Monday, August 09, 1999
Day 10: Holbrook, AZ - Williams, AZ
Sleeping in a wigwam last night was way cool! I mean that literally. The air conditioning just about froze us to death.....even for me who likes it a bit on the cool side. A strange thing about the concrete teepee.....sound was close wherever you stood. For instance, the TV sounded like the speaker was directly above your head no matter where one stood in the room. I got some great pictures of the Wigwam Village.
This morning we ate breakfast at Joe and Aggie's Cafe, a Route 66 fixture for over 35 years according to their signs. Fresh, delicious, and reasonably priced food as we've been finding throughout our travels.
In Holbrook, a number of the buildings had murals painted, most having to do in some way with Route 66. One that caught my eye was above the door for Julien's Roadrunner Shop. After taking a picture of the mural, Chris and I went in to see what the shop was like. There we met Ted Julien, the proprietor. The shop primarily sells porcelain metal signs, like the ones in our game room. They have many that are available exclusively there. Ted told us how he had been an aerospace engineer who retired to Holbrook over 30 years ago. He opened a shop selling Indian-themed souvenirs, and gradually shifted his emphasis to signs over the past few years as collecting has become more popular. He told us of a night last year when all the historic route 66 signs along the road and on the buildings in Holbrook were stolen by some thieves in the middle of the night. Whiting Brothers Gasoline Stations was headquartered in Holbrook during the heyday of Route 66. After the brothers made their "millions", they moved away and just abandoned their business and several dozen gas stations scattered from Flagstaff, Arizona to Amarillo, Texas. I was able to purchase a porcelain sign for Whiting Brothers, a Burma-Shave sign, a Bob's Big Boy sign, and a Santa Fe Railroad logo sign. All very nice. I just have to find a place on our game room wall(s) to put them up. Ted liked to talk, and the longer he talked, the more signs I liked and bought. Chris got bored, and it was a good reason for us to get going before I spent any more money.
We also checked out the Dinosaur Rock Shop in Holbrook. It seems as though most of the stores in Holbrook have something to do with either dinosaurs or petrified wood. This shop had several large dinosaurs positioned outside. Signs read that it cost 25 cents to take a picture of the dinosaur.....yeah, right.
After leaving Holbrook, we headed west on the route. The overcast sky spit some rain drops at us, but we seemed to be driving into bluer skies and sunnier weather. The next stop the Jackrabbit Trading Post. In its day, the Jackrabbit signs featuring a black rabbit on a yellow background with red writing stretched from Amarillo to the California border. When one arrives at the Jackrabbit, the large sign shouts "Here It Is" with the same rabbit in the center and a number of smaller rabbits along the top of the two sided billboard. There is a large 6 foot tall rabbit in the parking lot, suitable for placing children upon and taking their pictures. Inside much of the same trading post souvenirs, but also some unique ones which Chris and I hadn't seen so far on the trip. I got a few small things, including a Snapple Lemonade, and Chris got a Snapple Whippit and some GummiBears.....yuck!
Meteor City has nothing to do with meteors and it's not a city. It's just a glorified souvenir shop within a large white dome shaped building. Indian souvenirs, Route 66 souvenirs, petrified wood......same ole same ole......
Next stop was Meteor Crater which is just that--a Meteor Crater. Surprisingly, it is not part of the National Park System, but is privately owned. Meteor Crater was formed some 50,000 years ago when a meteor hit the Arizona desert, forming a 1.75 mile diameter and 1/2 mile deep crater. There is a museum, a film to watch, and of course, a souvenir shop. Chris got another piece of meteorite, and I got a post card.
At Two Guns, Arizona, I explored the ruins of an old Route 66 tourist trap of the same name. Now all that remains are stone ruins of the various buildings. A bridge that was part of the old 66 stretches across Canyon Diablo just past Two Guns. I say, "I explored", because there were "No Trespassing" signs everywhere and gate which prohibited the car getting close to the ruins, and in light of some recent personal difficulties with trespassing with Chris, he opted out of risking getting caught trespassing. I did take his picture by the No Trespassing signs, however. One of the old buildings still had "Mountain Lions" painted on the deteriorating surface.
Just past Two Guns the landscape changed from sage covered desert to juniper trees as we began our climb toward Flagstaff. The San Francisco peaks (mountains) loomed in the distance as we ascended in altitude. We stopped at an old cafe in Flagstaff, but didn't really sightsee any more than that.
The Route 66 guides vary on recommendations for driving from Flagstaff to Williams. We opted for the oldest route, as far away from the expressway as we could get. Much of the road passed through pine forests and up and down the mountains. Some of the road was badly deteriorating pavement, and some was dirt. We made it to Williams without getting back on the freeway---success!
Williams is a town with a population of about 5000 that is obsessed with Route 66. We're staying at the Route 66 Inn. The owners, Mike and Amy are particularly nice. I couldn't sign on to send this email, so I talked to Mike and he gave me a special adapter to use with the digital phone system so I could. He told me if it didn't work I could come to the motel office and sign on on his private line. They also arranged our train tickets for tomorrow's trip to the Grand Canyon.
Outside our motel tonight in the street was a gunfight! Yep, an old western gunfight. Unfortunately, right at the time it was supposed to happen there was a torrential downpour which didn't seem to let up, so we ran to the car and headed to "Twisters 50's Soda Fountain" for a light supper. Gunfights occur in Williams every night at 7 pm, so we'll catch one tomorrow night. Twisters was an authentic 50's style soda fountain. Chris had nachos and I had the Roy Rogers Sandwich, roast beef with provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Yum.
