The Second Fifty Years - Better than the First Fifty

Back home again in Indiana

2007-09-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Back home again in Indiana, but not done blogging. Taking a few days to rest up, get pedicures, manicures, oil changed, tire rotation, auto detailing, massage and catching up on emails, there has been no blogging. Still there is more to say about this trip, our experiences, what we learned that we want to share with you, and various other stuff.

There were lots to things that happen that we did not have the opportunity to share, and since my laptop died, many of my pictures have not been retrieved from it's hard drive yet. So, stay tuned for more photos and information.

While most of the trip was uneventful, one flat tire, one stuck convertible top, one dead laptop, over all the trip was great. If this is a trip that you are going to take on yourself you may want to know a few things to make it better

The first thing I would highly recommend, don't try to do this trip in a hurry. If you do, you miss it. Route 66 is about history, the love of the American car, and the rise and fall of businesses and cities. Progress and its effects.

Have you missed us?

2007-08-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

We are on our way home, and this has been a wonderful adventure. But as adventures go there can be problems. Going out to the pacific we had a flat tire and stayed in Tulsa to get a new tire since my car has no spare!!

Two days ago we got lost on a Detour off of US 40 and we ended up on a road that only 4x4's or Hummers should go. It shook the fillings our of our teeth and I was very worried about Baby, (the car). It was a old dirt and gravel road that had not been graded in many years and thru the heart of an Indian Reservation. We had NO business on this road. Anyway, that night at the hotel in Albuquerque NM the Top on Baby would not go up. We ask a police officer to keep an eye on her for the night as he drove patrol and he was happy to help. The next day I went to the Albuquerque Lexus Dealership and got the top fixed. He ask me if I had been on some rough roads with the car......and of course I had, he said it had caused the roof to shake over just enough to jam. So if you are going to take a sports coup across the country be careful of the rough roads. We are back on the road.

There are CD's stuck in the CD Player we can't get them out...no more music!

I am on the hotel computer just to give you all a note. My lap top it DEAD. We are in Tulsa again today, I am going to find a CompUSA and get a new computer and see if they can rescue my photos. We have been unable to get online!

Last night we learned about the toll road between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The things we learned.......have enough gas, don't for a moment think that you are going to find a hotel and there are very very few places to get off of the high speed highway. I figured if I paid money to be on it I should be able to drive as fast as I want.........so I did.

That brings me to my next little bit of news...........I got my first Speeding Ticket.............Doing 50 in a 45! GO FIGURE.

We have lots to blog about, Like my visit to BNI Headquarters and and a great museum, but we have to get a computer.
Talk to you soon.

Hazel M. Walker

Day 28: La Posada

2007-08-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.laposada.org/.

I start this post with the website for La Posada Hotel as much for you, dear reader, as for me to reference when we get home. This hotel is one of the most amazing treats of this trip!

We left Needles, California today (yes, we stopped there again, and boy is that another story) and resumed our trek eastward. It was 104 degrees when we left, but the temperature went down to the low 70's by the time we got to Flagstaff. We only stopped for a bite to eat there, and hit the road again. We are doing a combination of Route 66 and US 40, and we have managed to see some of the sights we missed on the westward leg of the trip, like the Amboy Crater (we have lava) and the giant tiki head. We figured we make a stop back in Winslow, Arizona because we had such a good time last time we came through. AND we needed to make a decision about where we would stay this evening. If we stayed in Winslow, it would be an early stop, but if we continued on to Holbrook, we would be stuck in a place we didn't like very much on the way out west. The next stop would be Gallup, and that was just too far to go today.

We paid a visit to Diane Patterson, owner of Roadworks (http://www.roadworksroute66.com/), for a recommendation for our night's lodging and she suggested we go down the street to La Posada. She said they have the best food in town. That's an understatement! The food is out of this world! We had fried squash blossoms stuffed with a sweet corn mixture, prime rib, and a chocolate souffle! YUM!

But the real treat is the hotel itself. We checked in around 4:00 thinking what a great time to catch up on some blogging and get to bed early. HA! We spent 2 hours touring the facilities, and almost 2 hours over dinner, and another hour watching a video about the hotel! It was 9:00 before I started this chapter.

La Posada is the last of the famous Harvey Houses...hotels that were built along the Santa Fe Rail Road to accommodate cross country travelers. This particular hotel was designed by Mary Jane Colter and opened in 1930. In the 20's, the Harveys planned a resting place in Winslow, AZ as it was the Arizona headquarters for the Santa Fe RR. They asked Mary to design the building, decorate the interiors, plan the gardens and oversee construction. Keep in mind women couldn't even vote at that time. Mary came up with the concept of a Spanish aristocrat's home, and built this rambling hacienda based on that concepts, right down to the Catholic background. It is truly an incredible place, and I'm sure at it's height, it was simply fantastic.

In the 60's, the railroad reclaimed the building and turned it into offices. The beautiful floors and adobe walls were covered with vinyl tile, drop ceilings, and asbestos coated walls. The wonderful interiors were removed, destroyed, or covered up for years! The railroad left, and the building was left to ruin. Allan Affeldt bought the building in the 90's and is lovingly restoring this magnificent piece of history to its original splendor! The gardens are still a work in progress, but are wonderful just the same. Many of the original floors have been uncovered, and what could not be restored, has been recreated. Please take some time to visit their website. You will be amazed!

And to think we thought the Eagles made Winslow famous through their song! This one building has provided us a look into the past and the beauty and imagination that made this desert stop famous.

We will see you all soon,
Penny S. Head
Woman Road Warrior

Good bye Venice, hello road

2007-08-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

We said good bye to Venice on Saturday. Penny and I like it there a lot. We checked out of our hotel, walked to the beach to rent bicycles. Yes, I did say bicycles. There is a beautiful paved path all along the beaches from Venice to Will Rogers Park. The weather was perfect for the ride, about 76 degrees and breezy.

We got our bikes, and off we went. I snapped a few photos of the beach walk, it is a very colorful place and I quite enjoyed the people watching, from the vacationers, the locals, the artist and the homeless. It is quite an interesting place.

We rode our bikes to the Santa Monica Blvd., a completely different crowd hanging out there. Lots of kid, several tourist buses, lots of people. There is a circus like feel to this beach.

Further down the path we came to the Pacific Palisades, again this beach is very different, fewer people, quieter. Here there were people doing yoga on the beach, very few tourist kinds of things available. I suddenly realized, that there were dolphins along the shoreline. Penny and I stopped to watch for a little while as the dolphins continued swim in circles then up and down the shoreline. As dolphins usually are it was mesmerizing to stand and watch them. I only wish I could have been closer.

Lastly we reached the Will Rodgers Park area of the shoreline. This beach is used by a lot of the local residents of Los Angeles. There were volleyball games being played and coolers and grills everywhere.

We turned around to go back to Venice, we road for a little over two hours and it was wonderful. I am glad we took the time out to ride.

Once back we walked back to the hotel to get the car, say good bye to our littel friends and head out.

Funny thing about the heading our, we drove about 40 miles going the wrong way. So it took us a long time to get to San Bernadino, but what the heck, we got to see Hermosa Beach, Rodondo Beach, and lots of other stuff we otherwise wouldn't have. The nice thing about having no agenda, or serious time schedules, we don't mind getting lost, it's part of the adventure!

Headin Home
Hazel M. Walker
Queen of the Road........or not

Day 24: What's Red and White and Sore All Over?

2007-08-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

So, no kidding...what's red and white and sore all over? Two really STUPID Women Road Warriors. Today was an R&R day, which really means a lot of walking and shopping. Only the added feature this time was the Pacific Ocean. We put on our bathing suites, SPF 60 Waterproof Sunscreen, packed our beach bag and took a walk to the beach! We didn't walk far and found a convenient spot to spread our beach towels and enjoyed the view. Hazel made it clear that she was a "walker" and not a swimmer. She was pretty certain that she wasn't going to get in water deeper than her ankles. So I had to play by myself.

The Flat Boys enjoyed a day out of the car and in the fresh air!

After a refreshing dip in the salt water, it was off to explore the beach walk again. I'm so proud of us, we didn't buy anything except lunch. What a wonderful, exciting place. We walked and talked to people. We walked and looked at some really good, and some really bad art. We walked and stopped for lunch. We walked and walked and walked some more, then decided that we should take our really heavy beach bag back to the hotel and come back to the beach walk to rent bicycles! We had absolutely no idea how far we had walked, and temporarily lost our way back to the room. Once back on track, and becoming aware of just how far we had walked, we made the decision to sit on the beach one last time. We walked some more...on the sand, just to make it a challenge...and found an appropriate place to set out our towels and once again enjoy the view.

It wasn't long before I was in the water again bouncing in the waves. I managed to convince Hazel that she should at least wade in up to her knees. It didn't take long and both of us were way out in the water getting bashed about by the breakers. We had a wonderful time! Time to finish our trek back to the hotel to change and think about some dinner. By the time we drug our wet and sandy bodies into the room, we were pretty ready to get out those bathing suites. Oh...My...God! The fronts of Hazel's legs are scarlet, and the backs are white! My forehead is pretty red and we both look like raccoons! We had been out about 6 hours and only put sunscreen on 1 time. We did have enough presence of mind to wear shirts!

We're sore, burned (only on one side), chafed, and lovin' every minute of it! What a great way to spend the day.

Mikey, put a light in the window 'cause we're starting home tomorrow!

Penny S. Head

End of the Line

2007-08-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

We are at the end of the line...and there is still so much we have not seen. The California Route of Route 66 is very nice. It is well used and easy to travel, going from old run down areas to very high end malls and homes. We had the opportunity to go to the BNI International Headquarters and see some of the team there. Ivan Misner, founder was at his place on Big Bear, so I took the opportunity to sit at his desk. VERY NICE! BNI HQ is right off of Route 66 in Upland.

We had a great time driving Baby down Sunset Blvd, through the 90210 zip code, and through Bel Air. We took a few shots but traffic is heavy and we did not stop, most of these were taken from the car. We had a lot of fun, kept the top down and snapped lots of photos, unfortunately now I am paying the price of a sunburn again.

We forgot to get the Route 66 end photo so we will go back tomorrow to do that. But we did get photos of the pier. Look at that Beach.

We are staying at The Inn at Venice Beach, a very nice hotel, well decorated and very reasonable rates. Penny is so excited because we have a balcony that she can go out and have a cigarette with out going down to the parking lot. Only problem the hotel only had one room left, and the Holiday Inn found it for us, the only room has one queen size bed for us to share. Good things we are long time friends! LOL

Venice is so very different from Sana Monica. When we got there it was very family oriented, very clean with lots of kids, parents and general tourist. We decided we wanted something different so we went to Venice beach, my favorite beach. What a dramatic changes. Lots of street vendors, authors, singers, artist, head shops, tourist junk, and places to eat. It is like a Carnival and if you like people watching this is the place to be. Today, Penny and I are going to spend the day on the beach watching people or maybe they are watching us!

Gettin our Kicks on Route 66

Hazel M. Walker

Queen of the Road

Day 23: Woo Hoo!!!!! We Made It!

2007-08-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

Day 23, and we made it to the end of Route 66! We left San Benardino this morning and made our way to the end of our journey! Since we took a trip on the double six to Upland to visit our friends in the BNI Home Office yesterday, we decided to take the interstate back to that point this morning, and then scoot back to pick up the journey on the actual Route 66 pavement. We have often made bad decisions on this trip, and this was truly a double edged sword! Route 66 goes through Los Angeles. Not on the highway, but through the city of unique individuals. The interstates were glorified parking lots, and Sunset Blvd, never stops! No place to park and get out and walk, and if you did get a chance to pull off the road, you will have a heck of a time getting back in the flow. And the flow moves along at a break neck speed! No time to take pictures, so Hazel just held the camera over the windshield and started snapping! The other side of the story is that we gawked just like the tourists we are at EVERYTHING! The people, the buildings, the everything is just so very awesome!

