Historic Route 66 — Part 1
After leaving Sedona, Arizona I drove north through more red-rock country which provided more awesome vistas as I found my way back to the Historic Route 66. Because I started my trip late I decided to stay on I-40 when Route 66 was parallel to the Interstate roadway. When I came to a town I would follow the Old Route 66 through the towns. This would put me closer to more of Middle-America than on any other road trip; this allowed me to experience it up-close and personal.

Typical view on Historic Route 66 — Small town America

In many of the small towns it was apparent that there were shattered dreams represented by boarded-up buildings, decaying old service stations, abandoned houses and old cafes. In the larger towns and cities it is clear that the size of the population kept many of the businesses vital and healthy. I'm guessing that the demise of the businesses in the small towns and villages was caused by too much dependence on traffic brought by Route 66 which diminished when the new Interstate system bypassed the small towns.

Even though the small towns had a problem with the decreased traffic on Old Route 66, each one has a special character unique to each small population center. I enjoyed seeing the ingenuity of people who found ways to start and keep alive new businesses. An example of a place that didn't survive the coming of the Interstate is Twin Arrows, Arizona. This is a place where my small family visited on an early morning in April of 1963 to buy hot chocolate and donuts for a simple breakfast to fuel our bodies as we traveled toward our hometown of Wichita, Kansas. That Twin Arrows business is no more; in fact the place now looks like a ghost town albeit a very small ghost town.

Instead of "Twin Arrows" it is more like "One and a Half Arrows"

This place has seen better days

I drove on Route 66 road surfaces that looked as if they might be very old as well as some that looked as if they were very new. In many places the old road pavement runs parallel to the I-40 roadway. However, there are places where the old pavement has cracked and eroded to the point that there are weeds and grass growing in the cracks. For some reason I like to see the occasional artifact from the old original Route 66 in the form of a small bridge that is isolated out in a farmer's field. Those old bridges look so very narrow.

Some sections of Old Route 66 were better or worse than this

As I drove into the town of Winslow, Arizona I was reminded of a line from the song "Take It Easy" by The Eagles — "Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona." I saw the corner mentioned in the song or what somebody wants people to believe is THE corner in the Eagles song. There is an old brick building, located on a corner, that has a sign over the door that quotes the a part of the above line from the Eagles song. Unfortunately, the photo I took of the sign turned out unreadable. So I've added the words above the blurry version on the sign as seen in the below picture.

This looks as if it is the corner in the Eagles song "Take it Easy"

Driving through Winslow I saw the usual scenes that are very common along this Old Mother Road. There are a lot of little businesses that look like they are surviving and I would see a motel that was boarded up. I continued on until I was out on the open road again. I passed a big billboard that was still in place after the last presidential election. The billboard was urging people to vote for McCain — Palin.

After awhile I turned off the Interstate to go through the town of Joseph City, Arizona. In this little town were places that looked as if they were suffering hard times, but were hanging on somehow. Then I saw a house that probably was a very nice home at one time. However, it was clear that the structure symbolized the broken dreams of its previous owners.

This appears as if it might be a good project for "This Old House"

Out beyond Joseph City is a coal-burning electric power plant. I've passed by this facility many times and I've seen very long trains of coal-cars filled to overflowing with coal headed for this power plant. And long trains of empty coal-cars leaving the power-plant area. It wasn't very long until I entered the town of Holbrook, Arizona. A common sight that jumped out at me was all the skeletons of signs along the historic route that are in front of closed businesses.

Sign skeletons are all too common in the small towns on Historic Route 66

As I drove through Holbrook I came across a sight I haven't seen in many years. It is the Wigwam Motel where a person could sleep in a ... well ... a wigwam. This is a motel with Native-American style tee-pee shaped cabins. It appears as if this place hadn't been open for some time. Vintage automobiles have been placed in front of some of the wigwams much as would have been the case during the heyday of US Route 66. I took a few photos of this unusual place to stay while traveling.

Click on image below to see more photos An unusual place to stay while traveling

After my drive through Holbrook I found my way to the turn-off for the Petrified Forest National Park. I've seen the signs for both the Painted Desert National Park and the Petrified Forest National Park for many years. This would be the first time to actually go to these two national parks. Until now I was not aware that the two parks are right next to each other.

On the way to the Petrified Forest National Park I passed businesses, along the way, that sold petrified wood. Of course it is against the law to remove petrified wood from the park. However, the companies I passed obviously found a source where they can get petrified wood. There were great quantities of petrified tree trunk sections spread out over a large display area. This was the first time I've seen so much petrified wood in one place.

Click on image below to see a larger version This business had a lot of petrified wood on display

Notice the petrified tree stump possibly still in place were the tree grew

I missed the turn-off for the west entrance of the Petrified Forest National Park (PFNP), so I continued on and entered the PFNP from the east entrance. I stopped at the visitors center to get information and a map. While paying for the entrance fee I bought a Golden Eagle pass that will allow me to enter all national parks at no extra cost.

It was in the visitors center that I discovered that the PFNP was next to the Painted Desert National Park. There is one road that winds its way through both parks. I was traveling through the parks when the sun was almost directly overhead. This resulted in the colors to be muted somewhat. I was told that the colors of the painted desert are exceptional in the early morning or late afternoon when the sun strikes the rock formation at a low angle. I decided to not wait around to see if this is true.

When I exited the park I found where the west entrance to the park is located. In my own defense there was construction going on that obscured the signs at the west entrance. In any case, I had to drive east retracing my path on the Old Route 66 until I again I passed the east entrance where I entered the parks earlier. I found my way back to I-40 to bypass a section of Historic Route 66 that runs parallel to I-40.

It didn't take very long until I saw familiar sights along the way in the form of a gift shop built to look like a fort from America's wild west. Farther down the road is a big rock formation that lets me know that I'm getting close to the Arizona-New Mexico border. From there it is only a few miles to Gallup, New Mexico where the main street through town is Historic Route 66. There are building along that street that are still the same as when my small family came this way in April of 1963.

This rock formation is close to the Arizona-New Mexico border

After leaving Gallup behind, once again I was on I-40 still trying to catch up with my original schedule. The scenery in this part of the country is so very familiar that it was good I had satellite radio to keep my mind occupied. As the day wore on and sun was getting low in the sky I entered Albuquerque. Because I still had daylight left for a while I decided to cruise on through the city on I-40. I've spent a lot of time on the section of Historic Route 66 that goes through downtown Albuquerque during previous treks this way.

After leaving Albuquerque I decided to see if I could make it to Tucumcari and find a hotel to spend the night. I've been through most of the towns along the way to my destination for the night, so I continued in the dark. I found a hotel that was a brand that was the same as one where I stayed in Lake Havasu City on my first night on the road. It felt good to get off the road for a while.

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