November 18-21, 2009 Route 66 West Trek continues….
Wednesday and Thursday we took it easy in our camp in Albuquerque. We were in a holding pattern, while the little green Prius got her treatment at the local Toyota Dealership. Too many $$$$ later she is a new “gal”, our wallets are a bit lighter, but we are ready to get back on the road. We have been off the trip itinerary for over a week now and are itching to re-start the trip.
Friday morning bright and early we left Albuquerque and headed towards the last part of New Mexico seeing Gallup and the sights of the beautiful old El Rancho Hotel. We stopped for coffee and a mid morning donut at the Eagle Café, a family run diner on Main Street, a sort of “down and out” town, but everyone was very friendly. The road heading toward Arizona was heralded by an area of beautiful red rocks, a nice contrast to landscape of sand and sage we had been seeing for many miles. We made camp mid-afternoon in Meteor Crater just east of Windslow, Arizona (famous for the Eagles song). We made a mad dash up the hill to catch the last tour of the day of the Crater ---- wow it was quite a hole that was made some 50,000 years ago, can only imagine the “BOOM” it must of made. This crater is some 550 feet deep and about ¾ of mile across. We took a hike out along the rim, with a very informative tour guide who explained the difference between volcanic craters and the meteoric craters. The old folks continue to learn new things every day. This location continues to provide NASA Astronauts with a realistic training sight and a great film location as well.
Saturday we drove through Flagstaff and onto a fun stop in Williams Arizona. Williams is where the train can take you to the Grand Canyon, think this could be a fun trip to take some time. A few more miles down the road we stopped in Seligman for lunch, what a “Kitchy” town—Route 66 is the theme. We ate lunch at the famous Sno-Cap drive-in. The owner/wait guy was a real “wise guy” Every possible joke and pun were in his repartee as he took our order. This was our choice over the other tourist dive the Road Kill Café. We went a few more miles to Kingman for our night’s stay.