We buzzed through Pasadena, Highland Park, and through the heart of downtown LA, on through Beverly Hills and down to Santa Monica! The traffic thinned out considerably through Beverly Hills and Belle Air, but once through there, it was Nelly Bar The Door...again! After that whirlwind drive, we were just numb. We walked along the pier stopping in at several shops, but buying nothing (told you we were numb), and decided to move on down the road to Venice Beach. It wasn't until we were back in the car that we realized that we didn't take one single picture of either of us under the Santa Monica Pier sign going woo hoo, or any picture of the Flat Boys celebrating the moment. Our penance is that we will have to go back there on our way out of town to record the momentous event.

We are now in Venice Beach/Marina Del Rey. Stepping onto Venice Beach is like walking into a carnival. The people; tourists, street performers, vendors of all sorts of odd and exotic wares and foods, and local residents combine to perform an endless promenade of gawkers and hawkers. It was after 6:00 PM when we started our search for a room. Once again, bad, bad decisions. We finally found the last affordable room and are finally getting the opportunity to stretch out and relax. We have booked the room for 2 evenings and plan to spend most of tomorrow at the beach getting sand between our toes. I have promised Hazel that I WOULD NOT feed the seagulls.

Before I sign off for the evening, I would like to send out a shout to Manoj Patel. On our way to Upland to visit BNI, we stopped at the famous Wig Wam Motel. Unfortunately, we had already taken a room for the evening, so did not stay there, but Manoj was fascinated by our tale and gave us the tour of 2 of the tee pees. These are really cool, and I highly recommend a stay there if you get the opportunity. The rooms are surprisingly big, with pillow top beds, and beautiful headboards. The grounds are well kept and tidy, and if Manoj represents the rest of the staff, it's a very friendly place. Thanks for the tour Manoj (http://www.wigwammotel.com/).

~ Penny S. Head

Day 23: San Bernardino

2007-08-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

This evening I met an incredible man whose name is DeMarco. He is originally from Istanbul, but is also an American citizen currently serving in the US Army and stationed in Turkey. I'm now sure exactly why he is here, but I'm sure it some type of training. By the way, his Grandmother is Greek.

I went to the patio behind our hotel to smoke a cigarette and listen to a J.D. Robb audio book, and of course, a total stranger noticed the headset and started up a conversation. I swear, there is sign on my forehead that says, "tell me your story." Fortunately, I took the time to listen. We shared some Belgium chocolate, some Native American cigarettes (yes, they are legal...no additives just tobacco and boy did it go straight to my head), and I received quite the education about Turkey. It seems that the bible, as we know it today, was created from 2,000 gospels there. It is home to the largest cathedral and mosque in the world. He told me about the "early" Christians, and showed me the elaborate homes, and a church, they carved out of the mountains. He had his laptop with him, I was treated to a visual voyage through Turkey. We had a wonderful conversation about philosophy, ideology, and "just and unjust."

Thank you DeMarco for a very insightful hour and a half. It is these impromptu meetings that have made this trip a true education.

Penny S. Head

Mohave Desert

2007-08-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

We made it through the Mohave Desert! We drove almost 260 miles today to make up for yesterday complete lack of mileage. We even left the hotel at 9:00am which is a full hour and half earlier than usual. (those beds were not conducive to sleeping late...but hey we only paid $57 for the room).

We got on a desert road and headed out! The Mohave is awesome, the road is long and straight with lots of Dips that make Penny screech! Most of the road is smooth and well cared for. It is a lot of fun to drive and there is little traffic so there is plenty of time to stop and take photos.

It is important to have a full tank of gas and plenty to drink on this leg of the trip.

Here are some of the sites that we saw in the desert. Can you guess what they are?

By the way, check out our friends blog, he is traveling Route 66 too. http://therealwombat.wordpress.com/tag/route-66-in-007/

We are in San Bernadino at the Fairfiled Inn tonight......can't wait to tell you what we do tomorrow.

Gettin our kicks on Route 66

Hazel M. Walker

Queen of the Road

Cowboys, Deserts, and California

2007-08-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

I did not blog yesterday because our connection was to slow. We only drove 75 miles yesterday from Kingsman to Needles. We got hung up in Oatman as you can imagine from Penny's post. Puppies, Donkey's and cowboys Penny was in heaven.

This is the GPS system showing the road we were traveling.

She paid the price to get there, because that mountain trip was amazing. I only thought that the mountains the day before were good but these were the best. Penny hates heights, this was not only high but the drops offs were on her side of the car and the roads were old and narrow and they were hairpin turns and old bridges, but it is the only way to get to Oatman and once Penny read about the wild Donkey's and I heard about the mountain roads it was a MUST do.

There is a Vista at the top where you can stop and see Nevada, Arizona, and California. It was pretty hazy, but very cool to look at.

Oatman is well worth the drive, it was very entertaining and we had a great time hanging out there. Penny bought a bag of carrots as soon as we arrived and began the search for the Donkey's, I on the other hand was looking for the cowboys! Fortunately both of us left happy. Mike Fox is the Cowboy he had lunch with us and gave us the history of the settlement of the west and the history of Oatman. He is very, very knowledgeable, he grew up in this town. If you get a chance to visit this little town, find Mike, he loves to share his knowledge and he is very friendly. A good ambassador of the town.

We had lunch in the hotel Saloon, there are Dollar Bills all over the walls, ceilings, doors and any where that you cans staple a dollar. The estimate there are about 30,000 dollars with peoples names or slogans written on them. Now, BNI and the Queen of Networking has one on the wall too! While Penny was donating money to the Donkey food fund, I was writing on $$$ bills and putting them on the wall!!

On our way to Needles, down the mountain we stopped in the desert to look at stuff, you know, Penny and I stop to look at everything. We were amazed by the way that locals use the desert as their dumping ground.

After we left Oatman we only drove to Needles, Barstow would have had more to choose from but it was to far to drive to and there was nothing in between. At least that put us in California. Route 66 goes right through this town and there are many of the old hotels along the route. Most are not kept up and many of them closed. Needles is a small town, not a lot to choose from in the way of hotels so we stayed at the Travelodge Motel, at least it is not in the slums, the room was clean and quiet. It looks like the Days Inn is under some major remodeling due to a storm.

We are in California even if we did only go 75 miles!!! YEA!

Gettin our Kicks on Route 66

Hazel M. Walker

Queen of the Road

Day 20: We Got Us a Cowboy!

2007-08-20T21:59:00.000-07:00

Oh my, oh my, oh my! Today was a great day for the Women Road Warriors! We have been up, down, up a whole lot more, and down, down, down twisty, curvy, narrow mountain roads. I mean, for someone who hates heights, today's trip through the mountains was a true test of fortitude! Baby loves the road, and sticks to the road like glue. Thank you God. In addition to road signs warning of hairpin curves, wiggly roads, and flash floods, we started seeing signs warning of burro crossings!

Our EZ66 Guide mentioned Oatman, AZ as an old gold mining town "but now digs for tourist dollars with shops an cafes, staged gunfights and live music all crammed into its one burro-lined street." Gunfights generally mean cowboys, and since this was our current goal, we decided to make the stop. Oatman is about halfway down the current mountain, and at first peak, you just might want to keep on goin'.

The buildings are probably original from the gold rush days, the street (Yes, just one) is dirt, and the "sidewalks" are wooden walks raised up from the road. There's places to eat and buy the normal tourist things like T-shirts, rocks, etc. But, most of the shops also sell bags of carrots so you can feed the wild burros! Well, of course I had to buy a bag at the very first store we came to. I then carried the bag into every store to the end of the street. I was beginning to think the burros were just a come on, but soon enough, word got out on the street that the burros were in town. They just come wandering in off the road to get handouts from the sight seers. Poor Hazel, she humors me (it's her penance for scaring the pants off me on those mountain roads). I was like a kid in a petting zoo, and simply loved communing with the fuzzy beasts. Mamas and babies walk through town and sometimes right into the stores looking for gullible guests like myself. I loved it!

I donated money to the Burro Food Fund, Burro Vet Fund (they sometimes get hit by cars flying around the curves), bought carrots, and donated to the Public Restroom Fund. All worthy causes!

As you know by now, one of our goals was to find Hazel a cowboy! Well, I did it! After feeding the burros, we made our way up the other side of the street, and what should cross our path but a big ol' cowboy! Good looking, and serious. Being the extraordinary assistant that I am, I approached tall dark and handsome, and explained that the redhead over there (she wasn't paying any attention) needed a cowboy, and would he please give her a hug for a picture....And he did!

We were actually on our way back to the car and out of town when we noticed that our cowboy had gone into the saloon. We were instantly hungry and needed to stop for a bite to eat. It was time for a cigarette break as well, so I went outside to feed my monster while Hazel placed our order and admired our cowboy from afar. Just as I stepped out the door, a shot was fired and I about died right on the wooden planks! The gunfight was about to start!

The sheriff asked for volunteers to help block the street, so of course, I stepped right up to the challenge. Then the boys got to talkin' about robbin' the bank and shootin' up the town, and one by one, down they went. It was so hot out that one bad guy moved to die in the shade of a van, and another jumped right up as soon as he hit the dirt! What fun! Then they passed the hat for donations to the public restroom fund, and I got this nifty kerchief!

When I got back in for lunch, Mr. Good Lookin' cowboy came by the table to say whatever good lookin' cowboys have to say. Much, much later, we really did get back to the car and resumed our trip. Mike Fox is a great ambassador for Oatman, AZ. His calling card states that he is a photographer (some really first class photos of the area), gunfighter (one of the original Ghostrider Gunfighters), Stagecoach Driver, Roustabout, Electrician. We got quite the history lesson around Oatman, the Indians, Mormons, and mountain men. Thanks Mike! You truly made my day! [sigh]

We crossed the Colorado River and are staying in Needles, California this evening. It's hotter than...most hot things...and I've just about lost my sense of humor with this heat. However, Mike reassured us that this is a pretty mild summer for this area, and a little more humid than normal. Hmmmm, maybe we can get him to come to Indiana some summer day and show him what humidity really is!

It would be more fun

To go by air

If we could put

These signs up there.

~Burma-Shave

Penny S. Head

Day 19: Goodbye Sedona

2007-08-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

Slide Rock and tourists notwithstanding, Sedona is just simply beautiful. Our path took us through the Coconino National Forest and into Oak Creek Canyon. the view is simply breath taking. We walked the tourist path, and got some wonderful pictures!

From there, down the mountain into Sedona. It's a very tourist driven, but the shops are a lot of fun, and the bronze statues all up and down the street are beautiful. Hazel found The Orchard Hotel, and we instantly made the decision to stay an extra day. I spent every moment I could sitting on our balcony watching the changing colors on the mesas. The Orchard is such a cool place. Real glasses in the bathroom and bed room, sliding screen door so you can turn off the air conditioner and enjoy the evening breeze. Trust me, we didn't use this feature much, but is was very pleasant last evening. Lauryn was great, and we thank her for a great stay.

The first evening, we decided to do some laundry (guess who was out of dry panties), and met the owner of The Laundry Basket, George. What a great guy! We learned that The Laundry Basket is the result of George making some major life-changing decisions. George mentioned that since we were already off our path, we should go to Jerome, AZ. What an amazing place. Unfortuantely we were unable to any pictures of the town, but take my work for it...it is amazing. First of all, the town is experiencing a re-birth. Many shops line the streets, and I think that's where all the hippies have gone to grow old! This little town is literally built out of the sides of the mountain! I don't mean that they found a flat place in the area for a nice little town, I mean each building is built sticking out of the side of the mountain! If you rolled out of bed in the middle of the night, you would just roll down the side of the mountain. It is just incredible! We didn't get any pictures because the streets were so narrow, and there really wasn't any place to stop and snap. It was too hot to park and walk around, so we just wove our way through the place in wonder and awe!

From Jerome to Seligman where we were presented with our very own Official Route 66 License by Linda Howard, owner of the Ruty Bolt (http://www.rustybolt66.com/). She has a wonderful store with many, many items we have not seen in other R66 stores along the way. There are some great manaquines on top and in front of her store. The flat boys had a ball posing with the girls, real and staged!

So, we're back on track and back on the mother road! Wanted to give a big hello to our friend Wombat (http://therealwombat.wordpress.com/tag/route-66-in-007/). He's out there doin' the mother road as well. He makes a lot more stops than we have so far, so give his blog a look and let him know you're friends of the Women Road Warriers from Indiana!

