Day 11 - A Natural Wonder

 

This was a day that took one’s breath away.

Arizona. The sun threw soft morning light across Bill Williams Mountain. A sweet perfume of Ponderosa pines and white fir trees filled the air.  The cool was welcome after the warm lands of Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. Jeans replaced shorts. A light jacket was a good idea.

The viewing room gave me goosebumps
 and taking photos became obligatory!

A friend said, “Careful, there’s a big hole out there somewhere. Don’t fall in!” We were on our way to one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Yes, the Grand Canyon.

In these layers of color, lay the bands of time - millennia captured and revealed to the world.

Now, technically speaking, we were on a tour of Route 66, and the Grand Canyon is not on the route! However, this side trip was billed as a highlight not to be missed. I can assure you this is true. 

A local resident surveyed our picnic
 lunch with interest.

We drove through the beauty of high country pinyon pine trees and Utah junipers. In silence, we watched the widening rift in the landscape unfold.

The South Rim stands 7,545 feet above sea level. We gazed across an unfathomable chasm, 18 miles wide in places, to the North Rim which is 8,000 feet high. The colors, contours, and layers are strikingly beautiful. 

It wasn't just water that created this canyon:
the Colorado tectonic plate rose and cracked
 8 million years ago, and the river ran between
 it to carve out the space left behind.

A mile below, the Colorado River was a blue-green ribbon. How many pioneering travelers must have wondered how to they would get across this 277 miles long canyon?

My words are insufficient and so I will only say, the sight is worth the voyage.

Tomorrow, we’ll get back on Route 66 and continue west. 

Click and continue!

Days 9 & 10 Westward Ho!

Our journey through arid lands, reveals a stark kind of beauty. 

 We left the town of Albuquerque on Route 66.  The road rolled through the desert, made colorful by plant life and geology. The cake-like layers of sandstone, clay, and manganese were beautiful. No wonder it became known as the Painted desert.

 

A passing storm intensifies the colors.

Soon, we had crossed the continental divide.  This invisible geologic feature runs from the Bering Strait down to the tip of South America. All  rivers on the eastern side run to the Atlantic or into the Gulf of Mexico and to the west of the divide, all rivers empty into the Pacific Ocean. 

We rode on across the land, mesmerized by its immensity.

 

The Navajo Indians, known as "coders", used their unwritten language to send important messages in times of war. For example, their bird names were used to designate different types of aircraft.

Gallup, New Mexico is considered the capital for the many native tribes in the area and has an impressive cultural center. 

Planters decorate the entry
to the Cultural Center in Gallup.

We paid tribute to the song performed by The Eagles and Jackson Browne by standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona. 

The small town of Winslow became famous
because it was mentioned in a hit song.

The scenery changed and temperatures dropped as we arrived in the mountainy town of Williams. The Main Street is a time capsule for the fans of Route 66. The old center has kept the look and friendly feeling of a bygone era.

I love the colorful advertisements that
brighten many a corner on Route 66.

Next stop - we’re off the Route to explore a famous spot.

To discover that spot, click here!

Days 6, 7 & 8 : Missouri to New Mexico

 

In the heartland of America 

on Route 66

What a pleasure when someone else takes the wheel! The large windows and comfortable seats let us enjoy the view.  And what a view! The French word “bouleversant” is appropriate. That means, it “flips” you over!

At every stop there were beautiful
cars that made us smile.

I thought I remembered the rolling prairies, large farms, and endless parade of wooden telephone polls that connect the remote communities.  But as we  traversed the heartland of America, I discovered my memories were too small. This is a stirring landscape that reaches out to be embraced by a big sky.

  

Sometimes silly but also iconic!

Where Historic Route 66 ran straight, it became modern Interstate 44.  Where it meandered, it often became the highway’s frontage road.

Burma shave! These ads along the roadside would be spaced out so that as you drove along,
 you could read the often amusing rhymes. 

Elk City’s National Route 66 & Transportation Museum displayed the first Burma Shave signs I’d seen since my youth.

  

“Take me out to the ballgame.”

Oklahoma City’s Bricktown : Nice! We took a peep through the chain-link fence of the Micky Mantel Stadium. The memorable ticket man at the gate bid us enter, took our photo, then surprised us with complimentary baseball caps! 

The memorial in Oklahoma City 

We stood in respectful silence at the National Memorial for the victims, survivors, and rescuers of the Oklahoma City bombing. It was evocative and sobering. 

In Amarillo, Texas, just after sunrise, we added tags to the funkadelic line of cars at Cadillac Ranch.

Cadillacs!

Albuquerque, New Mexico stole our hearts with its cool “any town USA”  neighborhoods where so many films and series are filmed.  Best of all, were the authentic southwest Pueblo buildings at the old town center.

 

Old Town Albuquerque 

The Road is lined with so much history.  We want to see as much of it as possible.

The next part is here! Click!

Day 5 - Route 66, first steps

 

A decorative panel in a museum celebrates the states connected by the Mother Road

First Impressions

Stories about Route 66 abound. As I prepared for our trip, I read blogs, articles, and a few books about the Mother Road.  YouTube added the music, voices,  and so much more.

A vintage sign at the start of our adventure 

Sometime, it was an overload of information and even repetitive. So, I will do my best to avoid the cliches of describing the bus, the miles, every authentic cafe, diner, garage, or sign we have seen.  Instead, I will compress time and share the highlights.

Chicago!

Point of departure: Chicago. A vibrant city that feels young. We hit the road and began the litany of states: Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. The towns were  many. Among them Joplin, Springfield, Galena, and Saint Louis.

Where are we??

The interstate is flanked by vast expanses of open country.  Farms and pastures extend to the horizon.  My partner remarked, “In America everything is XXL!”

Kansas… where tornados are strong.

  He’s not wrong.  This isn’t about clothes size.  It’s the wide roads, copious restaurant portions, parking lots, Big Box stores, and the welcoming spirit of the Americans who greet us along the way.

 

This goodwill is no sales pitch.  We feel it again and again in the smiles, salutations and words exchanged with total strangers who are also exploring Route 66.

Happy Motoring! 

Click here to keep on rolling!

 

Day 4: Get Your Kicks!

 

Once upon a time there were giants on the road.

Reflections while on the Mother Road 

Route 66! More myth than macadam, it was christened in 1926. But it was deemed more efficient to cut new straight roads for commerce and in 1985 it decommissioned. Towns got bypassed. The byways crumbled. The Mother Road was dying. 

An early runner on the Mother Road

In 1999, President Clinton signed a bill to restore the historic features along the old road. Tours, like the one we are on, breathed new life into Route 66.

I love the amazing roadside signs and painted murals!

Along the route, are so many museums, original signs, garages, and diners that unless you take 3 to 4 weeks, you can’t see it all. Wisdom says take two weeks and you will see a lot. If you’re pressed for time, you could do it in a week and see a few sights.

The museums hold beautiful cars from every era.

For 16 days we are rolling down Highway 40, which principally follows old Route 66.  Ocassionally we deviate from the Interstate and take it slow just so we can roll on original parallel roads that were decommissioned. 

These beauties are from the 40’s

At  every chance, the group stops to breathe in the joy of those who are keeping the flame alive. Their enthusiasm has brought back the beauty, nostalgia, and vibrant culture that made the Mother Road “The Highway That's The Best.” 

A cool guy takes “the pause that refreshes” from a working vintage Coca-Cola cooler.

The adventure continues in a click here!