I actually helped my good buddy move his stuff from Washington to El Paso. His stuff, he slept, while I drove most of the way. Slacker. We switched off in Salt Lake and he drove the twisties before Moab. It sounds like you’ll be going through Moab which is a sight in itself. You’ll hit the 4 corners of NM, AZ, UT, CO and there’s a landmark up there right off the Hwy as you enter NM. You can bypass Albuquerque as you drive from Gallup. If you plan on stopping in ABQ, there’s plenty of good spots to eat checkout the Range Cafe or NY Pizza Department in downtown Abq. Truth or Consequences has the dam/reservoir area that doesn’t take too long to appreciate. As you get closer to Las Cruces NM, there’s a town called Hatch-there’s a few places you can pick up roasted green Chile In the fresh and frozen for travel variety. you’ll hear of a good spot named sparkys. Worth trying once. Las cruces has some nice areas near the university and in its small downtown, but if you wanna see some real southwest Billy the Kid areas, go a bit further south to Mesilla also known as Old Mesilla. There’s a restaurant there called La Posta, decent food if it’s time to eat. From there you can take the back roads (nm hwy 28) through the pecan farms to El Paso and still catch transmountain drive (loop 375) if you’re driving from the Westside of town to the northeast where Bliss is.