Love from the Road,
Penny S. Head

Out of Sedona

2007-08-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

As much as we loved Sedona, we packed up and left today. Sedona is not part of the Route 66 trip, but it was so close to Flagstaff that we decided to take Route 89A and check out the beautiful Red Rocks. It is well worth the side trip.

Today we took 89A around the Mountains into Jerome. Again, not part of the Route 66 trip but what the heck we are already off the path. Jerome is phenomenal, a whole town build on the side of mountains. Jerome has a rich history of copper mining and when the copper mines where closed the town was all but abandoned. Today it is growing and draws a lot of tourist. It is so different from all of the other towns we have encountered in Arizona. No way could I ever live in this place, if you fell off of your porch it would kill you! If you ever get a chance I would recommend that you take the opportunity to visit the old town!

Now, let me tell you about the mountain drive. It was so exciting, we were climbing up the mountain zigging and zagging, great hairpin curves, uphill, downhill and sheer drop on the drivers side. Baby was a blast to drive on this road, at the top most point we were at 7500 feet. Remember, what goes up, must come down, and we did. Penny did great, she hates heights, but did well, we had the top down on the car and the temperature was wonderful. This was the most beautiful part of the day to me, it was also the most exciting and therefore fun.

We got of the longest portion of Route 66. It is 150 miles of straight two lane highway, the temperature was still below 95 degrees so we kept the top down. That was a mistake......it is not feeling so good now! Much of this part of the drive was interesting but not beautiful.

We went thru this little town called Seligman, Arizona. Very fun, several of the local places have really gone out of their way to create a fun place to stop and buy geegaw's. We went to a little DQ like place, (not DQ) we had hot dogs for lunch....Bob hot dogs...short and fat. Not the John hot dog which is long and thin. Their description not mine. The guys taking the orders where very very funny! Stop here if you get a chance!

We continued on, top still down..........not a good idea, did I tell you were are sunburned! LOL

Tonight we are in Kingsman, Arizona, tomorrow we go thru the Mohave Desert. Our guide books says fill the tank and take plenty of water. We will also ride with the top up!!!! We should be in California tomorrow night!! YEA!

Getting our Kicks on Route 66
Hazel M. Walker
Queen of the Road

Day 18: This is my story and I'm sticking to it!

2007-08-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

Well...I just don't know what to say. I was going to post this evening and defend myself, but really, I just can't! I tried to blame yesterday on the altitude, too much sun, heat, whatever, but hey...I'm a klutz! Hazel is laughing again, and I hope to hell she wets the bed. She's already gone through 3 pair of panties and I'm not doing the laundry!

Yesterday got off to a great start and I was looking forward to going to Sedona. Should have gone to the Grand Canyon. So, here's my side of the story, and unfortunately, it's not a whole lot different from Hazel's. I'm just not going to add pictures...she was laughing so hard that fortunately, she didn't get many.

Slide Rock was full of happy people wading and swimming and walking. So, in we go to cool our tired feet. WHAM! On my ass with a "what just happened" look. This old couple was very sympathetic and after watching me slip and slide around, offered this advice. "Honey, do what the little kids do, crawl to the edge on your hands and knees." Good advice, and the old guy offered me a hand to get on dry ground. Time to put on shoes and take a walk. Hazel, who has been walking 30 minutes a day, made it clear that I needed the practice. So off we go, over red rocks, dodging jumping, splashing people. We took the high ground and I was feeling pretty good.

Time for another stop to watch the kids fling themselves off the ledges into the deep water. It was very nice sitting on the warm, red, FLAT rocks and just dangle my feet in the water. Refreshed, we moved up stream. Hazel the pathfinder was way up ahead of me, so I took the low ground to catch up, stepped in a puddle, and SPLASH, up to my knees in red water! Just like the poor coyote in the Roadrunner cartoons, everyone else steps in the same place and walks across water....I sink in up to my woo hoo.

OK, we move a little farther up the slope to get away from the water...and to keep me safe...and I'm feeling good. Got my feet under me, and navigating the rocks and sand like a pro. We have to move down hill a bit, and WHAM! I'm spitting out sand and trying to figure out how I ended up face down on the rocks (dry rocks by the way). My toe is throbbing, my hand is bleeding, my knee is bleeding, my elbow is bleeding, my pride is bleeding....ouch! Hazel is laughing so hard she has to cling to the rocks to keep from falling! Did she offer to help me up? Oh no! Not MY best friend. She's peeing her pants!

Close to the water again, so she suggested that I just go ahead and sit in the cold water to keep from swelling. I've got to admit, my toe, knee and elbow did not bruise (too much anyway), and it was only my right hand that made contact with the rocks. Had to scoot on my butt to get up and out.

We needed to get back to the car before I became the first person to die at Slide Rock. She did help by handing me my shoes. Right shoe on while using Hazel for balance, turn to sit on a rock to put left shoe on. Reached down to sit on the rock, and I'll be damned if a prehistoric thorn bush didn't just grow out of the crevices of the rocks. Pierced my finger...left hand. OUCH (again)!

After much laughter and more wetting of the pants. We started making our way back to the car. We're just about there now, and at the shallow end of the creek. Mother's and their babies are sitting in the warm sand in the shade of the big rocks, so Hazel figures this is a good time to take a break and enjoy a nice warm rock of our own, and cool down. I turn to sit on a really big rock, and the next thing I know, I'm looking up at my knees and flailing my arms! My head is embedded in the sand, and Hazel is peering down at me with tears (of laughter) in her eyes. The young mothers AND THEIR BABIES, are hysterical! One woman did catch her breath long enough to ask if I was all right. Am I alright?!?!? Hell, I didn't even know what happened! WHY was I on my back, and where was that damn rock!!?!?!?! Thanks lady.

We dragged my wet, red, sandy butt back to the car. Wet denim full of sand is a great exfoliant and I have the smoothest thighs in Arizona.

Couldn't get in the car with those clothes on, so I had to find clean clothes and change in the Porta Potty! Some little kid started knocking on the door and asked when I thought I would be done. I gathered my dignity...and wet, gritty clothes...and flung open the door. Evidently his mom saw something in my face because she gathered the little guy behind her and backed away.

Guess we should have put on those bathing suites.

Resting and recouperating in Sedona,
Penny S (slippery when wet) Head

Lost in Sedona

2007-08-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

We left Flagstaff yesterday. I have to say it is very unlike any other part of Arizona, it is so green, while most of Arizona is desert Flagstaff is mountains and forest. It is a lovely college town and we enjoyed the stay at the Fairfield Inn. We had breakfast at a local place called the Village Kitchen, I promised Penny I would find her a place that made pancakes! Thank gawd they did, and she said they were good.

We left Flagstaff on 89A. What a wonderfully beautiful drive down and twisty curvy mountain. Here are some pictures that I took at one of the parks at the top, it is about 7000 feet here. These pictures do not do it justice.

This is a picture of the roads we were about to drive. I got to try Baby (lexus sc 430) out on the curves and it was great, she handles curves like nobodies business and we did not fall off the mountain. Speaking of falling.............

I saw this sign as we were going down the mountain...........so I thought I would stop and we could take another walk. We are getting a lot of walking in, way more than the 30 minutes on my treadmill. When we pull into our parking place it is about 95 degrees out and the car next to us has a dog locked in it. Penny, the saviour of all animals and nature took the license plate number and gave it to the guard at the front gate, who called for rescue. What kind 0f idiot leaves a dog in a car when the temperature outside is in the high 90s? By the time we got back to our car it was registering 108 degrees.

We walked down this path and came to this site. Look at all of the people sliding down the rocks in this river. What a blast, how fun, it's hot and the water looks soooo cool, and it was such a long walk to get here. And guess what we have bathing suites.........in the trunk of baby, a mile back. Damn, poor planning, look at all these people in bathing suites, except us.

OK, so here is the story, and if you ask me to tell you this story I won't be able to because I cannot stop laughing....ok ok, let me get myself together here. So here is the story, Penny loves the water and she will take every opportunity to get in the water. So here is the wonderful water running over these beautiful rocks. Now, sun, shallow water, and rocks equal slick algae. So, I said be careful just as Penny fell went down on her ass in the water in a denim skirt (skort). I was standing carefully trying not to fall, all the while laughing at Penny as she kept trying to get up on the slick rocks. Soon she was on all fours crawling to banks. finally a gentleman went over to help her as I was tippy toeing carefully to the banks.

So, I decided that we should just sit and watch everyone (wish we had our bathing suites) jump off the ledges into the water. Penny steps into a puddle that went to her knee and almost fell again. We decided to walk further up the river, here is Penny on her ass again. So I made her sit in the cold water to help her knee, toe and hand. "Just sit there for awhile." Ok, time to get up and get started again, she reaches down to get her shoe and gets stuck by a thorn, now her hand is bleeding! I may never ever get her back to the car.

Off we go, back to our car, on the trek back down the river, I see two or three nice round rocks near the water. I thought it would be a good place for us to rest, sitting on a rock with our feet in our water resting. I look over at Penny and she is on her back in the red, red sand and water, feet in the air, looking like a turtle turned on its back!!! How the hell did you do that? What happen? She did not know, she just fell backwards, looking into the sky! I laughed so hard that I wet my pants! I still can't stop laughing.

Needless to say, it was a long long walk back to the car and if you think for one moment I let her sit in my car with this outfit on you have another think coming. She changed!

We drove down the road to downtown Sedona. Here is the problem, we are still here. We have only driven 34 miles in 2 days. We may never ever leave Sedona. Did we say that we were going to be home September 07? It may be "08"

Look where we had to eat breakfast this morning, can you imagine!

Route 66? Where is it?
Hazel M. Walker
Queen of the Road

Day 17: Ridin' the Wild Hare

2007-08-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

We left Holbrook, AZ yesterday and made a brief stop in Jackrabbit. This little town is about as big is it's name, but after seeing all the huge yellow and black signs encouraging us "RIDE THE JACKRABBIT" we just couldn't pass it up. Fortunately for us, this big ol' guy was pretty tame and didn't feel like hopping around very much in the heat. Even the Flat Boys had a good time riding while we shopped.

From Jackrabbit to Winslow. Hazel gave you the background for this great small town, so I can give you a bit of the color. Diane Patterson, owner of Roadworks (http://www.roadworksroute66.com/), has a great gift shop, and gave us a very warm welcome. She's such a nice woman, and loved hearing about our trip. She stocks lots of Route 66 items (the good stuff), as well as Eagles CDs, jewelery, scents of all kinds, books and art work. If you are looking for the "crap" type of trinkets, this is NOT the place. Diane's wares are unique and worth the stop.

Although we have not had that first problem with the police in ANY town we have stopped in (well, there was that incident at the El Rancho Hotel where the police told me to go inside), Hazel thought it would be fun to take this photo. Mom, it's OK. I was out back smoking a cigarette and there were some intoxicated guys out front. The police were just patrolling the area and thought it would be in my best interest to go inside.

I do seem to have a propensity for attracting cats, dogs, and people with stories to tell. We dropped in to a little coffee shop and there was a great big black cat to welcome us at the door. He loved me and spent some quality time in my arms. Down the street, we met a big, curly dog and his owner. The guy was celebrating his birthday and had consumed a vast quality of coffee and nicotine (and I'm thinkin' something a little more special). Hazel and I stopped to pet the dog, and the guy had a story to tell..and tell...and tell...to me (it's the human sacrifice thing that Hazel does so well).

Next stop, Meteor Crater! Our blog pictures just cannot do justice to this place we almost passed by. It is HUGE! It is simply called Meteor Crater, but should be called something like LOOK AT WHAT MISSED KILLING ALL MANKIND! You just can't imagine how big around and deep this is! This picture is me standing on the edge of the crater. Anyone that knows me, will understand the courage this took. Notice that I'm NOT holding on to the railing. There is pretty much nothing behind me...or below me! I'm so cool!

Hazel took this picture from an upper level of the observation path in hopes we could get some perspective. A large thunderstorm was brewing and the shadows you see are from those clouds.

Between our hike through the Petrified Forest the day before, and hiking up and down this observation trail around the crater, I was pretty worn out, but I'm still around and didn't keel over! I know our gentle readers have noticed the lack of Flat Boy pictures. It is incredibly hot out here, and carting my fellas around in this heat is just too much.

