Arizona is the state I spent the most time in, between my 66 route and visiting my friends. And it is very 66 friendly, meaning people along the route seemed to have made an effort to preserve what they could. After Seligman I came to the Hackberry store, another general store in the middle of nowhere that had whatever you needed plus 66 mementos. Photos below are a few more from Seligman; a building down the road from the Snow Cap that had these characters on top, another store with the truck in the front yard, and some moonshine. Also the Hackberry Store; the '57 Corvette in front, photos of Marilyn, dressed up lady sitting in the ladies room, and sign on the front door.
Hackberry Store...
I've mentioned having to get on and off the highway when Rt. 66 is actually under the highway. Between Ash Fork and Seligman, you get off the highway and can travel old Rt. 66 all the way to California without having to get back on--this is evidently the longest unbroken part of old 66 remaining.
Sights on the road...most of these were between Seligman and Hackberry.
Grand Canyon Caverns, also called Dinosaur Caverns...
On the road...
In Truxton
Told you, I had a thing for trains during this trip...
Then came Kingman, with its tower that proclaims it to be the Heart of Historic Route 66. It is also the hometown of character actor Andy Devine. Here's a photo of the tower as well as a couple motel signs.
I love the term "air-cooled"!
Continuing through the desert to Oatman, one of my favorite places, I passed through Goldroad and over Sitgreaves Pass. Driving up the pass was quite the experience. I could look down several thousand feet, sometimes with only a couple of feet of shoulder with no rails or rocks to prevent a car from flying over the edge with one bad turn. The pass was only 3550 feet, but it was straight up. In the past, cars couldn't make it up these heights in forward, so they would drive up in reverse! I was nervous enough in forward--can you imagine backing up a mountain?! A sign on the way...
Stopped to get the view...
Then to Oatman. This is an old mining town which went through a phase as a ghost town, but now is doing better as a tourist attraction. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard came to the Oatman Hotel for there honeymoon in 1939. In the '60's, some of "How the West Was Won" was filmed here. It looks like an old western town with long porches that connect stores. The big attraction? Burros walk freely around town. They are descendants of burros used back in the mining days. I met a few, along with a couple of young burros. They sell feed around town--you can buy some and feed the adults. The babies have stickers on there heads asking not to be fed. A fun town. Unfortunately things had closed by the time I arrived, but I talked to one man who lives there, and he explained that there are about 12-13 females and one male named Jack. Lucky Jack! I met him, and he was quite proud looking! Some photos of the town and the burros.
This is proud Jack!
After Oatman, I headed to California. Rt. 66 did not go to Calif. as promised. The road was closed for repair, so I had to detour. Below are the first palm trees I saw, still in Arizona.
I am sitting in the Bismarck Library--it's taken me two hours to do the above post, probably my longest. I realized that I haven't downloaded the next group of photos onto my computer, so Calif. will be next. I hope you are enjoying the photos and commentary. Thanks for reading!!
