and watched the movie Matilda dubbed in Spanish while we ate. Up next we stopped at Sandia Peak for the world's longest tramway. Take a gondola ride to the top of the mountain range and get to look out over the whole valley and it feels like we can see pretty much all of New Mexico. Apparently there is skiing here for about 4 months a year with an average snowfall of 120 inches, which is a surprisingly large amount for the desert. Unfortunately the hiking trails are closed due to very high fire risk/warnings. So we walk around the little boardwalk then take the gondola back down.

Back on the road we head west and run into a torrential downpour just before the Arizona border. Luckily the rain clears up in time for us to get a dry photo with the Welcome to Arizona sign. We stop at  a little place called Geronimo for a picture with the world's largest petrified tree, which is just as unimpressive as it sounds. Stop for Subway at another little town. Anything to break up the monotonous driving across these two states is welcomed. The drive here is seriously more boring than across Saskatchewan. I didn't think that was possible. Eventually we get to our destination for the night: Williams, AZ. It's a quaint tourist town that has the tagline "Last town on Route 66 bypassed by the I-40" which is hilarious and sad. As it turns out it's sort of a charming little place and we wander the one main road and pop into the shops for Route 66 souvenirs. I stock up on some retro looking American-brand gasoline signs to decorate my cubicle back in Calgary. We turn in early and plan to head to the Grand Canyon bright and early before carrying on to Las Vegas.