Our next stop was Flagstaff. From the sand and heat to the coolness of the national forest! Hazel and I are just dumbstruck at how quickly and how dramatically the climate and landscape has changed. This a beautiful town, and I can't wait to get out there and explore.

More to come, so stay tuned!

Penny S. Head

Standin on the Corner in Winslow Arizona......

2007-08-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

such a fine site to see, it's a girl my lord in a flat bed ford......slowin down to take a look at me. A Classic Eagles Song, Take it Easy.

We went to Winslow this morning. I would highly recommend it...in the next two years they will be doing a lot of improvement with a big Route 66 Park, and restoration of some of the buildings.

We stayed in Holbrook, Arizona at the Holiday Inn Express. They had the new super beds, you know the big pillow tops with the wonderful down comforters. We decided to order a Pizza from the Pizza Hut right down the street, at 7:30pm we called placed the order only to be told they quit delivering at 7:00pm. To say we were shocked, 7:00pm, you gotta be kidding me! We want Pizza. We had fish sandwiches from Burger King, cause we were in our jammies and did not want to get out of the car! Yuck.

BUT...........we had the BEST nights sleep ever at this hotel. It was great, beds just like home. I highly recommend this hotel. I know that Penny loved them too, she was talking to me, about Ghost Hunters, then the next thing I hear is Penny snoring...I mean humming. I never met anyone who can fall asleep in the middle of a sentence!

Arizona has so much to see. We went to the painted desert, which was beautiful, the petrified forest where satellites follow you around to make sure you do not steal any of the petrified wood. I picked up a piece of wood, it was beautiful and Penny said I had to put it down because there was a $325 fine if you picked up the wood, moved the wood or stole the wood. So they must have satellites watching the entire time you are there, right? I threw my piece of wood down! Damn it.

Hazel at the Crater

We went to the Meteor Crater today, both Penny and I were not very interested really but thought we would take a quick look. Wow.....are we glad we did. It is unimaginable how big this thing is. Or how old it is.

Penny at the Crater

Oh well, we both loved the views.

Now we are in Flagstaff Arizona. It is hard to believe that this is still Arizona! It is so green, pine trees everywhere! No more dessert, no more heat. It reminds me a lot of Washington. Tomorrow we will explore Flagstaff and take a side trip to Sedona and who knows from there.

Baby, my Lexus convertible has been great on the road. We get a great many comments from people about the car, everyone loves her! But, packing her has become an art, with so little space and so much shopping to do over the miles we have had to be very creative. DHL is our best friend! If you are thinking of taking this trip we highly recommend taking Packing Slips with you, it makes life so much easier.

We Found more Giants!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I am off to do laundry, that is the other thing, we are limited on the amount of clothes we could bring so we have to do laundry often.

Getting our Kicks on Route 66............
Hazel M. Walker
Queen of the Road

Day 15: Never Under Estimate the Value of a Multi Tool

2007-08-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

Although the El Rancho Hotel is an interesting place, it's old. Hazel was getting ready for her morning shower and the cold water knob fell off in her hand. She tried to screw it back on, but to no avail. The World's Best Assistant (that would be me) never leaves home without at least one multi-tool, so I reached into my bag of many things and was able to provide a wrench!

Since I'm tooting my own horn this morning, while in Grants, NM we made a short pit-stop. Hazel was taking her bathroom break and I my nicotine break. I saw this really big crow sitting on top of one of the gas pumps, and knowing how much Hazel wants a crow of her own, I thought maybe I could lure it down with a piece of beef jerky. NO...I didn't have a clue what I was going to do with it if I was able to get a hold of it. Big Bird watched me in that disdainful way only crows have, and shifted his gaze to the chunk of jerky I tossed on the ground. He looked at me....looked at the jerky...looked at whatever it was he had on top of the gas pump. He reached down and picked up his current treasure and THREW IT AT ME! The damn bird THREW chicken bones at me!!!!! Guess my beef jerky wasn't to his liking!

New Mexico if full of Prairie Dogs and we kept seeing them running around and trying to cross the road. When we stopped for gas, I wanted to get a picture of them. So, armed with Carmel Sweet and Salty Chex Mix, I walked out behind a gas station (potty break again), and thought I could entice one of the little bastards up to the camera. They were running all over the place...everywhere except around me! We decided to take pictures of the Giant Arrows instead.

We made the trip through the Pained Desert and the Petrified Forest yesterday. It was over 100 degrees when we started our drive, but cooled down to lower to mid nineties by the time we got out to do the "brief hiking trail" in the Crystal Forest portion of the tour. The views are simply stunning, and amazing how it changes from footstep to footstep. The colors are just amazing! I remember that as a kid this was stop on a family vacation. I was very disappointed at that time because I was expecting Crayola colors. The flat boys enjoyed the views as well, but it was pretty hot to be carting their floppy butts in and out of the heat.

One of the designated stops is called Newspaper Rock. It says that you can see the pytroglyphs on the rocks, and of course we looked and looked. I was expecting to see big ol' rock paintings. Well, there are rock paintings, but they aren't big and fortunately the park has provided telescopes for viewing. There is even a great big sign showing what the markings look like so you now what you are looking for. Ol' Eagle Eye me, finally found what we were looking for. There's a spiral looking thing, a squiggly looking thing, some horseshoe looking things, and two people looking things. One of the people looking things had a tail (??) OK, it wasn't a tail at all, but with little kids standing around...well it was just better to leave some things unsaid. Until Hazel saw it. "Anatomically correct rock paintings...who knew?" Of course all the moms and dads went back for a 2nd look and all the kids were going "what's she talking about?" Hasty exit.

Speaking of hasty exits. The Queen of the Road is getting packed and ready to get going this morning. I still need to get my tanned body (did I mention that I am turning a beautiful shade of bronze...on one side) up and moving.

Love from the road!

Penny S. Head

We're back.....did you miss us?

2007-08-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

We took a little break to hang out with some friends in Albuquerque. Gail and Ted are very dear friends of mine, Gail is a BNI Executive Director here in New Mexico and they let me hang out with them during the Balloon Fiesta quite often. Ted loves to tell you the history of New Mexico, and he is a Music Collector. Ted and Gail used to perform in a band across the country and they owned a talent agency until recently, needless to say Ted has a massive collection of music and stock Penny and I up with music. We want to give a shout out and a Thank You to Ted and Gail!!

Currently we are in Gallup, New Mexico. Lots of Indian shops to buy stuff, lots of old 66 signs and old motels all along the route 66 road. We are staying at the El Rancho Hotel, and old hotel that is famous along Route 66. Many stars have stayed here including my favorite, Humphrey Bogart. There are a lot of international guest here to. We have met the Italians, a gentleman from Japan on his second Route 66 trip, and then the French Group. We have met a great many international visitors along Route 66, people from New Zealand, Venezuela, Italy, Netherlands, German, Spanish and French. It has truly been an international experience.

The scenery in New Mexico is both breath taking and sad. The beautiful Red Mountains, the piles of old lava, the breath taking sunsets are not to be missed. But the poverty, many old trailers, run down homes, and closed businesses are sad.

Most of Route 66 runs along the side of US 40 it is wonderful to stay along the frontage road and see the sites, but it is very moving to see how US 40 and major interstates destroyed the small towns and businesses along Route 66 especially when you realize how close the two run along side each other. Beautiful old Art Deco style building abandoned, outstanding neon signs no longer blazing, entire towns abandoned and only now starting to restore themselves for the Route 66 visitors. I cannot recommend enough to anyone that they take the route 66 trip and stay on as much of the old road as possible. The history and stories you will learn are amazing.

One of my favorite places in the last two days has been Midpoint Cafe. This is a little Cafe exactly at the Midpoint of this trip. What a great place, lots of old antiques, like a Hoosier cabinet and kerosene stove. Great staff who love to talk to you, give you information and help you in anyway they can. Check out this sign............this is the place you have to decided, go forward or turn back!

NOW........let me tell you about an exciting part of Route 66 that many people choose NOT to take. It is an 18 mile pre 1930s Route 66, dirt and gravel road through dessert. We met several people at the Midpoint Cafe. We all left about the same time. There were two women about the same age as Penny and I, from Virginia, driving a convertible Jag. They got to the dirt road and turned back, deciding to take the interstate. We passed them as they were turning around. Penny, Baby and I decided to take the road..............I know you are shocked that I would take a little Lexus SC 430 with high performance tires across the desert on dirt and gravel. (some of you will not be shocked at all).

It was a GREAT part of the trip, we drove about 20-35 miles per hour and kept stopping to look at things along the road. Penny said that I needed to stop there were apples along the road, I stopped, looked at her and said "Yea, they must be falling from all of the Dessert Apple Trees that we see along the road!" How the hell could there be apples along a dirt road in 102 degree heat? We stopped next time she saw some, they were gourds, we have in our car. Next we were driving along the road and Penny yelled....stop stop.........back up.......I did. Here is what she found, and this is what ended up in the back seat of Baby.

There was a second one, with teeth on it down in a little ditch. She wanted to go down and get it, but I could hear little rattles all around it which I am certain were rattle snakes sleeping in the heat. So I did not think it was a good idea for her to walk off the road to get a second skull. Therefore, only one hitched a ride in the back of my car on MY PILLOW! That Skull is now being shipped home to Mike.

We crossed the Continental Divide last night, today we will cross the boarder to Arizona and we promise we will blog again tonight. Now, I am off to shower and shop!

Getting our Kicks on Route 66

Queen of the Road

Hazel M. Walker

Day 14: And We're Back!

2007-08-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

We got back on the road after lunch today and have made it to Gallup, New Mexico. Gail Williams (Hazel's friend in NM) suggested that we stay at the El Rancho Hotel, so here we are. This hotel is a lot of fun, and a Route 66 Treasure. It was built in 1937 by the brother of D.W. Griffith (the father of motion pictures), and many great movie stars have spent quality time here. We'll take some pictures tomorrow and post them. The hotel has a cattle ranch decor...longhorn steer horn chairs, wagon wheel headboards, dual curved staircase to the 2nd floor, and wonderful Zuni rugs on the floors. We are staying in the Spencer Tracy room. Each room is named after a movie star, and autographed pictures of the celebrities that have graced these halls hang on the walls. Hollywood's best like Humphrey Bogart, Lucille Ball, Jackie Cooper, and Rosalind Russell fill the hallways.

So, what have we been up to? Well, we left Amarillo on the 12th and made a brief stop at the Cadillac Ranch. If you blink, you will miss this, so keep your eyes open. The Cadillac Ranch is a row of big ol' land yachts planted on their noses in the middle of a field. Visitors can walk through a break in the barbed wire fence, across a collapsed lawn chair (to get over the mud puddle) and walk round the 10 cars. Evidently spray paint is encouraged as there were several spent cans on the ground, and all the cars have been personalized.

The cars were OK, and fun, but the best part was the Venezuelan Harley Riders! I thought it would be great idea to get a picture of one of the flat boys with this group of Harley travelers. I didn't know when I first spotted them that they were "not from around here." They were just getting ready to hit the road when I asked if they would take a have their picture taken with my dad. The "leader of the pack" was agreeable, but when I pulled flat dad out of the car, he just didn't know what was going on. He explained that they didn't speak English, and I explained that it didn't matter. He was so good looking that I was having a hard time trying to talk without drooling!

Adrian, Texas is the midpoint of Route 66 and the Mid Point Care and Gift Shop sits there. Our EZ66 Travel Guide told us that this great cafe is the home of the ugly crust pie and Fran would welcome us with open arms. We got to meet Fran and Brady, the son of the Ugly Crust Pie maker, and told them our story of the flat boys. They were delighted to meet our guys and pose with them. The food was wonderful and we got a bunch of stuff to bring home. AND we me the Milano Italians! Woo Hoo. Hugs all around.

We decided to take the "Dirt" option to San Hon. This is an 18 mile stretch of Route 66 that is just dirt. No pavement....just red dirt. Baby didn't go very fast, but I'm so glad we did this. We had to avoid the cows on the road, and found several places with these little round gourds growing wild (no, they aren't apples....apples don't grow in the desert), and best of all, I got a skull for Sara!

