Day 9 - Gallup, NM to Flagstaff, AZ

Just in case you were starting to think things were getting rather serious, we got things going in true 66 spirit by galloping through Gallup, pausing by another famed Route 66 "muffler man" giant, the cowboy brother to the others we have seen.

He now works as a car salesman

Again, much of the route in these parts requires some interstate driving, but we were able to break away from I-40 as we approached the Arizona state line. Although the terrain was very similar to what we've previously seen, this time Route 66 hugged the cliffs and we had some good views of the mesa valleys, with the interstate and railroad below us.

At 80degF and climbing, we basically decided to ignored this sign

 This sign on the other hand deserved more attention

 This is known as Devil's Cliff

And with very little aplomb we crossed into Arizona, state number seven, Route 66 time zone number 3 (well, 2 1/2 I guess, since Arizona doesn't follow daylight savings time), and we only just managed to see the state line.

We had a day full of natural wonders, and our time in Arizona seems as if it's mainly going to focus on large holes in the ground. But interesting holes, none the less. First up, the Petrified Forest National Park, of which the Painted Desert forms a part.

The desert is truly spectacular; a scene of mesas and hills spread beneath your feet, and made up of a spectrum of colours, which seems to appear from nowhere as you crest the top of a ridge. Though the ever-present Interstate is still just audible, otherwise all you can hear are insects and birds. The park rangers said that the 28 mile drive through the park takes 45 minutes with no stops, we were there for at least 3 hours (and I have the sun burn to prove it). The other attraction of the park is of course, the petrified wood, which was also incredible. We hope the following will inspire you to come here one day.

This and the next photo are of petroglyphs, actual hand carvings by Native Americans done hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and survive to this day, despite being exposed to the elements. 

Petrified wood from trees which lived millions of years ago. 

This petrified log has had the rock below it eroded away over time, forming a natural bridge. Although it supported itself, continued erosion threatened to cause it to collapse, hence the concrete beam underneath, which was put in place in 1917.

We stopped for lunch at Joe and Aggie's Cafe in Holbrook, an original Route 66 business which was actually visited by the producer of the Pixar movie "Cars", and provided part of the inspiration for places in Radiator Springs in the film. The cafe is mentioned in the credits!

The wall on the cafe provides a handy map to see our progress between Lake Michigan and the Pacific Ocean

Another road sign destination to tease the traveller is that for Meteor Crater, we debated stopping as it was nearing the end of the day, but decided to go in end and just snuck in before it closed.

The approach up to the crater rim

It's about 3/4 of a mile wide. The photo's don't quite do justice to the scale of the hole in the ground.

The meteor which created it was about 150 yards wide, but only small traces of the meteor still exist buried in the ground.

In fact, the fact that it was formed by a meteor impact at all, as opposed to a volcano, wasn't settled completely until the 1960s by local meteorologists (no wait, that's not right, what is a meteor person called?) 

The Arizona topography also provided an opportunity to take the Mini off-road a bit. All things considered, I think it did quite well. 

Are you sure this is the marked trail on the map?!

OK, ok, so it's not full scale. It's the mini Mini sitting on a 6ft long petrified log. (It was placed very carefully so as to not damage the rock, of course).


Back to the silly Route 66 attractions: the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook is one of two remaining of these 1950's era motels. There were over half a dozen stretching across Route 66 back in the day. Apparently the rooms are bigger on the inside than they look.

Here it is - there were once hundreds of billboards all across America advertising the Jackrabbit Trading Post (in guess where? The town of Jackrabbit of course, haven't you worked this out yet), and they all lead to here. The saying went that you hadn't been to the Southwest until you had been to the Jackrabbit.  The billboards are nearly all gone now, but the famous 'Here it is' board announcing your eventual arrival in Jackrabbit still remains.  And it wouldn't be Route 66 without an over sized jackrabbit to ride on, would it?.

Although Route 66 is littered with old derelict gas stations, the "Two Arrows" station and trading post, now long shuttered, is one of the few that stand out as a must see icon of the road. Hopefully one day these arrows will find a better home.

And here's a non-Route 66 quirk. Along I-40, exit signs were consistently in pairs, only a few feet apart, with the first completely obscuring the second (luckily, they had the exact same info). What's going on with that - government bureaucracy gone awry?

The approach to Flagstaff, into the setting sun with the mountains for backdrop. Arizona has been outdoing itself scenery-wise so far.