Don't forget to stop off at the famous El Rancho hotel as you leave Gallup. This was once the home to the stars and the all the photo's upstairs are testament to all the movie screen greats that have stayed here.The impressive red canyons stop abruptly as we cross over the state border into Arizona and the landscape becomes noticably more barren and sparcely populated.

Pangs of hunger make the signpost for "Fort Courage" tempting so we take the exit and are relieved to see the signpost for a restaurant. However as we will see more often, this fort has definitely fallen on tough times as the restaurant has closed since 2005 and the general store sees little in the way of passing trade from the highway these days.

The must see along this stretch of 66 has got to be the Petrified forest and the painted desert. This national park has got to be Arizonas best kept secret with the GRand Canyon getting all the publicity.Not knowing what to expect made the first viewpoint ....Tiponi Point stunning..spread out before you is what can only be described as a mini grand canyon with incredibly coloured rock formations and visibility up to 100 miles because of the air quality.Some of the best sections of the petrified forest (some of which are 25,000 years old) can be viewed at the Crystal Forest if you take the route that links up with the 180 to Holbrook.