As we were leisurely driving on the dirt, I made Hazel stop and back up...I saw a wonder of nature. Well, it turned out that there were two cow skulls, one on each side of the road. I was so excited to find desert bones for Sara I just jumped out of the car to get it. While I was pulling the dead head out of the dirt, Hazel was getting pictures of the flora on the other side of the road. OK, she really was laughing her ass off, but didn't want me to see it. The skull I picked up is in great shape, but didn't have a lower jaw, or any teeth. The other skull had a few teeth, and I was going to get that one instead, but Hazel explained to me that the noise I was hearing was not the rattling of dry brush, but the gentle rattle of rattle snakes. It was time to move on.

We arrived in Albuquerque Sunday afternoon and gave Gail and Ted Williams a call. Gail is the Executive Director for that BNI region and had invited us to spend the night with them. They have a wonderful adobe home! We ended up spending 2 night with these truly wonderful people, and I can't wait to see them again! We had dinner at a Brazilian restaurant that was just the best dining experience. They have this enormous salad bar with quail eggs, 2 kinds of beans and rice, and about a million other things. THEN, the wait staff comes around to your table with huge skewers of grilled pineapple, fillet, sausage to die for, shrimp, pork...I lost track. They bring you plates of fried bananas, cheese puffs, bread...it was fantastic! Downtown Albuquerque is beautiful and we had a wonderful walk (waddle) after dinner.

Ted and Gail are the best, and their little dog, Shoy made us feel so much at home. Ted burned some CDs for our road trip, and Shoy gave me the puppy fix I needed. Great food, great company, great conversation (Ted and I talked like long lost buddies the entire time), and great music. What more can a weary woman road warrior ask for.

Still gettin' our kicks on Route 66

Penny S. Head

Oh the things we learn

2007-08-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

Traveling brings such new perspectives to your life. Day in and day out we rush about trying to get from one thing to the next or one place to the other. When we take our time to travel, see the sights around us, talk to the people who are local and just enjoy ourselves we get a whole new view of the world.

Today we spent time at the Devils Rope Museum, I was reluctant at first to take this side trip, I was in a hurry to get somewhere else, I remembered, it is a vacation and I have the time. I am glad that we did. I learned that barbed wire played a major role in settleing this country and there are Barbed Wire associations across the country. We think of it as something used for fences only, but it was used as a way to automate crop planting for the farmers too. I learned there is an association of everything. This had to be one of the best displays of the history of farming and ranching that I have seen. The inginuity of man is amazing.

Off we go on Route 66 again. It is easy to follow now because it goes along the path of US 40, it is long and straight, no traffic and the speed limit is 70 in the daytime and 65 at night. Yes they have a night speed limit.

We got to Groom Texas where we stopped to see the giant cross. This is the second largest cross in the western hemisphere. It use to the be tallest, but the builders, being good christians let the good people of Effingham Illinois use their blue prints to build one of their own. OOPS they forgot to put any stipulations on the height of the cross on the blue prints so the Effingham cross was built 8 feet taller. I have been to both now, and can say with complete confidence, the one in TEXAS is stunningly displayed. There are beautiful life size statues displaying Christ carring the cross, the crucifiction and the empty tomb with angels on it and in it. There is also a lovely gift shop that supports the cross ministries. Here is a link to their website. It really is worth taking the detour for. http://crossministries.net/

Finally we are in Amarillo. A city divided by US 40, once you figure that out it is easy to get around. But, I have to say here, if there are two people who are more like Lucy and Ethel in the world it would be Me (lucy) and Penny (ethel). If there is a bad side of town, we end up there, if there is a wrong way to go and a right way to go, we always end us the wrong way. Even when we think we are right we are wrong..........and then we start laughing so hard it hurts. Oh well, that is just the way it is. There are 3 Comfort Inns in this town, 2 are beautiful, newer and in a very nice part of town, near the mall. There are New Holiday Inns, Farifield, Residence Inns, Marriotts, and so on. They are about 8 miles EAST of where we are, because we kept getting off on the wrong area, we ended up at a Comfort Inn in a less favorable part of town. The rooms were old, the beds sucked, and so forth and so on. BUT hell we stayed anyway. I parked baby by the window so I could keep an eye on her.....all night.

We did find this great Car Wash, and a Giant Duck. Baby got a wash and we got a picture of the duck.

Now we are off to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We will be staying with Gayle Williams, a very dear friend and BNI Director. Gayle has had me to her home for the Balloon Fiesta in years past. I love Albuquerque, so we are going to stay there an extra day and visit Old Town and do some sight seeing. We will let you know what we find!

Getting our kick on Route 66
Hazel M. Walker
Queen of the Road

Day 11: Texas is very flat!

2007-08-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing the Texas Panhandle is one of the shortest stretches of Route 66 because it is really pretty boring. We left Shamrock this morning (couldn't get out of there fast enough), and hit the road towards Amarillo. We stopped in this really cute filling station/gift shop/convenience store/post office. It's a tiny place, but chock full of fun stuff...and local wines! Who knew! Just as we walked out of the post office/etc./etc. we saw our genuine COWBOY! Goal complete...Boots, hat, pickup, etc. Good looking guy, with silver hair and moustache! Hoping to spend a minute of two in conversation so she could drool, Hazel asked if his dog always got to drive the pickup (herding dog was behind the wheel). Cowboy just looked at her and said "yup." He then got in the truck and drove away into the sunrise. She was so disappointed.

We are really getting good at the Frontage Road thing, and can pretty much recognize Route 66 by sight now. Our travel book (EZ66) warned us that a lot of Route 66 is gone or just dirt in Texas, so we stayed mostly on BL (this stands for Business Loop) 40 or the frontage road associated with it.

We got to McLean and read that there was another Route 66 museum and decided to pass it up. They are all starting to look the same at this point, so we were just going to let it go. Besides, McLean is really old, tiny, and mostly abandoned along the Mother Road. Then we saw these two really big spheres on pedestals that caused us to drive around the block to get the picture! The building housing the Devil's Rope/Old Route 66 Museum is not an impressive building, but these pillars that stand at the entrance were intriguing. The spheres are made out of Barbed Wire! Devil's Rope is the Indian name for Barbed Wire.

OK, our curiosity was aroused and we decided to go see a museum devoted to barbed wire. We were amazed. The building is really pretty big, and although a small portion is dedicated to Route 66, 90% is actually all about barbed wire. There is a Barbed Wire Association that began back in the 1800's and is still very active today. There is a pictorial history of barbed wire used for ranching, planting, during several wars....how it's made, how many kinds there are and why/how they were invented...it's truly amazing! We were awe struck!

We made a brief stop at the Donley county Texas Route 66 Safety Rest Area to take a picture of Flat Mikey in front of the Texas Star. The pic in front of the large star isn't the best, but I know he'll appreciate the fact that I drug his flat but up a very steep hill to get it!

The last leg of the trip today was into Amarillo. We decided to stop really early so we could check e-mail, do some shopping for personal items, eat, and catch up on some rest. So much for good intentions. Knowing that Route 66 is a defunct highway, and that it generally takes you into depressed, or "challenged" areas of most towns, we drove all over the place (or so we thought) looking for a mall and a nice place to rest our weary bones. HA! The more we drove around, the more we began to think Amarillo was just not the great place we had imagined. Sorry Amarillo. It wasn't until after we had registered and unpacked in an older Comfort Inn, and gone to dinner that we discovered that we just needed to go a little further west. We did indeed find a the Westfield Mall, Starbucks, and all the comforts that we have become accustomed to. OK, I'm a snob, but ... well, no buts, I'm just a snob.

Dinner was at the Big Texan! What a party! We played slot machines. There's a great shooting gallery in the place, a gift shop, and some wild pictures that we really want. However, we didn't remember to take the camera so you don't get to see.

I would like to pay tribute to Lady Bird Johnson. It was her desire to get rid of billboards on the highways. I can honestly say, there just aren't any. The highway is free of advertisements, which, on the one hand makes the landscape a lot easier to appreciate. However, this is the flattest stretch of road with absolutely nothing to see but cows, horses, grass, grass, dirt, and grass. It's really pretty, but sparse. Not a lot of buildings, signs, homes...just a lot of Texas.

Tomorrow we will get into Albuquerque and spend some time with a good friend of Hazel's. We'll relax and recoup and probably get on the road again on Tuesday. If I don't post, don't worry. We're still doing the road warrior thing, just taking a break.

~Penny

Day 10: We have entered the Twilight Zone

2007-08-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we met Jack. This picture is kind of small, but I wanted to get the Longhorn Steer in for Mike!

Jack runs the train station museum at the Canadian County Historical Museum and Heritage Park right outside El Reno, OK. Jack is a treasure. He would have just let us wander around his museum without bothering us, but I was curious why there was a display of Eskimo baskets and ivory carvings. I was working hard to make the connection between the Canadian County Railroad and the Eskimos. Jack got a kick out of my suppositions. The real reason they have this collection is that it belonged to a long-time resident of El Reno and when the wife passed away, the collection was donated to the museum.

That got the conversations going. Jack told us about the buffalo head on the opposite wall. It seemed this big guy lived in El Reno for a long time and was a cantankerous sort. Well, he got crossways with the new guy on the local police force, and earned a bad name for himself. It wasn't until he got out and decided to take a stroll on Route 66 that really did him in. It seems that the bison decided to take on a VW and won. Shortly after that, they had to kill him....then they ate him....Which led to the conversation of where to get the best Buffalo Burgers, a POW camp at Ft. Reno where a few hundred German prisoners (captured in Africa) were housed for the duration of the war, and how to make these elaborate hair wreaths. We learned a lot in El Reno, and we didn't have to stay in school to do it....har, har....I crack me up (that was a segue for this great picture of Flat Dad in the restored one-room school house).

We made a wrong turn right outside Weatherford and discovered a wind farm. Mike and I saw this somewhere around Bloomington and Stewart, Illinois, and I was fascinated then. This time Hazel and I had the time to drive right up to the turbines! They are spooky when you come up to them. These turbines sit atop and behind the rolling hills, and depending on where you are on the road, you might only be able to see the tips of the blades as they rise and fall behind the hill.

Once we got into Weathford, we found a small park with some information:

1: Each blade is 122 feet long.

2. The towers are 252 feet tall.

3. Computers turn the blades so they are always facing the wind.

4. They look like alien beings and are almost silent.

5. They are so cool!

Found Lucille's Roadhouse (the new one) in Bridgeport and taught the girls, Melissa and Whitney to make chocolate sodas. They were thrilled and so was I. They have a smoking section in the diner! For the first time, I got to smoke a whole cigarette in air conditioning!

Found some giant Kachina Dolls in Elk City. Mom, this one was named Myrtle! Dad and I had to have our picture taken for you.

Just a few, final words about the tail end of Oklahoma and entering Texas...CRICKETS! Huge, giant, aggressive, crickets! They are in the parking lots, under store signs (yes! the ones on the walls), and they jump and leap out at you. They are everywhere and I don't just mean one or two. They travel in herds, or flocks, or gaggles, or whatever you call a group of crickets! We didn't get any pictures of them as they fling themselves at you if you stand still!

Westward Ho!

~Penny

Day 10 out of Oklahoma

2007-08-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

We are now in Texas. Well we really did not plan on being in Texas, we were going to stay in Oklahoma but we couldn't find a hotel in the small towns we were in. So we crossed the Texas boarder to Shamrock. We were getting nervous since there are no billboards on the road in Texas but we finally found a Sleep Inn, only 2 months old so it is very very nice. Flat screen TV's and very lovely rooms. So we lucked out. Maybe we should look for a room earlier in the future, or.........not.

We had a lot of distractions today. We went to El Reno where we saw some lovely old buildings and interesting antiques, like this stove. NOTE the name on the stove is HAZEL....go figure! Then Penny and I saw this collection of "Irons" hundreds of them, we are not sure what you do with them but they were kind of cool.

We found this interesting place to eat, if you go through El Reno's try it out! The name says it all!!!

