May 20-22

Still making our way through Arizona, on the 21^st  trying to take pictures and visiting  Route 66 attractions, diners and museums.

We did a two-night stay at a campground in Mohave Valley. Our focus was to visit the historic town of Oatman, AZ on Route 66, known for its wild burros roaming the streets and it’s “ghost town” tourist appeal. Featuring Old West reenactments, shops and saloons.  Originally a gold mining camp that boomed in the early 20^th century, it declined after the mines closed and Route 66 was bypassed, but was revitalized as a tourist destination.  The original road to Oatman on Route 66, was locally known as the “Arizona Sidewinder” featured exactly 191 curves, twists and switchbacks over a demanding 8 mile stretch through the Black Mountains.  It is highly recommended to take your time driving this route due to narrow steep drop-offs and the occasional wild burro crossing.  We found two routes into Oatman, the 191 curves road and a back road that was pretty straight forward except for the occasional burro.  We took the straight road into town but you betcha, we took the “Sidewinder” home, what a ride!

May 22-25

Then we crossed into California.  The land of $8.29 for a gallon of diesel, be still our hearts.

We were able to get into the Fam Camp on Seal Beach Weapon Station.  This was a great option as it was secure and cost a fraction of what a RV park in LA would be.

 

We arrived at 1pm, unhooked and made the hour drive to Santa Monica Pier.  Can you believe it, we were on the final leg of our Route 66 trip. After 39 days, 8 states on route 66 (13 states from home) total of 6000 miles, God knows how many gallons of diesel we were at the end of the road, literally.  We found the “End of the Trail” sign at the pier, took a picture, quickly followed by a celebratory margarita.  Can you believe it we did what most cant do we traveled the entire Route 66 just like people did in the heyday of family travel during the great depression and the Dust Bowl.

While in the LA area we decided to mark a few items off our bucket list.  Fist stop was a visit with my sister in Santa Barbara who prepared a fantastic lunch for us and great conversation.  We took Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway back to the RV park.  It was a long 3-hour drive home but well worth it. 

Spent the next day truly be tourist.  We visited the La Brea Tar Pit and Museum, the worlds only active Ice Age fossil site since discovered 1905.   The pits have yielded thousands of fossils like mammoths, saber toothed cats and dire wolves.  Today there are two active excavations site within the park.  Over 3.5 million specimens have been discovered representing over 660 species of animals and plants.  The tar (aka asphalt) still bubbles up today.

drove to see the infamous “Hollywood” sign, Griffith Observatory and of course we took a walk to the TCL Chinese Theater, originally Grauman’s Chinese Theater, a iconic movie palace on the Hollywood walk of fame known for its exotic architecture, hosting major film premieres and famous forecourt of the Stars where celebrities have left handprints and footprints in cement.

Oh my, I forgot to mention that we found the original “Randy’s Donut” shop from 1952.  2 cups of coffee and a box of donuts, heaven

This is the end of our Route 66 trip but not the end of our journey.  We are headed to Sequoia and Yosemite Nation Parks for a few days before we settle in Nevada for a few weeks for our grandson’s high school graduation and some needed grandparent time with all our grandsons.  Don’t worry we still have to make our way back home to South Carolina, there are many adventures to be had getting there.

May 17-19

Grand Canyon, what do you say about the Grand Canyon!  We spent one day making our way up the Eastern part of the South Rim and the next day back down the Western part of the South Rim.  There was not a hike or viewpoint that wasn’t magnificent.  Our picture taking was never ending.  Our temperatures dropped to a unexpected freezing for two nights, thank goodness we had a bin of winter clothes with us just in case of cold weather. The weather didn't stop us from enjoying our days, by afternoon it warmed up enough to shed our coats. 

I have at least 80 pictures of the canyon but won’t bore you with them all 😊

 

May 14-17

Back on Route 66 road after our detour to Ute Mountain.  Next stop was Holbrook, AZ to see the Petrified Forest, Meteor Crater and a special dinner at La Posada in Winslow.

The Petrified Forest National Park protects a vast landscape of colorful petrified wood, badlands and archaeological sites showcasing millions of years of history from the late Triassic period.  The park features the painted desert in the north and the Rainbow Forest in the south, connected by a 28-mile scenic drive with numerous trails, overlooks and historic Route 66 remnants.  We were able to walk among the park’s largest concentration of petrified trees with logs dating back 225 million years.  The logs look so real until you touch them and find that they are as hard as stone with so many brilliant colors.  The park makes it real clear that there is no taking of petrified wood no matter how small or large, looked like a real challenge for a lot of the little people (and big people) that we saw on the trails.

The Petrified Forest National Park is the only National Park in the US that a section of historic Route 66 runs directly through.  The park preserves traces of the old 1926 roadbed, original telephone poles and a rusted vintage Studebaker.

