Back on the Mother Road

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From Grand Canyon we headed south to Flagstaff and there were those two digits popping up again as we spied our first 66 attraction, the Museum Club. Unfortunately at 11 A.M. we were about 12 hours too early in the day to appreciate the atmosphere and enjoy any live music in the place voted ‘Readers favourite Dance club’ in ‘Country America Magazine’ but we were able to pop in and enjoy the route 66 print material in the booths and the amateur taxidermist owner’s handiwork.

Passing the famous wooden carved Twin Arrows, that had obviously seen better days, our next detour was just 6 miles south of our main route to the world’s best-preserved and first proven meteorite impact site. Amazingly our ‘tour guide’ of the hole in the ground managed to make the ‘tour’ last an hour! In the bitingly cold wind, which we weren’t dressed for, it was quite hard to concentrate on all the finer technical points of the area’s geology but we did get to hold small pieces of the meteor that landed 50,000 years ago (but we couldn’t keep them ☹).

Next stop - Winslow, Arizona where a certain corner - Kinsley Ave and 2nd St has been immortalized by Messieurs Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey, thanks to the Eagles first No 1 hit “Take it Easy”;

“Well I’m standin’ on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
With such a fine sight to see.
It’s a girl, my Lord,
In a flat-bed Ford
Slowin’ down to take a look at me”


The guy who owns the shop on the corner shared many stories with us, from the story behind the lyrics and writing of the song to Eagles concerts in Phoenix and watching Elvis live in Las Vegas. He even towed Elvis in his pink Cadillac back to his garage, the time that he broke down in Winslow!

Leaving Winslow we soon arrived in Holbrook and were gutted to find that La Posada Hotel had no rooms left. We had fancied bedding down where Albert Einstein and John Wayne had both rested their heads but the 1930s Turquoise Room restaurant and Martini Bar is so well renowned that they had no space left!

Our next stop en-route was the equally famous Jack Rabbit trading post, built in 1947 by two local entrepreneurs who created a billboard campaign that spread its fame with travelers. The billboards culminate with a huge yellow and black sign that simply states “Here it is”

After the disappointment of La Posada, we were overjoyed that the Wigwam Village Motel in Holbrook had one wigwam remaining so we parked our car outside Wigwam 1 and carried in our bags. Our route 66 book explained that it “opened in 1950, is still run by the original owner’s family and has recently been refurbished.” The book is dated 2001 and yet our wigwam still seemed to have 1950 furnishings, adding to its appeal. From the outside it hardly seemed possible that it was big enough to accommodate the furnishings and en-suite shower room. A true tardis!

17/04/07 The next day we arrived in Gallup and stopped for lunch slightly prematurely just so that we could eat at the 1937-built El Rancho Hotel. It’s neon sign promises ‘Charm of Yesterday, Convenience of Tomorrow’. There are hundreds of signed photos on the walls including Humphrey Bogart and John Wayne once again. Allegedly Errol Flynn rode his horse into the bat whilst staying there. It would have been a cool place to stay but we had miles of driving to reach Albuquerque so after spending some more $$ in the jewelry shop we hit the road.

Albuquerque failed to inspire us so we edged North after dark, arriving at a motel on Old Pecos Trail on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Our guidebook warned that Santa Fe would be the most expensive place between Chicago and LA so we approached the town with caution.

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