Route 66 Road Trip

Grand Canyon to Winslow AZ

Today was a more leisurely drive of around 200 miles. We could of taken the freeway to Winslow and our next hotel but we wanted to try and and do a bit more of route 66 and see some must see attractions along the way such as the wigwam motel in Holbrook, the Meteor Crater and the town of Williams, Arizona.

We headed out of the Grand Canyon Village relatively early still slightly disappointed at the village ( but not the canyon i must add). We made a huge mistake at stopping at a McDonalds just outside to sample their breakfast thinking it would be quick and cheap and that they would have decent wi-fi – we were wrong on all three unfortunately but it was sustenance and saw us through to our first stop in Williams, Arizona.

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Monument Valley Grand Canyon

Another day and another iconic scene and one of the seven wonders of the world – The Grand Canyon in Arizona. After breakfast overlooking Monument Valley we stuck the go pro camera to the outside of the 4×4 and headed down into the basement of the valley to drive the 17 mile dust track around the bottom of the buttes.

It was an awesome experience, we saw so much more of the amazing rock formations and i got to drive over some real rough dust tracks in the middle of nowhere.

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Sante Fe to Monument Valley

Today’s drive to Monument Valley was a long one. In my normal day to day life i eat up 360 miles with ease up and down the motorways but 360 miles through winding pine forests and over barren rocky deserts is another thing all together.

We started the day with a drive up a windy mountain road to visit Los Alamos.
The name of the town may not mean much to many but its one of those towns that once held a very dark secret that pretty much changed modern warfare and the world we live in.

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A day of rest in Santa Fe

We had a lie in this morning as we didn’t have to drive anywhere – BLISS !! It wasnt much of a lie in but was nice not getting up and having to repack the bags and head to the car. We ate breakfast in the hotel and then took a leisurely walk down to the Santa Fe rail road yard to visit the Saturday farmers Market.

The farmers market runs along the old rail tracks and is an exuberant mix of fresh vegetable stores, musicians, street entertainers (or stoned hippies – not sure which most of them were) and general wares.

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Tucumcari to Santa Fe

We started the morning with breakfast in another classic American diner. Kix on 66 is a bit of a Tucumcari icon on Route 66 and the pancakes, sausages, eggs and crispier than crispy bacon went down very well.

When i was first researching where we were going to go on route 66 i came across the following video about a ghost town called Cuervo. It sounded so “American Detective” or “Twin Peaks” i just had to make a pull in off the I40 to check it out.

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Amarillo to Tucumcari

We left the Big Texan early and headed just out of Amarillo to the Cadillac Ranch. For those who don’t know what the ranch is, its essentially a bunch of Old cadillac’s buried nose down in the  desert in 1974 as an art installation which people spray paint.

We left our bit of graffiti after finding a couple of half used spray paint cans on the floor  and carried on our way along single lane old road past abandoned filling stations and buildings and parts of the larger main I40 highway where 66 wasn’t accessible

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Red Oak 2 Missouri gallery

Artist Lowell Davis grew up in the “real” Red Oak,  about 18 miles northwest of the “new” Red Oak II. The original Red Oak, like many other rural agricultural towns across the USA, started to fade sometime after World War II, when people began to move to the cities in earnest.

Davis returned in the 1970’s to find his home town had become a ghost town and by 1987, Davis was living on a farm near Carthage that was little more than an empty cornfield. His creative inspiration soon led him to turn his acreage into a tribute to his home town and before long Red Oak II was born.

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Oklahoma to Amarillo and the best steak in Texas

It would appear that i can now answer Tony Christies question, YES, i do know the way to Amarillo. Now thats out of the way i can get on with todays blog post about the journey along Americas Mother Road from Oklahoma City to Amarillo in Texas I think we missed a lot of old 66 on the way out of Oklahoma but i was more concerned with finding fuel and a Best Buy or similar in order to buy more storage for my GoPro. Once that had all been sorted we made our way to Yukon to pick up Route 66 again.

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