It's a Girl My Lord in a Flatbed Ford...
Day 9: 237 Miles
Total: 2,724 Miles
After publishing our bogs last night, Sharon and I went to find a good meal. We found a great one called the Badlands Grill in Gallup. Following the meal we decided to look for more neon, and we found a few great signs. The best one was standing tall next to a rather mediocre place called the Roadrunner Motel. If only the motel lived up to the sign, we would have been in our glory. Alas, no...
We found a couple of other good ones as well, including the El Rancho where I stayed the last time through. In this case, the hotel/motel far exceeded the sign in terms of quality and character. Alas again, they were sold out...
We got our usual relatively late start but made it through Holbrook in a reasonable amount of time. Although we weren't able to stay at the Wigwam Motel there I thought I would share some pictures of what we missed.
One of several highlights of the day was our arrival in the city of Winslow, Arizona. While not a bustling metropolis it is known for two things; the fabulous La Posada resort and a verse from a well-known Eagles song, Take it Easy. The verse goes:
Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord
In a flatbed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me.
So this verse and that corner have made Winslow a tourist destination...well, a tourist side trip anyway, which is what it was for us. The city of Winslow has a statue on the corner of a man holding a guitar, and behind the man is a wall with a mural of a business painted on it. In the window of the business is a reflection of a girl in a flatbed Ford...my Lord! There is also a red flatbed Ford parked in the street at the same location. So we had plenty of photo opportunities.
This Valentine diner, also in Winslow, has seen better days but is still way cool. Note the for sale sign in the corner of the window. Hopefully someone will restore this gem to its former glory.
Now lest you think that all of the schlock Americana was found in the early part of this trip (think Gemini Giant and his extended family), I assure you that isn't the case. LOTS of schlock can be found on the western reaches of the Mother Road as the Fort Courage Trading Post of F-Troop fame and the Geronimo gift shop clearly attest. Enjoy.
Some of these places are famous, like the Jackrabbit Trading Post. In its heyday the yellow "Here it is" signs littered the landscape for miles in every direction. Now they are becoming scarce so if you want to see one, well...Here it is!
I just don't know what to say about this shot...I'm speechless.
Some of the famous tourist traps no longer exist. Two Guns was such a place. It has been deserted for years but recently actor Russell Crowe bought the property and gated it off to keep nosy people (like us) out. He is apparently going to shoot a movie there. Sharon and I went around the gate and took some shots anyway. There was a man inside a building there who was watching us but he didn't chase us away. Sharon suggested that we ask forgiveness rather than permission, and as it turns out we had to do neither.
Just a few miles down 66, another famous name from the past was Twin Arrows. This too is deserted but we were able to get several good shots anyway.
On a short dead end stretch of Route 66 sits two other well known places. This first place was once called Hopi Village, Howdy Hanks, and Sitting Bull's Indian Store. Notice a redone picture of Howdy Hank on the second photo below.
The second place on the same road is this faded red log cabin, most recently known as Ella's Frontier, but in the 1930s and 1940s it was San Diego Rawson's Frontier Days Trading Post.
I love it when we find a new place out of the blue, and that's what happened as we passed through Flagstaff. It was lunch time, we were hungry, and there stood this beautiful place called the Galaxy Diner. It has been a Route 66 tradition since 1952. As you can see from the pictures, the place is incredible.
The final stop of the day was Seligman, Arizona. Seligman is a sleepy little town of one business street, about a mile long. It was here that the Delgadillo brothers, Angel and Juan, launched the Route 66 Association of Arizona to bring back the de-certified roadway from the dead. They were so successful that every other state on Route 66, all seven of them, copied the Arizona format and created successful associations of their own. Juan died a few years back, but Angel still pushes on. If Cyrus Avery is the father of Route 66, Angel Delgadillo is the father of the rebirth of Route 66.
Juan's family still owns my favorite place in town, the Snow Cap restaurant. It's hard to explain what this place is all about, you just have to experience it. It's one of my favorite places on the route.
Here is Angel's barber shop/gift shop and a local motel.
We are staying in Seligman tonight at a nice little place called the Supai Motel. We'll try for some more neon shots tonight.
Ciao!
Total: 2,724 Miles
After publishing our bogs last night, Sharon and I went to find a good meal. We found a great one called the Badlands Grill in Gallup. Following the meal we decided to look for more neon, and we found a few great signs. The best one was standing tall next to a rather mediocre place called the Roadrunner Motel. If only the motel lived up to the sign, we would have been in our glory. Alas, no...
We found a couple of other good ones as well, including the El Rancho where I stayed the last time through. In this case, the hotel/motel far exceeded the sign in terms of quality and character. Alas again, they were sold out...
We got our usual relatively late start but made it through Holbrook in a reasonable amount of time. Although we weren't able to stay at the Wigwam Motel there I thought I would share some pictures of what we missed.
One of several highlights of the day was our arrival in the city of Winslow, Arizona. While not a bustling metropolis it is known for two things; the fabulous La Posada resort and a verse from a well-known Eagles song, Take it Easy. The verse goes:
Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord
In a flatbed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me.
So this verse and that corner have made Winslow a tourist destination...well, a tourist side trip anyway, which is what it was for us. The city of Winslow has a statue on the corner of a man holding a guitar, and behind the man is a wall with a mural of a business painted on it. In the window of the business is a reflection of a girl in a flatbed Ford...my Lord! There is also a red flatbed Ford parked in the street at the same location. So we had plenty of photo opportunities.
This Valentine diner, also in Winslow, has seen better days but is still way cool. Note the for sale sign in the corner of the window. Hopefully someone will restore this gem to its former glory.
The second place on the same road is this faded red log cabin, most recently known as Ella's Frontier, but in the 1930s and 1940s it was San Diego Rawson's Frontier Days Trading Post.
The final stop of the day was Seligman, Arizona. Seligman is a sleepy little town of one business street, about a mile long. It was here that the Delgadillo brothers, Angel and Juan, launched the Route 66 Association of Arizona to bring back the de-certified roadway from the dead. They were so successful that every other state on Route 66, all seven of them, copied the Arizona format and created successful associations of their own. Juan died a few years back, but Angel still pushes on. If Cyrus Avery is the father of Route 66, Angel Delgadillo is the father of the rebirth of Route 66.
Juan's family still owns my favorite place in town, the Snow Cap restaurant. It's hard to explain what this place is all about, you just have to experience it. It's one of my favorite places on the route.
Here is Angel's barber shop/gift shop and a local motel.
We are staying in Seligman tonight at a nice little place called the Supai Motel. We'll try for some more neon shots tonight.
Ciao!
Comments
The area around Sedona is absolutely beautiful,- or at least I think it is. It saddens me to see some of the beautiful red rock areas these days being replaced by modern houses. Sedona itself is pretty much a tourist trap. I've been there a couple times with Dot and of course always have to drop a few dollars there. I found nice Story Teller dolls for Dot there.