I'll sign off for now, because we have an early am tomorrow. We're taking the Grand Canyon Railroad from Williams to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon Railroad runs every day to and from the Grand Canyon. During the summer, it uses an old steam engine. I'll let y'all know all about it tomorrow. We'll be spending another night here in Williams tomorrow before heading off to California on Wednesday.
This morning we ate breakfast at Joe and Aggie's Cafe, a Route 66 fixture for over 35 years according to their signs. Fresh, delicious, and reasonably priced food as we've been finding throughout our travels.
In Holbrook, a number of the buildings had murals painted, most having to do in some way with Route 66. One that caught my eye was above the door for Julien's Roadrunner Shop. After taking a picture of the mural, Chris and I went in to see what the shop was like. There we met Ted Julien, the proprietor. The shop primarily sells porcelain metal signs, like the ones in our game room. They have many that are available exclusively there. Ted told us how he had been an aerospace engineer who retired to Holbrook over 30 years ago. He opened a shop selling Indian-themed souvenirs, and gradually shifted his emphasis to signs over the past few years as collecting has become more popular. He told us of a night last year when all the historic route 66 signs along the road and on the buildings in Holbrook were stolen by some thieves in the middle of the night. Whiting Brothers Gasoline Stations was headquartered in Holbrook during the heyday of Route 66. After the brothers made their "millions", they moved away and just abandoned their business and several dozen gas stations scattered from Flagstaff, Arizona to Amarillo, Texas. I was able to purchase a porcelain sign for Whiting Brothers, a Burma-Shave sign, a Bob's Big Boy sign, and a Santa Fe Railroad logo sign. All very nice. I just have to find a place on our game room wall(s) to put them up. Ted liked to talk, and the longer he talked, the more signs I liked and bought. Chris got bored, and it was a good reason for us to get going before I spent any more money.
We also checked out the Dinosaur Rock Shop in Holbrook. It seems as though most of the stores in Holbrook have something to do with either dinosaurs or petrified wood. This shop had several large dinosaurs positioned outside. Signs read that it cost 25 cents to take a picture of the dinosaur.....yeah, right.
After leaving Holbrook, we headed west on the route. The overcast sky spit some rain drops at us, but we seemed to be driving into bluer skies and sunnier weather. The next stop the Jackrabbit Trading Post. In its day, the Jackrabbit signs featuring a black rabbit on a yellow background with red writing stretched from Amarillo to the California border. When one arrives at the Jackrabbit, the large sign shouts "Here It Is" with the same rabbit in the center and a number of smaller rabbits along the top of the two sided billboard. There is a large 6 foot tall rabbit in the parking lot, suitable for placing children upon and taking their pictures. Inside much of the same trading post souvenirs, but also some unique ones which Chris and I hadn't seen so far on the trip. I got a few small things, including a Snapple Lemonade, and Chris got a Snapple Whippit and some GummiBears.....yuck!
Meteor City has nothing to do with meteors and it's not a city. It's just a glorified souvenir shop within a large white dome shaped building. Indian souvenirs, Route 66 souvenirs, petrified wood......same ole same ole......
Next stop was Meteor Crater which is just that--a Meteor Crater. Surprisingly, it is not part of the National Park System, but is privately owned. Meteor Crater was formed some 50,000 years ago when a meteor hit the Arizona desert, forming a 1.75 mile diameter and 1/2 mile deep crater. There is a museum, a film to watch, and of course, a souvenir shop. Chris got another piece of meteorite, and I got a post card.
At Two Guns, Arizona, I explored the ruins of an old Route 66 tourist trap of the same name. Now all that remains are stone ruins of the various buildings. A bridge that was part of the old 66 stretches across Canyon Diablo just past Two Guns. I say, "I explored", because there were "No Trespassing" signs everywhere and gate which prohibited the car getting close to the ruins, and in light of some recent personal difficulties with trespassing with Chris, he opted out of risking getting caught trespassing. I did take his picture by the No Trespassing signs, however. One of the old buildings still had "Mountain Lions" painted on the deteriorating surface.
Just past Two Guns the landscape changed from sage covered desert to juniper trees as we began our climb toward Flagstaff. The San Francisco peaks (mountains) loomed in the distance as we ascended in altitude. We stopped at an old cafe in Flagstaff, but didn't really sightsee any more than that.
The Route 66 guides vary on recommendations for driving from Flagstaff to Williams. We opted for the oldest route, as far away from the expressway as we could get. Much of the road passed through pine forests and up and down the mountains. Some of the road was badly deteriorating pavement, and some was dirt. We made it to Williams without getting back on the freeway---success!
Williams is a town with a population of about 5000 that is obsessed with Route 66. We're staying at the Route 66 Inn. The owners, Mike and Amy are particularly nice. I couldn't sign on to send this email, so I talked to Mike and he gave me a special adapter to use with the digital phone system so I could. He told me if it didn't work I could come to the motel office and sign on on his private line. They also arranged our train tickets for tomorrow's trip to the Grand Canyon.
Outside our motel tonight in the street was a gunfight! Yep, an old western gunfight. Unfortunately, right at the time it was supposed to happen there was a torrential downpour which didn't seem to let up, so we ran to the car and headed to "Twisters 50's Soda Fountain" for a light supper. Gunfights occur in Williams every night at 7 pm, so we'll catch one tomorrow night. Twisters was an authentic 50's style soda fountain. Chris had nachos and I had the Roy Rogers Sandwich, roast beef with provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Yum.
I'll sign off for now, because we have an early am tomorrow. We're taking the Grand Canyon Railroad from Williams to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon Railroad runs every day to and from the Grand Canyon. During the summer, it uses an old steam engine. I'll let y'all know all about it tomorrow. We'll be spending another night here in Williams tomorrow before heading off to California on Wednesday.
