Pried ourselves out of bed in preparation for another adventurous day on the road.

We prowled around the property taking pics of some of the old neglected classic cars
before heading out to find food and COFFEE.

Wig Wam Classic Cars

 

 

 

 

 

 

Should you stay here? Well it is a bit of a novelty and if you don’t mind a squeaky bed, minimal creature comforts, the sound of trains passing through night, a property with a bunch of cool old cars and an office with a bitchin’ neon sign then yes you should stay here.

Found a do it yourself car wash and gave Maryjane a well-deserved cleaning before subjecting her to more dust and abuse. While there a toothless guy wandered up and told us that at one time he had lived in Indio, California and wanted to know if we might know him or his father….hmmm. Somehow I seem to attract these characters among others.  Didn’t have the heart to tell him he looked like a kid I saw on a milk carton once.

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Painted Desert

Buzzed on down the road and went on a tour of the Painted Desert and Petrified National Forrest.

The Painted Desert was beautiful but during our abbreviated tour of  the “Petrified Forest” we failed to find a forest of any type and the only thing petrified appeared to be the old folks stumbling off of the bus.

Most of the petroglyphs in Petrified Forest National Park are thought to be between 650 and 2,000 years old.

Petroglyphs

The desert continues to amaze us with its amazing vistas and layered rock formations. The brilliant blue sky sprinkled with formations of luminous clouds seems to go on forever.

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Stateline, Nm

Can you see the statuary above the store?

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Grants, NM

Time has taken its toll on Grants and many other towns that have been bypassed by the highways that replaced Route 66.

Leaving Grants

Whiting Brothers gas stations were established in 1926.  At their peak there were over forty locations on Route 66

 

Albuquerque
Our stay at Casas de Suenos in Albuquerque was terrific. What a great way to end a day. The room was cool, the décor and landscaping was awesome and the customer service was great. We toured around old town Albuquerque before hitting the road to Santa Fe.

Casa de Suenos Bed and Breakfast

 

 

Day 2 Kingman to Holbrook.

Started off the day with a great breakfast at Mr. D’z (The famous actor Andy Devine was a Kingman native hence the name Mr. D’z)

It’s a who knows what

After breakfast we ventured across the street for a quick peak at the small Kingman RT 66 museum.  Found this awesome Studebaker on display.

 

Said goodbye to Kingman and headed for Hackberry General Store which is about 25 miles southeast of Kingman. A lot of really cool old cars in varying degrees of decay, antiques and bits and pieces of Rt 66 memorabilia.

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Hackberry General Store

Kathy made me post this

Continued on to Seligman which is another one of those old towns that is all about Rt 66. Seligman was on the original U.S. Route 66 from 1926 through 1978, when Interstate 40 bypassed it a few miles south. In 1987 Seligman gained its name “Birthplace of Historic Route 66” due to the efforts of Seligman residents, who convinced the State of Arizona to dedicate Route 66 a historic highway. Seligman was the inspiration for the town of Radiator Springs in the animated movie Cars.

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SELIGMAN

Met a strange character all duded up in cowboy gear with a knife and gun who was there with his horses. Couldn’t quite figure out what his deal was but the man could talk your leg off.

I guess he didn’t like my cowboy jokes

A bus load of Chinese tourists pulled in and distracted the boy long enough for us to escape and walk around the town.

Had a great lunch at the Roadkill Café.

Leaving Seligman we reached an elevation of 7500+ feet and found the vegetation suddenly transitioning from desert scrub brush to trees before starting the long descent to Williams.

The road down to Williams from Seligman

This is where you end up when there’s a flaw in the directions

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Williams

Downtown Williams

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Like yesterday the sky was filled with a variety of cloud formations that ranged from black to puffy white clouds interspersed with the most brilliantly clear blue sky.

WINSLOW, AZ

Winslow, Az.  is a vibrant timeless ’50’s town where we had to stop to see the “Standing on the Corner in Winslow, AZ” statue commemorating the 1972 Eagles / Jackson Browne song “Take it Easy”

If you look carefully you can see the “flatbed Ford” sitting at the curb in the photo.

 

In the mural you can see the flatbed Ford reflecting in the window and Glenn Fry kissing the “Blond haired girl” in 2nd floor window. There’s an eagle sitting on the window ledge of the next room. How cool is that!

After Kathy’s failed attempt to run away with Mr. Magoo she then tried to escape on this hell beast at the Jackrabbit Trading Post.  should I be worried?

the never ending line of trains crisscrossing the desert everyday is absolutely amazing .
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HOLBROOK

Pulled into Holbrook and checked in to the famous Wig Wam (Teepee) Motel. What a hoot

Had a great Mexican dinner down the street at Roma Restaurant.

So far we’ve met people from Italy, Germany, Serbia, Belgium, Hungary and the UK. and have seen a bus load of Chinese tourists. Oh , and we did hear a couple speaking French in a cafe. There is no doubt rt 66 is an international destination.