We spent a lot of time on the original Route 66 today. It was great we discovered so many things. Can you guess how fast Baby could go on this long straight stretch of road? There was LOTS of it. The best parts of Route 66 are on this part of the trip so far......very straight, lots of hills, bridges and scenery. Notice how red the the pond is or how steep the bank of this river is. As I said, we are so easily distracted along this stretch of highway.

We found more GIANTS today! Giant Kachinas and Giant Indians.

And here is one of my favorite photos, it is a collection of windmills.

Tomorrow we start across Texas! I am very excited about Texas and look forward to some BIG adventures as we cross the pan handle.

Getting our Kicks on Route 66

Hazel M. Walker

Queen of the Road

Day 9: OOOOOOO-Oklahoma!

2007-08-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

The girls are burning up the road...literally! Although it is only 72 degrees out there right now, it is going to be over 100 very soon! Hot Grannies burning up the asphalt!

Thanks for the posts from Thain (Wombat), Durelle, and all our friends/family in Indy! You all have made this trip even more fun. Mike sent us a message yesterday telling us that our blog is top of the list on page 4 if you Google Search Route 66 blogs. We now have a new goal to be on page 1! Between the heat and the tire adventure yesterday, we were running out of steam. This particular Fairfield just appeared to us as we were making our way into Oklahoma City. It's a wonderful facility (see Hazel's post), and just what we needed to re-charge.

It has been interesting to see how the Mother Road changes from state to state. Illinois, by far, has embraced it's Route 66 heritage more than any other state. More restored, or at least functioning diners, drive-ins, attractions, than any other state. The farther west we go, the less there is to see. Including the brown/white "Historic Route 66" road signs. If anybody from the various Route 66 Associations is reading this, I can't tell you how important those signs are to us. Especially when 66 runs through your downtown areas! We have gotten turned around more in cities and towns than anywhere else!

There's a little town named Depew in OK that is just a few blocks long, but they have painted some cute murals on the buildings. We decided to stop and get a picture of the boys since they haven't been out of the car much lately. Not the best picture of Flat Dad, but it was about 104 in the shade! Then on to Stroud where we stopped at the Rock Cafe for a bite to eat. Hazel was delighted to see fried okra on the menu (explains a lot about her, doesn't it), and I got some kind of schnitzel and spaetzel. Truly didn't expect to see this traditional German meal on a menu in this tiny, little town, but it was very good! We were asked to sign the guest book, and those crazy Italians (the Milano ones, not the Roma ones we ran into at Ruby Tuesday's) are still ahead of us.

If the different tourism bureaus would look at these guest books, I'm sure they would be surprised to see who is traveling through their states! Perhaps it would encourage them to throw some money at this wonderful road. The Italians, Spanish, Japanese, etc., etc. seem to love our little slice of history. It just needs some sprucing up in some places. There are sections that are in such disrepair that Baby just looks at us and says "if you want to see that part, you can just get out and walk!"

Shortly after dinner, we found Pop's! This place is fun, and packed! Row after row from floor to ceiling nothing but bottles of (mostly) soda. There are soda's that I have never heard of....or want to again. It is a combination convenience store, gas station, gift shop, restaurant. In asking, we found out that they just opened on Monday, 8/6!

Like I said, our energy level was getting low and we needed some rest! We happened upon Arcadia Lake. It is a beautiful place; birds, bees, boats, water, and quiet! I knew Dad would appreciate this spot more than the others so took the opportunity to get a picture with him.

Well, blogger is having problems uploading pictures right now, and we want to get out on the road before the heat catches up with us. We just might be able to put the top down for a time. Our one goal today is to get into Oklahoma City to see the Oklahoma City National Memorial...and maybe some cowboys! Hazel REALLY wants to see cowboys. She drools when she talks about cowboys. It's kind of Pavlovian actually.

Love you all, old and new friends.

~Penny

Back on the Road Again

2007-08-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

We are back on the Road again thanks to Cecil & Sons Discount Tires. Not only did they get a Michelin Pilot PS2 tire and get it on my car in a timely manner, they called Michelin, explained the problem, new tire with only 1200 miles on it and a nasty nail ripping it up. He thought they might give me a goodwill discount......they did......100%. They got my $225 tire for free!!!! If you ever need help in Tulsa they are great. Here is their website http://www.cecilandsons.com/ . Here is a picture of Ken and Rick. They were great!

After all of the hard work and problems we decided that Baby needed a car wash. She was dusty and hot! Here is me hand washing her with tender loving care.

We did not leave Tulsa until 2pm, we had hoped to find a hotel in Oklahoma City, go to somewhere to do our laundry. We found a Fairfield Inn & Suites in Edmondson. It is new, they have not been open long, imagine our surprise to find our they are equipped with a washer and dryer. Life is good, tomorrow we will have clean clothes again!! YEA!

We found a brand new GIANT today. It is a giant Soda Bottle, not listed in our Route 66 guide book. It is at this place called POPS. They have hundreds of different kinds of sodas. Flavors and brands never heard of before.

Of course, just as we were getting to the end of our Route for the day we found this beautiful lake to take a few moments to pause and reflect on how blessed we have been on this trip and to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Oklahoma.

Getting our Kicks on Route 66,

Hazel M. Walker

Queen of the Road

Day 8: Women Road Warriors from Indy Do Battle in Tulsa

2007-08-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

Well, by now you know about the flat tire, but let me tell you about the adventure that goes with it...and continues. To preface:
1. Our maps and EZ 66 Travel Guide are in the car...which is at the tire place. All my great little notes are on the guide.
2. Somewhere in the back of Baby was some fudge. I'm sure by now we have fudge sludge in the back of Baby. Dwayne, you are going to have your work cut out for you when we get home.
3. We were hoping to make up some time yesterday, so didn't get the Flat Boys out of the car for photo opps. Didn't plan on stopping much.

So now, on with the story.

When we noticed that the tire was flat, we pulled into a QuickTrip convenience store/gas station. Once we discovered that air wouldn't stay in the tire, I whipped out my trusty AAA card and asked Officer Leddbetter if he wanted to be our Knight in Shining Armor. Fortunately, he was up for it, and made the call to AAA himself.

Now, things get jiggy, and I'm going to do a bit of venting. You may want to just skip on down to the next paragraph or two.

Once the car situation was under control, I pulled out our Fairfield Travel Directory to get us a room. Officer Leddbetter told us we might have a problem as the PGA was in Tulsa, and the town was pretty full. We have been staying in Fairfields for the majority of the trip and have been very pleased with the accommodations and staff at each one. So, no problem, right? WRONG!
1. The room rates here are triple to what we have been paying....PGA
2. They would not give us the AAA discount...PGA
3. Our car probably won't be finished by the 12:00 check-out time and we can't stay another evening...PGA.
4. The address in the guide for this specific facility says 3214 SW. 79th St., but after going to the Fairfield on 79th (thanks James. I've never had such a party riding in a tow truck before!) we found out that this facility isn't really there. We, of course went to 2 other Fairfields to find this out.
5. Needless to say, I ran out of good humor by the time we found the correct place and let the desk clerk that raising room rates for stupid golfers was nothing more than price gouging, and I'd let somebody's Attorney General know how unhappy I was. Well, it sounded good at the time.

On our way out to dinner, I sincerely apologized to Denise, and thanked her for letting me act like a raving mad woman. She was great, but I still think this whole "sucks to be you" attitude just...well...SUCKS!

I gotta tell you though, "it's an ill wind that blows no good" and we did have a great time. Here's a mental image for you...James, Hazel, Penny, luggage and laptop in the cab of an AAA flat bed tow truck! James turned a bad situation into a really great memory. He's about the funniest guy I've met and truly represented the folks in Tulsa at their best.

Then we met Garret at Ruby Tuesdays and discovered that he paid more for his room at Comfort Inn that we did here. AND, he doesn't have a desk or even a chair! Just a bed. Garrett is the Field Service Manager for APC Global (hope I got that right), and after listening to Hazel and I chatter for awhile, he introduced himself and we had a lovely time solving the problems of the world over Mojitos and Buds! Mrs. Nunemaker, your husband is a great guy, and has certainly made this rough spot in the road much more pleasant. Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your new little boy!

During the whole "so, what do you do" conversation, Hazel explained BNI. The Road Warrior networking techniques are in full swing! Garret is looking for HVAC and ACE Power People in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Baton Rouge (Tim Paulin, you will be getting a call), so we'll make some calls for him, and help him out.

Woo Hoo!!! We caught the Italians!!!! sort of. As we were entertaining the bar patrons, a group stepped up to order drinks, and I noticed the accent. Trying to be a gracious representative of the US (OK, I was on my 2nd Mojito), I smiled my best Indiana smile and asked the really hot young man, "Are you the Italians?" I love that look you get when your listener doesn't really understand what the heck you are talking about. In his wonderful accent, he replied that yes, he was Italian and did I know him?

Why yes, sort of, I replied. You could tell he was searching his mental database to try to remember me, so I had to explain that we have seen their names in the guest books at several of the stops we have made. It was also our goal yesterday to "catch the Italians." Poor guy, I'm pretty sure he doesn't have clue what I was talking about, but he was very polite and gave me a hug anyway.

Well, it's getting close to check-out time so I need to put things together and go hang out in the lobby until the car is ready.

~Penny
Woman Road Warrior

A Flat What?

2007-08-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

What a DAY!! We completed 3 states, MO, Kansas, and now we are in OK......We got started and we kinda had a plan, we were going to get to our hotel early today and then leave early next morning.

As we are headed down highway 66 in Oklahoma we were detoured. We kept going in circles, finally we stopped and asked the construction guys what was the best way to get where we wanted to go. He was laughing since he had detoured us already and we were back, but here is what he ask Penny........."How do you feel about going down a dirt road?" Penny's response....."Well how dirt is it?" He broke into laughter and said, "Dirt dirt!" Anyway we took the "Dirt" road, only to be trapped by a train, that decided to STOP and park on the track, for one hour, while other trains zoomed pass the other direction. Penny go out of our car to talk to the "Cowboy" in the Pick up tuck in front of us. She ask him if there was an alternate root. He stated that once the train decided to move we were exactly where we needed to be. In fact that Dirt road that we drove on was the "Original" one lane Route 66. We sat in the car waiting, all of a sudden we saw a guy under the train car on the track. It was a young guy coming to our side to ask us questions. Someone actually crawled under the train. How crazy is that.

What we did find out was that this town had CLOSED all of its bridges due to the collapse of the one in Minnesota so we had no other alternative but to wait. The train was finally gone. Off we go....the biggest McDonald's in the World, the giant totem pole, and we talked to some great people on a bridge....penny met a stray cat and a stray dog, no they are not coming home with us.

Finally we get to Tulsa, we are going to call it a night here, do laundry, and start early next day. NOT.......BABY decides to throw a shoe, FLAT TIRE! A wonderful police officer called Triple A for us and waited until they showed up. His name was Officer Ledbetter....one of the nicest police officers I have ever met, well except for Officer Eric K in Greenwood. We are going to send a note to the Tulsa police regarding Officer Ledbetter....he was wonderful.

Our AAA guy showed up, his name is James, what a hoot.....James is 23 loves cars and was so completely helpful. Loaded up Baby on a Flat Bed, took us to the car place then took us to our hotel.....only after we gave him the WRONG hotel.

OH, did I mention that the PGA Championships are happening here in TULSA....no hotel rooms to be found. We found one, the rooms we have been paying $79 for was not $225. But it is our room.

Once we got to our room we went Ruby Tuesdays, did I tell you that the PGA Championships are here? So you can imagin how crowded it was....so we went to the BAR where we had a great time drinking Mojitos. Lots of them....good thing we were walking. We met Garret there, he was a blast, NOT there for the PGA.

Over all, it was a great day. NOW I have to find out when BABY will be back and we can start on the road again.

STAY TUNED................

Hazel M. Walker

Queen of the Road

Route 66

Day 7 and no catchy title!

