Have You Slept in a Wigwam Recently? Yes!

Day 10: 268 Miles
Total: 2,841 Miles

We had a quiet, uneventful ride through the desert today, from Albuquerque, NM to Holbrook, AZ. We stopped here and there to take some interesting pictures, but beyond that there wasn't much else to do. We ate lunch in a diner in Gallup called Earl's, and it was a pleasant stop. In New Mexico and especially Arizona, there are significant stretches of Route 66 that have been covered by the asphalt of I-40. This makes the travel quick but boring.

We arrived in Holbrook in the late afternoon and checked into our wigwam. The wigwam village is in pretty good shape. The son and daughter-in-law of the original owner, Chester Lewis, still own the place. Chester died in 1986 but his wife is still alive and living in Phoenix at the ripe old age of 101.

We ate dinner at a highly recommended Mexican restaurant here, but after the incredible Mexican meals we have eaten in the last few days, this place was a bit underwhelming. Not bad, just average. We went out and shot a few more neon signs tonight. I have included one of my favorites below.

Tomorrow we will stay in Needles, CA. It isn't much longer than today in terms of the number of miles, but there are several of our favorite places to stop along the way, such as the towns of Winslow, Seligmen, and Hackberry. And while several stints on the expressway will make up some time, the slow and treacherous Oatman Pass will slow us back down. So we plan to get an earlier start and will probably arrive a little later in the day.

Here are a handful of pictures, mostly of Wigwam Village #6. The first is a little service station in Budville, NM.

Old motel signs abound along the entire route. In some cases they sit over long-closed motels, other times they are the last remnant of a non-existent motel. Of course, sometimes the motel is still there and still in operation. The Bluewater is still sitting along a lonely stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico, but it hasn't seen a weary traveler spending the night there in many years.

This old building preceded Route 66 in Holbrook, NM.

Here is one of three remaining wigwam villages, Wigwam Village #6. Village #7 still stands on Route 66 in Rialto, CA and #2 remains in Cave City, KY on the Dixie Highway.

The wigwams here have several old cars interspersed with customer vehicles. Some of them are still operational...sort of.

Ciao!