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We left Las Vegas, Nevada far behind us and stopped at
Hoover Dam to view this amazing structure. The
Dam is a concrete arch gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado on the border between the USA states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated by President Franklin D Roosevelt himself. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives in the making. The dam was named after the 31st President of the United Staes, Herbert Hoover - nothing to do with the vacuum cleaner.
We drove along the I-40 and in a short while we were in the State of
Arizona, known for its varied landscape, national parks, desert climate and of course the Grand Canyon. We stopped in
Kingman which was full of old motels - way passed their sell by date but there were several interesting historic buildings spread out through the town. We called in at the
Powerhouse Visitor Centre which also had an excellent Route 66 Museum and the staff were helpful with information on which route we
should follow next. Taking their advice we detoured off the I-40 on to the old
Route 66 - it would take us longer to get to our destination but was much more iconic. We were looking forward to cruising part of this scenic byway - taking a trip back in time to ‘our era’ and enjoy some classic towns filled with Americana.
Route 66 was built in 1926 the year my mother, Kathleen Godsell was born. It stretched from Chicago to Los Angeles linking all the small towns along its route as it meandered through
eight USA States. It got its nickname
‘The Mother Road’ from John Steinbeck’s Novel, The Grapes of Wrath. The last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by a highway was Arizona’s Williams and this was to be our final destination of the day. We just had to visit the town which was named after us!!!!
Arizona is home to the longest original stretch of Route 66, known as the Main Street of America. One of the original highways within the US Highway System, it was a major path for those who migrated
west, especially during the Dust Bowl. The road became so iconic it was heralded in pop culture by the hit song ‘Get Your Kicks on Route 66’ and the Route 66 television show in the ‘60s which some of you may remember.
We turned on the radio, tuned into Radio 66 and let the music guide us along this scenic highway, singing away to some old time favourites…………. As we drove along bundles of tumbleweed swept across our path and try as I might I could not get a photo. We stopped at the
Hackberry General Store - literally a ‘museum for Route 66’ full of old time souvenirs and the area outside was strewn with many vintage cars complete with Mobil gas pumps but alas they would not fill our ‘thirsty’ tank.
Along the route we came across
Burma Shave signs which are red and white ads from a Bygone age and a couple caught our eye which may make you smile; ’30 days has September, April, June and the speed offender’! Another one read, ‘Don’t loose your head to save a minute you need your head your brains
are in it’…………
Singing along to Radio 66 we continued on passing through small towns with lovely names like Valentine and Peach Springs
Peach Springs lies within the traditional territory of the Hualapai people. It was once a lively railroad town with a
trading post that was built in 1917 as a place for the Hualapai to swap their crafts for cloth, medicine and manufactured goods. The tribe acquired the Peach Springs Trading Post in 1950 and the building now serves as its tribal headquarters, as well as being listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
We arrived in
Seligman which is the start of the longest uninterrupted portion of the old road ending in Topock. Again this was a quaint old town full of memorabilia and we walked down to the well-known ‘Barber Shop’ passing many Harley Davidsons on the way……….. As we looked around the shop we were given free cups of coffee and encouraged to ‘stay’ a while……. The building's décor hasn't changed in fifty years it was just great.… It is crammed packed with antiques, Route 66 memorabilia, a huge business card collection and stacks
of photo albums with pictures sent from visitors from all around the world. Angel’s Barber Chair still takes pride of place in the middle of the room and we spent an interesting time reading all the signs covering the walls all around the chair.
Angel Delgadillo began shaving beards and clipping hair in Seligman in 1950 and continued until he semi-retired in 1996. Angel and his brothers and sisters started playing ‘Big Band’ music at towns all along Route 66 which helped to support their family. In 1978, Angel watched his hometown begin to die when the Interstate Highway system replaced Route 66 as the primary means for automobile travel in Western USA. Seligman was then set to join the long list of deserted towns along the route. Angel became one of themoving forces in the founding of the ‘Historic Route 66 Association’ which was part of the driving force to preserve the road in Arizona as an historic highway. Thereafter, following Arizona's lead, the seven states along Route 66 formed associations; California, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. Without Angel there probably would not be a Route 66 for anyone
to cruise along which would have been such a shame………
As we returned to the car we both laughed for stuck in the car grill was a huge lump of tumbleweed - so I was able to get a photograph after all………..well Paul did...
At last we arrived in
Williams (our name sake) and such a quaint town. The town was smaller than we thought with about 3000 residents and was very much as one imagined a ‘western’ town to be. Originally a mountain town and logging centre and once home to gambling, opium dens and brothels it was now very much on the tourist map. Williams was the last town on Route 66 in Arizona to have its section of the road bypassed by the highway.
Nestled at the base of the Bill Williams Mountain it is a place of cowboys, horses, vintage cars and many many motorcycles. Old soda fountains, multicoloured diners, quirky hotels, classic automobiles and unique shops lined the ‘Mother Road’ - just as it must have been back in those iconic days. With its preservation of an authentic small town
atmosphere and history, Williams was for us the perfect place to stop by and ‘Get our kicks’ - and after all it was named after us……..