2007-08-08T05:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a week already! It is hard to believe that it has been one week, and we are on the Kansas Missouri boarder. There is so much to see on Route 66 if you like history and beautiful country side but if you are going to try to take photos of everything you like, it is going to take a long time to make the trip. We met a guy yesterday, screen name, wombat, who left New York on July 1 and will return on October 1. He is an avid member of the Route 66 Association and wants to get as many photos and sites as he can. You can join the Route 66 Newsgroup at groups.yahoo.com/group/rouge66/

I love taking the photos of the Old Buildings, some are still in use, many others are not. A great many of them are simple shells of old buildings that where abandoned shortly after Highway 66 was abandoned. They tell a story of life and prosperity in days gone by. Progress and lifestyle have caused a great many changes, but these buildings have great stories to be told. Here is a Photo of an old general store. When I look at it I can imagine the activities and lives that were lived during the heyday of it's time. What I wouldn't give to spend a day snooping around this old building. Oh the things we might find!

Or the old motels and gas stations that are either abandoned or have fallen to ill repair. While it makes me sad to see so much of our history disappearing, I also know that the Route 66 Association and people like Greg, Scott, and Ramona work hard to keep the history alive and documented. They have such great stories to tell and pictures of how it use to be. They are all so passionate about the Road, the buildings and the history.

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they take this trip is they try to hurry, not stopping to talk to people on the Route. The simple act of getting lost and asking for directions have led us to some great conversations with people. Each person tells us about a new site, or another person that we have to stop and see. They network all along the route, I have seen more word of mouth business take place along this trip than I have ever witnessed.

We got photos of a couple more Giants. It is like a scavenger hunt, always looking for the next Giant....we missed the Giant Praying Hands! But here is the Giant Bowling Pin, yes in front of a Giant Adult Superstore Sign, and a Giant Bull. I think there are 2 giants on the list to see as we go thru Oklahoma.

By the way, for those keeping track, I have ZERO tickets to date. Hey there is no highway patrol or Route 66.

Hey leave us some comments so we know you love us.

More tomorrow,

Hazel M. Walker

Day 7: Oh, the people we have met!

2007-08-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

This trip just keeps getting better and better! If you have ever stood silent in an elevator avoiding eye contact with your fellow passengers, shame on you! You will never hear a really great story if you don't ask. AND, if you can share a great story of your own, you will be rewarded with an even better one in return.

Our EZ 66 Guide for Travelers, written by Jerry McClanahan by the way, highly recommended a visit to the Munger Moss Motel. We did just that. I can't begin to tell you what a delight Ramona Lehman is. She and her husband, Bob own and operate this great motel. Ramona was making up the Pink Room when we found her, but stopped her work to give us the tour. Jerry, we were unable to visit your room, but thank you for sending us there.

Ramona sent us down the road to Wrinks Market. I didn't get the names of the ladies that work there, and I'm sorry as they were just wonderful. They loved the story of the Flat Boys, and took time away from their work (bless their hearts, it was the lunch rush) to post with my guys. Thanks ladies!

We got turned around in Phillipsburg. We missed the "quick" right turn off of HWY C onto HWY CC (we new we were in trouble when we crossed over PP), so we doubled back....again....and asked directions at the Phillipsburg Post Office. This little PO sits in the middle of practically no where, and I'll bet Bonita Jones has met more people from more countries than anyone you have ever met! Bonita took one look at me standing in front of her counter and just knew I was lost. She explained that A LOT of people get lost out there...the Italians are still in front of us, but that's another story. She had compassionately, and cheerfully directed Australians, Japanese, English, and all the other foreign travelers on Route 66. Thanks Bonita, we missed Pam though.

Then we arrived in Spencer where we met Gary Turner. Gary is the friendliest man alive! He has recreated the Gay Parita Sinclair filling station. We almost drove past it, but the little building just called out to us. Walking out the door, just I was walking in was Scott the Route 66 Root Beer guy! He was delivering his root beer to Gary, and treated Hazel and I to his newest offering, Rout 66 Cream Soda. YUM! Thanks Scott.

Gary is just a hoot! He had so much to tell us and so much to give us. We were just having party when "Wombat" stopped to visit. Wombat is traveling from Albany, NY and our paths crossed. The party was on now. Lots of picture taking, posing, and story sharing! Thanks guys for the best time we had today!

Arrived in Carthage and one of us blinked, sneezed, farted....who knows, but we weren't where we should have been. So, into McDonalds for a potty break and perhaps directions. While Hazel made use of the facilities, I asked Wayne Walter and Don Moorehouse "Mr. 66" to help me out. These guys were very patient with me, and then Hazel told them that I just pretend to need directions so I can flirt with strange men in McDonalds. She's such a great friend. The guys didn't hold it against me, and directed us to the Courthouse in Carthage and the Route 66 Dive-In. Guys, we loved the courthouse, but didn't stop for a picture in front of the drive-in....no we didn't get lost AGAIN...it was just too darn hot after walking around the town square.

By the way, the pictures I intended to post with this morning's post are finally where they are supposed to be.

Having a great time...wish you were here!

~ Penny

Day 6: The advantages of taking the backroads

2007-08-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

When we aren't "temporarily misplaced," our trip takes us on a lot of Frontage Roads, Service Roads, Outer Roads, etc. There are a lot of advantages to this. We get to see some really great things that you will miss from the highways. Like, grapes! Who knew there were wineries in Missouri!?!?! We passed acres and acres of grapes. The one and only winery we actually saw was, I think, closed, but the grapes were a nice change from corn and beans.

We also traveled on a roller-coaster road. Hazel had a wee of a time winding Baby up and flying over the hills (oh God, oh God, oh God!). Mom, remember that road on the way to the farm? Well, this road had THREE hills like that. I think my stomach was left somewhere in the first dip!

The disadvantage to traveling the backroads is that we miss a some of the attractions like the caves. No biggie...too many kids in tight spaces might make us do something dire.

It was so incredibly hot yesterday that we didn't have the top down until after 6:00 and then we stopped for the evening. We stopped at the Indian Harvest Trading Post as there were cow skull, teepees, and blankets out for display. Thinking this would be a great photo opp, we pulled in and whipped out the boys, posed Mikey for a shot, and then this skinny little woman came running out of one of the teepees letting us know, in no uncertain terms, that we COULD NOT TAKE ANY PICTURES until we had paid admission to the gift shop. Our $2.00 admission fee would be deducted from our purchases. OK, being good travelers, we agreed to $2.00 each and were led to the primary teepee/gift shop. This scrawney little person positioned herself between us and the door and stood there with hand out waiting for her $4.00 before she would unlock the door. Of course we forked it over thinking that if everything was so top secret it had to be wonderful! As we entered, we were made to understand that YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE PICTURES INSIDE THE STORE!

Understand that we were able to stand in the center of the teepee and turn in a circle and see everything...and let me tell you, this little store could use some silver polish and a dust rag. As we stood there wondering what was so special about her stuff, she got a call to make sure she collected the money. She assured the caller that she had collected $2.00 from each of us and we were not taking pictures. She asked what we wanted to buy, and we politely....OK, that's a lie....told her we didn't see anything we wanted. We just wanted to take a couple of pictures. We were told that we COULD NOT GO PAST THE BARREL. Well, we snapped the pics and left.

If you are going to go to Missours, do not stop at the Indian Harvest Trading Post. There is nothing there to see that you won't see at other, bigger, more friendly stores like the Mule Trading Post. Ail Smith is a great guy, and his wares are bigger and better, (the silver jewelery is polished), and he is just a very sweet man.

Cuba, Missouri is known in our EZ 66 Travel Guide as the Route 66 Mural City. Cuba has embraced it relationship with Route 66 with banners all along the route, and several artists have painted these huge murals on the sides of at least 11 buildings. Each mural depicts a different era of the town (100 years worth). I applaud Cuba for their artwork (these are great), and their pride in Route 66.

OK, Hazel is chomping at the bit to get on the road (I blog in the mornings before we leave), so I have to wrap this up.

Love to all,
Penny

Second Day in Missouri

2007-08-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful stretch of road. This is part of the Original Route 66 and it certainly was a stunning section. It was a portion done for the purpose of moving military equipment to fort Leonard wood. The beauty of this road is you never know what is around the next bend or over the hill. Sights that the people on the interstate never ever get to see because they are in a hurry to get where they need to be. Never seeing the beautiful flowers growing around a pond, the horses at the edge of the fence, the murals painted with great care on the sides of old buildings, in small towns that where busy and happening in days gone by.

A beautiful pond, looks cool and calm, but the temperature was 101 degrees. Too hot to walk around but nice enough to enjoy the scene.

Cuba Missouri has wonderfully detailed Murals on many of their old buildings The gave painted their History on the buildings. If you ever get the chance you must go to this town to see some of these works of art.

Besides the beautiful murals, we are always on a Giant Alert. I did not realize there are GIANTS all over the US. There are people who are always seeking out the next GIANT. Penny and I have missed one, here is a photo of the one we got today. There are also GIANTS in Indiana, now I have to go get a photo of them.

Two Giants, the cowboy and the hillbilly.

Gee the sites we see. Penny and I noted that in Illinois much of what we saw was very well restored authentic buildings and art. But here in Missouri we have seen more tourist types of things. We can't wait to get to Oklahoma. Penny has maps now!! We are excited!

Hazel M Walker

Day 5: Springfield, IL to Fenton, MO...At Last!

2007-08-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

Da goils of da Granny Panty Social Club are waitin' for me and da hootch! Gotta make da run, take their money, and report to da boss.

The Route 66 Motel in Springfield, Illinois is a must see and both Marilyn and Elaine have highly recommended it. As Hazel mentioned, we really just stumbled on it, but I'm glad we did.

Lessons Learned:

1. "EZ66 Guide for Travelers" has a few errors that have left us going "huh?" For instance, I-70 does not go south!

2. Every town, large or small, has its own section of streets named after Presidents and Trees.

3. There are a lot more than 3 Giants on this route as we had been led to believe. Fortunately, our EZ Guide does give us Giant Alerts.

Our EZ Guide told us that the Giant Surfer Dude (a prop from the movie "Flatliners") lived at the Coliseum in Benld, IL. Now, Benld is a little burg, about 5 blocks wide, and you would think after traversing the town 3 times, we would have found it. Not so. Once the Coliseum was located, it was obvious that it had been abandoned a long time ago. So, armed with a charming smile, and our EZ 66 Guide, we stopped at a convenience store and asked directions. Matt didn't know what the heck we were talking about for awhile, but once we explained that we needed to see Surfer Dude to complete our scavenger hunt, he was pretty sure we wanted to visit the new home of the Coliseum. Directions were given, and a great antique mall side trip was in order. Surfer Dude was there (minus his surfboard), along with a giant pink elephant, and another Giant named Hank inside the mall (an old, converted high school). The flat boys agreed to get out in the heat for a quick photo opp, but didn't have any desire to shop the antiques.

After that things got interesting. We were headed into St. Louis and made the decision that since we had just made a trip there last fall, we would skip that part and avoid the city. Well, Dad, you would be proud of me! We got really, really lost! In an effort to get back on track, we ended up in Fenton. Dinner and maps were in order, and after a lovely meal in Fenton, we got REALLY lost and couldn't find our way back to the Motel! Just keeping up an honored Zander family tradition.

It is now Monday morning, and after a couple of hours with maps last night, I feel confident we will get out of Fenton, make a brief stop at the Route 66 State Park, and make our way through Missouri.

Oh, by the way, we just learned from the weather channel, that this area is experiencing a phenomena called Ring of Fire. That means rain is falling all around Missouri, and the area inside that circle of rain (that would be exactly where we are and need to be) is hot....not just hot, but HOT!

~ Penny

We made it out of Illinois

2007-08-05T20:25:00.001-07:00

We stayed at the Route 66 Hotel. It was full of great memorabilia. Ironically we found it by accident, we were kind of misplaced when we looked up and saw the Hotel. Bonus, there was a laundry room so we were able to do our laundry and have clothes for the next few days. It makes our car smell better when we wear clean clothes. The day started out HOT, HOT, HOT, and right now it is still hot. There was a big wedding at the hotel last night, Penny was quite entertained by the whole thing. It kept her occupied while she was working on the laundry.

We left around 11am and already it was hot. We put the top down, and took off. We saw a few more sites, and by 2 we had to put the top back up, I began to feel ill from the heat.

At 4:30 we crossed the state line, from Illinois to Missouri and across the Mississippi HOORAY!!!!!.

