Monday, October 31, 2011

September 16th part 1

We took a small detour North to dip our feet in the Grand Canyon.
What more can I say? It is breathtaking. As my Mom has said "No one should bother traveling abroad until they've seen the Grand Canyon." It's true, our country has so much to offer.

We sat on the edge for awhile tossing little pebbles. It made my stomach turn to watch them go up into the sky, fall below the horizon line and then not hear them hit bottom. After an onset of vague feelings of agoraphobia, we decided to be on our way.
Back on the road
Next we came upon the Hackberry General store...oh my was this place fun! I could have stayed all day.



Recognize this guy?



Berma-Shave welcomed us back to the road.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

September 15th - part 2

So we continued on from the Wigwam Motel. I had to stop for every starburst motif.

If you know Rt. 66, you know this sign. Can you spot our big rig?


Standin' on the (other) corner in Winslow Arizona. Was feeling a little cheated since that isn't even a real building! Nonetheless, we had the Eagles stuck in our heads for about 42 hours.

Two Guns, Arizona. This ghost town has a very interesting and turbulent past. We had a ton of fun exploring the place. Here are the remains of it's reincarnation as a campground and tourist stop.

Davey Crocket's graffiti.

The campground office building has been absolutely destroyed.

My favorite part was all the crazy art in the swimming pool

mega man

Just a bit further down the road, the restored Twin Arrows at sunset ♥

Sunday, March 20, 2011

September 15th - part 1 more signs, the Petrified Forest, & Wigwam Motel




Drive-by shot of a muffler man for Aunt Nancy

One of my favorite signs!



Hieroglyphs in the Petrified Forest National Park


Village remains
Teepees


Knowing nothing about this "petrified forest" previously...we were looking forward to finally seeing big, green clusters of trees again, it had been a long time since leaving the mid-west that we had a "fix" of green landscape. Ha!

The landscape was very other-worldly. It looked like a different planet.

close up of a petrified stump

The original route of historic 66.
At this stop we met a woman who was traveling with her husband in a 30 ft long 5th wheel, she literally could not contain her chuckles, she was amazed at how small our camper was :)

It went right through the park. The road disappeared but the telephone poles remain.

Back on the road

Stopped by the Wigwam Motel

The lady in the office gave us a key so we could peak inside. Wish we could have stayed here, but every wigwam is reserved months in advance!


September 14th - part 3 Neon

We walked around Albuquerque, and happened upon this sign...


Which was on the side of the Absolutely Neon building. On a whim we decided to go inside, and we ended up staying a couple hours! Robert the neon artist took a break from his current project to teach about the medium.

Ceiling rack storage

He let us explore the workshop

We hung out with Robert until the sun set, talking about everything from Rt. 66 neon, politics, religion, the nomadic lifestyle, rattlesnakes... He's a great guy all around. If you ever find yourself in Albuquerque (which we sure hope to, again!) be sure to check out Absolutely Neon.

Up until now I was a little bit sad that we came upon most of the vintage neon signs during the day. I really wanted to get some awesome glowing night-shots. Turns out, most of the signs don't light up anymore anyways :'( But here is one I managed to capture.

Just outside of Albuquerque is the most gaudy and brazen hotel/casino/truckstop you have ever seen. The Route 66 Casino. The place is huuuge! It has giant replicas of many Rt. 66 icons, and it is so strange to see gigantic, brand new, glowing replicas of objects that are actually decades old, and falling apart. We stopped here because you kind of have to...it is hypnotizing in a way that makes you uncomfortable after a few minutes. We popped open the back hatch and made ourselves some tuna sandwiches under the neon glow, then continued a few more miles down the road to the smaller, less intimidating Dancing Eagle hotel/casino/truckstop to boondock for the night.