We walked across to the railway station and watched the Grand Canyon train depart - it makes this journey everyday taking people from Williams into the Canyon and back and has done so since 1901. As it pulled out several cowboys on horses stood and waved as it hooted out of the station……authentic characters bring the ‘Old West’ to life for those on board - apparently they also arrange a staged ‘hold-up’ to excite those on board……
We crossed the railway and stopped in the visitor centre which had a hive of information and an interesting little museum section. The lady was lovely and even came to find us when she knew our name was Williams to give us a couple of badges which said, ‘I love Williams’ - we will keep these…..… She said that she had ancestors with the name Williams who must have arrived from Wales many many years ago. We took a self-guided walking tour of
the Historic Downtown District a real trip back to yesteryear…….. We passed by a film crew photographing a very pretty young lady with not many clothes on riding a statue of a horse - the film crew then put up a huge white sheet in front of her to continue filming………….
We booked into a campsite just outside the town and chatted to two sisters and their husbands who pitched their van next to our small camper. One was a beef farmer from Kansas and he said he had just spent a fortune on a prized heifer hoping that it would produce some good stock. They were a lovely family group to chat to and we spent ages talking to them before we retired to our little van for the night.
The next day we decided to take a day trip south to
Sedona driving along the scenic 89A. The road snakes its way down a multitude of switchbacks down the length of the
Oak Creek Canyon. Known for colourful rocks and unique formations some even call it the smaller cousin of the Grand Canyon………
It was a beautiful scenic drive, although road works at the start of the canyon road caused a little delay but the road was in need of repair with some steep drop offs where rocks had crashed down from above onto the road and continued to roll down the mountainside gouging a path as they went……
The town of Sedona is ideally situated and nestled between huge red sandstone mountains and as we drove down through the canyon we wanted to stop to admire the views but parking was limited and all the lay-bys were full.
We did managed to stop at
Slide Rock State Park and were told that our National Parks pass would not suffice, we would have to buy a
State Park day pass. As we only wanted to stop to take some photos and not to do any hiking we decided against paying the fee. We thought that we would be able to enter all the parks with the $80 we had paid but obviously this was not the case! However the ranger said we could go into the car park to turn around, stretch our
legs and take some photos for free - which we did.
We did manage to find a small lay-by to park and we had some lunch before continuing into Sedona. The ‘quaint’ town was really busy and full of little shops and cafes. We called in at the Visitor Centre to pick up some leaflets on the Red Rock formations south of the town.
Native Americans consider the Sedona area as sacred and mystical. Tribal Shamans have travelled to Sedona for thousands of years to pray, seek guidance and alignment for their people. Nowadays ‘New Agers’ believe that Sedona’s rocks, cliffs and its river radiate Mother Earth’s mojo and this attracts lots of visitors to this scenic area and the shops were full of ‘appropriate’ gifts!
We headed into what is known as Red Rock Country and stopped at several scenic spots including a Roman Catholic Church, The Chapel of the Holy Cross which had been built into the buttes of Sedona in 1956. Designed by Marguerite Brunswig Staude, it was an amazing structure which seemed to grow out of the surrounding red rocks themselves.
The towering cross could be seen from the front of the rock and after you climbed to the top there was a stunning panorama of the valley below. Apparently the designer had been inspired by the Empire State Building and the church was going to be built in Europe but the war got in the way so she decided to build it in her native region. The church was very serene overlooking the bright red valley below and with many candles burning on each side of the altar it was nice to sit and reflect.
We continued on stopping at several other stunning rock formations including Cathedral Rock, Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock - you can imagine what the latter looked like………
We decided not to travel back up through Oak Creek Canyon but to take the highway back, which in hindsight was just as well. On reaching our campsite we noticed this huge mass of smoke in the distance and thought it might be a fire. The next day we found out that indeed it was and it was believed that it had been caused by careless humans -
someone having a campfire in a banned area. The fire had started in Oak Creek Canyon near the 89A road which was now closed - we were lucky that we had taken the highway back to our camp the day before and not returned by the same route.
The fire burned for days and covered over 20,000 acres, fire crews were brought in to help contain it. They completed burnout operations to encircle the fire and evacuated people living in Oak Creek Canyon. As far as we know these people have been allowed back to their homes but so much damage has been caused to such a scenic area that will take many years to recover.
It was a shame about the fire in Sedona but lovely to relive the spirit of a bygone era, travelling along some of Route 66 through the communities of Seligman, Peach Springs, Williams and other small towns but tomorrow we move on to what we know will be a highlight and one of the main reason we came to the USA - to look upon the
Grand Canyon itself - see you there
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
On the Mother Road
Glad you are out and about absorbing the history. It is an amazingly beautiful part of the country. We've been to the Hackberry store and may have a similar photo. Glad you found Williams...how fun.