This is a Brick Road part of Route 66 in Illinois. It is really very nice. Notice the heat coming off of the bricks. It was around 100 degrees when we took this.

Once we got into Missouri we got lost, again......so we decided to stay in Fenton for the night at the Fairmont. Penny needs to work on the maps and figure out where we are then where we want to go. LOL....she is sitting next to me working very hard.

Until tomorrow, and keep sending us your comments, we love them.

Hazel M. Waller

Day 4: Pontiac to Springfield

2007-08-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today's adventure started out at the Route 66 Museum and Hall of Fame in Pontiac, Illinois....yes Illinois...where we met Durelle and Marilyn Pritchard. Durelle met us at the door, and is very proud of their fairly new museum. Their Hall of Fame focuses primarily on the people that made Route 66 famous, the service men, gas station owners, and the like. These wonderful people were fascinated with the Flat boys and graciously posed with my guys for some pictures.

The people of the Route 66 Association of Illinois, and the merchants along the Mother Road, take great pride in their stretch of this highway. In Towanda, a portion of the original 2-lane road has been turned into a memory lane....a short section for pedestrian traffic only with newly planted trees, plaques, and information boards. As you step onto the road, there is a box with a spiral notebook to sign in. Looking through the pages, I am once again amazed at the number of people from countries far away that come here just to travel the historic pavement. Brochures are placed in boxes along the Memory Lane and are printed in German, Spanish, French and Japanese. Really gives you a sense of who is getting their kicks on Route 66!

If there is one disappointment, it is the obvious lack of Starbucks! When Hazel and I went to Virginia a few years ago, our progress could easily be monitored by tracking the Starbucks between Indy and Richmond, VA. I'm sure that we hit 90 percent of them. This trip, however, we have not seen a Starbucks since we escaped...er, left...Chicago. If I can't have my cigarettes, then I darn well want my coffee! But, let's not get started on the lack of nicotine. I've been good and have not complained, and fortunately, Hazel knows me well enough to recognize Marlboro withdrawal.

Route 66 hosts 3 Giants. There's the Gemini Giant in Wilmington, the Bunyon Giant (with his big, giant hot dot) in Atlanta, and a third one to be named later in Oklahoma. Dad and Mike like the Hot Dog Giant.

~Penny 8/5/07

"He lit a match...

To check the tank...

That's why they call him...

Skinless Frank...

Burma-Shave"

Yes, we are still in Illinois

2007-08-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are still in Illinois.

We are staying at the Route 66 Motel in Springfield. It is a very cool location, like staying in a museum. Tomorrow I will put photos up of the hotel. Today, has been very very pleasant, the weather perfect, overcast and a little cooler. Illinois has so much to see historically and many of the small towns have embraced that heritage and started the process of rebuilding and restoring their towns.

This is Ruth Hieronymus. She is the Librarian at the Historic Octagonal Library in Atlanta, Illinois.

We stopped in Atlanta after being told by several people it was a MUST see. The Library is beautiful, old and loved. Ruth has lots of information about the history of the town, when she saw us walking around the town taking photos she opened the Library privately for us. We were very excited to meet her and learn more about the town. If you decide to do Route 66 stop and talk to Ruth. You will be glad you did.

Penny and I are having a great time meeting people and driving the legendary mother road. But every now and then we are attracted by small signs that takes us off the road. Today was another one of those days. We decided to take the road less traveled. Like this one, the long road with beautiful green over head and on either side, as far as we could see. At the end of the road, beautiful flowers, birds, butterflies and a nice place to take time to just sit and enjoy life.

Sometimes it is good to just take the time to slow down, get off the beaten path and enjoy what you find. Not having a schedule to adhere to has been a bit of a challenge for us to start, we keep thinking we need to hurry up. Then we see places like this or the deer that we watched yesterday and we realize, there is nowhere we have to be except home by labor day.

Hazel M. Walker

2007-08-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

As we prepare for day 4, it's time to reflect on Day 3. Mike and Dad enjoyed the Historical Museum in Joliet as much as we did. Elaine (see Hazel's post) thought our Flat Boys were a hoot, and couldn't wait to stage the next photo.

I'm learning that Route 66ers are a fun lot of people. They all have a story to share, and each one leads you to the next stop. Of course, we are living the tourist dream. If it looks like a photo opportunity, we have to stop and snap a picture. My family will be happy to know that I'm getting better at the digital picture thing. You can almost always tell what I was aiming at by now. However, I'm no longer allowed to touch the GPS screen in Baby. Maybe by the time we head home, I'll be allowed to do that again.

The Flat Boys were delighted to stop at the Polka Dot Drive Inn! The two of them have certainly given this trip some added value. People will stop and stare as we unroll our doll, and when they realize that we are taking pictures, everyone has had a good laugh.

We met a couple yesterday that has come from the Netherlands to do Route 66! She had on an Elvis skirt, and sleevless top. Not wanting to stare, but doing so anyway, I found that she had a tatoo of Elvis on her arm! This is their 2nd trip on 66, and they are going to Tennessee when the finish so they can attend a Rock-a-billy festival. I was pretty blown away by that!

So, today we start Day 4....are we ever going to get out of Illinois? Stay tuned. Perhaps if we don't feel the need to buy food or drink at every diner/drive-in/speakeasy (that was sooo cool) we visit, we'll make better time. Although, my lesson learned yesterday was that "making time" is not the important thing right now. People come from all over the world to drive our Mother Road. I'm grateful that I have this opportunity to experience it and appreciate it myself.

Day Three, still in Illinois

2007-08-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

We have gone 80 miles today. Tonight we are at the Comfort Inn in Pontiac Illinois. I was certain we would make it out of Illinois but Penny and I keep being distracted. We have met some great people.

Elaine is the manager of the Joliet Historical Museum. She is a wealth of information with maps, information, and connections. She certainly knows how to connect her network to everyone who comes to her shop. This is a great place to start your trip on Route 66. We could never get to the beginning because Grant Park was closed in Chicago. Elaine told us about Scott who use to be the manager for Muddy Waters, now he owns a store and makes Route 66 Root Beer. She was also able to tell us which hotels had washers and dryers, which other sites we needed to visit, and gave us great maps. Thanks Elaine for the Batteries for my camera, they are great.

Scott, past manager of Muddy Waters, has a great store in Wilmington. He has a private formula for Root Beer, lots of great stuff, and some great Muddy Water Memorabilia. He loves Route 66 and recommended the Riviera as a place to visit. It was the speak easy of Al Capone. It was a very interesting place.

A time to pause. We really do not have anywhere to be................or anyone expecting us to be there. No time schedules, no pressure. So we took time to pause, sit by the river Kankakee, enjoy the quiet and these little deer were enjoying the same solitude.

I think we will make it to Springfield tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Hazel M. Walker

Day Three: Just How Big is Illinois?

2007-08-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

As we prepare to hit the road for Day Three, I have to ask myself, just how big is Illinois anyway?

Chicago was a blast, but then Hazel and I always have fun in Chicago. A lot of walking, a lot of shopping. Fortunately, this time, we did more walking than shopping. Just no place to put a lot of treasures in Baby. However, after a whole lot of walking, it was time to get this show on the road. The whole point of going to Chicago in the first place was to begin our trip at the "official" starting point. After several hours of wrong turns, closed streets (Lollapalooza was in town), rush hour traffic in downtown Chicago, we decided to give up the search for the starting intersection. Getting out of Chicago proved to be an adventure in itself, and after a few more wrong turns (how many times can you go past Division St anyway?!?!?), we stumbled upon our path.

Anyone who has traveled with me knows that although I can tell my left from my right, I'm map challenged! When we stopped for dinner at a really cool McDonald's in Romeoville, I discovered that the maps in our highly recommended travel guide are the original maps from 1933! No wonder our directions didn't match the maps!

Today's goal...maps! Real, 2007 maps!

Lessons Learned:
1. Don't panic, we don't have to be anywhere, or be responsible to anybody for 5 weeks!
2. Cinnamon Surge Nicorette gum will set your mouth on fire!
3. If you're going to stand along the side of the road with a life-sized doll, taking pictures of road signs, you've got to expect people to yell out their windows as they pass you by.

Chicago, how do we get out of here?

2007-08-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

We found our way into Chicago, downtown to the Sheraton 4 Points. What we did not know, it is the weekend for Lalapalooza! Talk about a crowd! We spent the day walking, sightseeing, and doing a little shopping. Very little shopping, since we are driving Baby we can't buy anything, there is no place to carry it. All items will have to be shipped home! Wow, that is one way to learn to be selective.

We stopped at a Barnes and Noble and met a man named Mike, his photo is above,.....he too is a Route 66 enthusiast. He has traveled parts of it and highly recommends Flagstaff. Here is his picture, he was a great source of information. He also showed us a book on the history of the Lincoln National Road, or highway 30. I think that could be our next road trip, or maybe highway 40.

We had lunch at Rosebuds, I would highly recommend it. The food and the service were excellent. After lunch we went back to the hotel, picked up the car and headed out of town, around town, back and forth across town, how the hell do we get out of downtown! Oh look, it is the hotel again!!!! Imagine that.

Tonight we stay in Joliet Ill. Stay tuned will we make it out of Illinois?

Hazel M. Walker

Day One

2007-08-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

We are on the road! We stopped by Penny's Moms house. She took a picture of us with the Flat Bob, a replica of her dad. He really wanted to take this trip with us so she made a Flat Bob, and a Flat Mike, her husband. You will be seeing more of them!

We left Indianapolis at 3pm and arrived in Chicago around 6:30pm. We made great time. Baby handles so well on the interstate you are doing 80-85 without even being aware of it.

We got to Chicago, no reservations so we had to search a little to find a hotel with a room available. We finally found a room at the Sheraton 4 Seasons. Nice room great location. Tomorrow we will spend the day in Chicago. We are not far from where Route 66 Starts.

Tomorrow I will attempt to upload pictures again. Seems there is a problem tonight and I can't get them to up load.

It is an odd feeling to know that know one is expecting me, I have no schedule, no where to be and nothing to really do. Penny and I can stay in Chicago as long as we want there are not time schedules. Wow!

Until tomorrow,

Hazel M. Walker

Why? Why Not?

2007-07-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me why? Why are you going on this trip? My response, "Why Not?" Really, why not do it?

I have this beautiful little blue Lexus SC 430 named BABY, that I love to drive. I have a friend who has been my friend for almost half my life, so why not take the friend I love and the car I love across a country that I love and do something I love to do. Seems like there is no way to lose on this one.

Since planning this trip I have talked to a lot of people, especially older people and they always say things like, I always wanted to do that or I wish I could do that. There seem to be a lot of "if only" or "someday" in their language. I do not want to look back on my life when I am 114 years old and say, if only I had or I wish I could of. I do not want to wait for someday anymore. This is my someday, so, I am going to take full advantage of it and share it with a friend.

What are those things in your life that you are waiting to do, write a book, take a trip, have a life. Are you saving up your life for someday? How will you know when your someday is here?

Be careful that you don't save your life for someday only to find, that someday has come and gone. Enjoy your life, your family and friends today. All the other stuff will still be there tomorrow. Carpe Diem

Follow us on our trip of a lifetime....................can two people still be friends after a month in a little car with only a few belongings? 8 more days and counting.

Hazel M. Walker

The Plan

2007-07-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

Actually there is no plan, other than to leave from Indianapolis to Chicago on the First of August, get on Route 66 and return on Labor Day weekend to Indianapolis. Beyond that we are pretty much flying by the seat of our pants, what few pants we are taking. You see, BABY, the car we are driving is a hard-top convertible. Therefore, no trunk space. So we are pretty limited on what we can take with us. But, we figure there will be WalMarts, K-Marts, Targets, or other places we can pick up new clothes or hotels with washers.

Penny and I have been friends for nearly 25 years. We have always talked about taking a long road trip. Our longest to date was 2 weeks, so we decided that this is the year.

People have called us Thelma and Louise, but we hope that our trip turns out better for us than theirs did for them. Others have said we are like Oprah and Gail, but we won't have a camera crew, wardrobe or frankly anything else Oprah had, but we are friends like she and Gail.

I think we are best described as Lucy and Ethel.

Stay tuned for the trip of a lifetime.

Hazel