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Arizona's most famous nickname “The Grand Canyon State” celebrates its most famous natural feature, the Grand Canyon. Arizona's other nickname “Copper State” celebrates its fabulous mineral wealth. We cross over from New Mexico to Arizona on the I-40, and then detour off into the Painted Desert Petrified Forest National Park.
Enjoy the park at your own pace, it effectively takes half an hour to drive through, but we are allowing a couple of hours. At a stipulated time we all meet at the Park Museum/gift shop located at the park’s exit. We head on out in perfect formation down Highway 180 towards Holbrook. Please do not remove anything from the National Park - doing so is an offence and fines are imposed.
We pull into our hotel in Holbrook for the night and enjoy each other’s company around the pool. Next door you will find the Wigwam Motels, a complex made up of Indian tee-pees and a well-known Route 66 landmark. Unfortunately, Wigwam Motels does not have the capacity to accommodate our group.
There is a place to have dinner next door, or you can make your way down to Joe and Aggie’s both for dinner and breakfast. The hotel serves a complimentary continental breakfast. Right across the street is a large Safeway store for any of your convenience needs.
The road between Holbrook and Williams is not long, the plan is to check into our hotel at noon, then continue on to explore the Grand Canyon. Today is a ‘free for all’, spend your day at the Grand Canyon as you like; some of you may choose to experience the Canyon by helicopter, others by donkey, but most important - enjoy! The support vehicle will accompany you up to the Grand Canyon from Williams and will return to Williams at 5:30pm.
But, before we get as far as Williams we do have a couple of stops to make! Continuing on I-40 (Route 66 is buried underneath) we pass though Two Guns and Winona and make time for a stop at the Grand Canyon Harley-Davidson found between Flagstaff and Williams. The stretch of road between Flagstaff and Williams is a very idyllic ride though a forest of Ponderosa Pines; we are now at 7000ft.
As mentioned previously we check into our hotel in Williams at noon, and have a bite to eat before heading out on Highway 64 to the Canyon, which will take us nearly an hour. The true splendor of the Grand Canyon is really breathtaking and cannot be duly described either in words or images, you must witness this awe-inspiring work of Mother Nature. We return to the hotel the same way that we arrived, you may return on your own or choose to accompany the support vehicle. Please remember that it will be quite chilly when the sun goes down, so keep some warm clothing in your saddlebag. Williams is a quaint little town with several cafes and restaurants. We can recommend Rod’s steakhouse for dinner and Twisters for Lunch (both are within walking distance from the Hotel). Just a note - our hotel does not serve breakfast. The next morning, it is 8:30am and time to leave. We take ‘Route 66’, (which is still buried under I-40) and are headed for Crookton. We take the 139 Exit and ride on Route 66 proper, through the Arizona landscape until we reach Seligman about half an hour later.
Here we may encounter, Mr. Angel Delgadillo, to whom we are deeply indebted, for putting Route 66 back on the map after Williams was the last town to lose the Mother Road in 1984. It was Angel who took the initiative for the infamous February 1987 meeting, after which Route 66 has enjoyed a phoenix like resurrection. On every trip ATM have made since 1999, more and more businesses and establishments have appeared along the Mother Road and progressively more of the original route is reclaiming its proper title as Route 66.
Angel is the local barber and you can still visit his shop for a haircut and good old fashion shave. Erik (participant on our 2004 trip) had not cut his hair for 3 years prior to visiting Seligman, just so that he could later boast that Angel in Seligman had cut it!
Juan Delgadillo, Angel’s brother was the proprietor of the Snowcap kiosk, renowned for its dead chicken, until his demise in 2004. Service with a smile is an understatement - Juan’s sons carries on his father’s legacy, and just ordering an ice cream becomes a comic adventure! There are several charming businesses to visit in Seligman. Main Street, about 1.5 miles long, is chock-a-block with small cafés, motels and souvenir shops. We spend about an hour in Seligman before heading out towards Hackberry.
We travel an hour through barren land before arriving in Hackberry. We follow Route 66 along train tracks, through the Hualapai Indian Reservation and small towns of Peach Springs, Truxton and Valentine before hitting ‘downtown’ Hackberry with its sign and a couple of buildings.
Until recently, Hackberry was owned by Bob Waldmire, a well-known artist using Route 66 as his focus. Bob is a true naturalist, and neither eats nor uses artificial products, everything must be organic. Most souvenir shops along route 66 sell postcards and other goods designed by Bob. Ed Waldmire, Bob’s father, founded the Cozy Dog café in Springfield. Bob sold Hackberry, and it is presently owned and run by John and Kerry Pritchard. They offer a great variety of Route 66 memorabilia. After twenty minutes of riding, we arrive in Kingman. Here we take a break for lunch and to refuel. Kingman is a pleasant town on Route 66; make a visit to the Powerhouse Museum if you like. We now detour from the Mother Road (Kingman’s Andy Devine Ave is paved upon the original Route 66) to reach Las Vegas via Hoover Dam on Highway 93.
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