Meteor Crater is just west of Winslow, AZ it is the earth’s best preserved impact site.  This massive landmark is roughly 50,000 years old.  It spans nearly one mile in diameter and plunges 550 ft deep, created by a 150-foot-wide iron-nickel meteorite.  Because its rugged terrain resembles the lunar surface, NASA’s Apollo astronauts trained there in the 1960’s.  Despite an attempt to make the crater a public landmark, the crater today remains privately owned by the Barringer family.

Who is a fan of the Eagles and their famous song “Take It Easy” we are.  Their lyric from the song came to life:

Well I’m a standin on the corner in Winslow, Arizona

With such a fine sight to see

It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed ford

Slowin down to take a look at me

We literally stood on the corner, so much fun.

The 1930’s La Posada Hotel is one of the few Fred Harvey hotels standing, located in Winslow.  The Fred Harvey Company was the owner of the Harvey House chain of restaurants, hotels and other hospitality industry businesses alongside railroads in the Western United States.  It was founded in 1876 by Fred Harvey to cater to the growing number of train passengers.  The company, with its employees including the renowned waitresses later known as Harvey Girls successfully brought the standards of food service and cuisine to the region then mainly known as “the Wild West” In 1946 the Harvey Girls popularity grew even stronger when Judy Garland starred in the film version of the “The Harvey Girls” novel.

We had a great time exploring this old hotel and its history too included a fantastic dinner themed from one of the old Harvey House menus.

Bye bye Holbrook, hello Grand Canyon!

 

 

May 9-12

In Gallup, NM a Route 66 must stop was the Hotel El Rancho. Since the 1940’s Hotel El Rancho has hosted some of Hollywood’s biggest movie makers and movie stars, including Robert Mitchum, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, William Holden, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Suzanne Pleshette and many more. Even today the hotel continues to host movie crews.  Movies filmed in this area: Young Guns, Grapes of Wrath, Escape from Fort Bravo, Hallelujah, Superman and so many more.  Most of your early westerns, especially those directed by John Ford were filmed close by.

The hotel interior looks the same as it did in the 1940’s western deco, solid wood grand staircase only difference now is instead of the Hollywood stars roaming the lobby the walls are covered in their autographed photos.  This was a interesting place to loiter for a while and of course buy a T-shirt.

Our RV Park for the next few nights was run by the Ute Indian Tribe at the base of the Ute Mountains.  They have a casino and RV Park collocated with each other.  After arriving and getting situated we thought we would check out the casino. This is not Vegas baby!  Alcohol and firearms are not permitted on Indian reservation land so there is not a single cocktail waitress to be found.  Instead, there is free flowing coffee and soda. 

 Mesa Veda National Park in southwestern Colorado is a must see.  The preserved cliff dwellings and other archaeological sites of the Ancestral Pueblo people, who lived there from 600 to 1300 AD, with famous structures like Cliff Palace and Balcony House built into the cliffs.  We were so fortunate to score tickets to go on a park ranger guided tour of Cliff Palace.  The tour took us right into the cliff dwellings themselves.  Of course, there are many rules on where you can walk and what not to touch so they can continue to preserve for future generations.  It was absolutely amazing to walk in the footsteps of the Pueblo people.

 

Bucket list item, Four Corners Monument.  Not sure what we expected but we got to stand in four states at one time.  The original marker was erected in 1912 which was a simple cement pad, but since then it has been redone a few times to what it is today. 

Have you ever seen a John Ford western.  John Ford was a defining director of the American Western, famous for his location shooting in Monument Valley. He did iconic films like Stagecoach, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache and more all shot in Monument Valley. 

Now we can say we were there.  We did a 15-mile drive on a unpaved, dirt and gravel road (4x4 required) into the valley, where we were able to see the West Mitten Butte, East Mitten Butte and Merrick Butte that all appeared in his films.  Walter was so thrilled to be able to take the truck four wheeling in such a remarkable place, me I needed a bladder belt.

What to our wondering eyes, we found the exact spot where the movie Forest Gump filmed the famous scene of him ending his cross-country run.  You can see parts of Monument Valley in the background.  This stretch of US Route 163 is located in Mexican Hat, UT.

Last day at the Ute Mountain RV Park. We had some household or is it rvhold things to take care of, laundry, washing and vacuum out truck, get Walter a haircut, do some moderate cleaning in rv.  We can’t be on vacation every day, but we did manage to squeeze in a quick tour of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Museum.  Their artifact collection from the Pueblo people was fantastic and so well preserved. 

Until we made this part of the trip we had no idea how many times we would cross the Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona state lines.  The GPS continued to welcome us numerous times to each state.  So much so that I had to stop taking pictures of the Welcome to signs.