Trip To Cali - Christmas 2007

Laguna Pueblo
Soon you will come to the Laguna Pueblo nestled below scenic Mount Taylor. Ancestors of these Puebloan Indians are thought to have occupied these same lands since 1300 A.D. The area surrounding the villages indicates a longer history, as archeological evidence has been dated back as far as 3000 B.C. When the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, they found an agrarian lifestyle and sophisticated system of self-governance.

The people refer to the pueblo as Ka-Waikah or Ka-waik, meaning “lake people,” because it built along a natural dammed lake in 1699. The lake has long since transitioned into meadow lands. Consisting of six villages – the Laguna, Paguate, Encinal, Mesita, Seuma, and Paraje, the pueblo houses almost 8,000 residents. Covering some 5,000 acres, it is the second largest in New Mexico .

For the Route 66 enthusiast, several icons still appear including the Lariat Lodge, Grants Cafe founded in 1937, the Sands Motel, Lavaland Motel, the closed Lux Movie Theatre and Trail Drive-In Theatre, and many more. In Grants, old 66 is called Santa Fe Avenue.
A number of side trips present themselves from Grants including the Acoma Pueblo just 12 miles southeast of Grants, and the Bandera Ice Caves, another 13 miles down the road.

Continue on down Route 66 along a 41-mile chunk to the Continental Divide on your way to Gallup, New Mexico. And as always, Kick a little Asphalt along the way.