We (Mom, Dad, Julia, and I) decided to take a few days and take a roadtrip through part of AZ. We decided to do part of Route 66 that runs through the northern part of the state. Unfortunately, for me, my back and leg pain was getting to be so intense at this point that I was uncomfortable for the entire trip. I wasn't able to fully enjoy it like I would have had I not been dealing with the pain, but I'm still glad I went on the trip.
Day One: Wednesday
We left in the evening after I was done at work and drove to Thatcher. We met up with Faith, Josh and baby Sammy and had DQ, then checked into our hotel for the night.
Day Two: Thursday
We got up and had breakfast at the hotel, then started our drive. We drove through Morenci and were blown away by the GIANT mine there. Seriously, this thing was HUGE! The pictures do not do it justice.
We continued up the 191 and drove what is called the "Devil's Highway". It was very pretty and picturesque driving through state forest land and mountains, but all the switch backs are what give it it's name. We stopped and had lunch in Spingerville. We ate at "The Rusty Cactus", at the recommendation of Trip Advisor reviews, but the place was NASTY. The service was ridiculous (we were served by an 8 year old, no lie) and slow, and took FOREVER! The food was ok, but nothing to write home about. We were all disgruntled after lunch and ready to get back out on the road. We stopped at an antique store in town, then continued on our way.
We drove through The Petrified Forest National Park (which is part of the Painted Desert). This was so cool! And was my favorite part of the whole trip.
Can you tell it was a little bit windy?
We spent the night in Holbrook. Before checking into our hotel we stopped for dinner at a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant.
That was a mistake.
The food was mediocre. I ordered tacos and they came in pre-formed store bought taco shells. The chips at out table were stale and litterally the crumbs from the bottom of two different bags. Ugh.
Day Three: Friday
We stopped to see the sights in Holbrook. For instance, the Tee-Pee Motel (for which "The Cozy Cone" on the movie Cars was modeled after):
Finally we were on Route 66. Route 66 has, unfortunatly, mostly disappeared here in AZ and been absorbed into the I-40. We pulled off and drove through each of the small towns, because that's where Route 66 would have taken us. We stopped at land marks and historical markers, trying to really get the most out of our trip.
We stopped at "The Jackrabbit Gift Shop" which is west of Joseph City. I made Julia get up on the big jackrabbit. Couldn't pass up such an awesome photo-op!
And, of course, no trip on Route 66 would be complete without stopping in Winslow and standing on a certain corner...
We had lunch at the Route 66 Diner (I think that is what it was called) and it was pretty good. Would definitely go back next time I'm in town.
We drove to Flagstaff, our last night of the trip. We decided to go see a movie since we got into town sooner than we thought we would. We saw the "Minions" movie and then had dinner at Chili's. We checked into out hotel and went to bed.
Day Four: Saturday
By complete accident we found out that we would be in town the same weekend that the Scottish Highland Games are held up in Flagstaff. So, of course, we had to go. We listened to some great music, ate some fish and chips, looked at some beautiful pieces of Celtic jewelry, and saw a lot of men in kilts (my favorite!). It was forecasted for a big heavy rain storm to move through town. We were worried about being rained out. But, while the clouds did get kind of dark and ominous, it never did really rain.
We only stayed at the park until mid afternoon. On the way out of town we stopped at a few antique and thrift stores, then headed home. It was a fun couple days and made us all anxious to do the Western part of Route 66 through Arizona. It's always fund to take a roadtrip and discover new places.
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