When we found out Charles Phoenix, The King of Retro!, was going to host a Holiday Lighting & Donut Exchange at the uber kitschy Wigwam Motel in San Bernadino off Route 66, we knew we had to be there. We stayed at The Wigwam in Holbrook, AZ a few years back on our kitschy southwest road trip and we were dying to see what the one in CA was like, and come on — any event hosted by Charles Phoenix doesn’t take much convincing for us to attend. :)
The Wigwams were in great shape, much nicer than the ones in Holbrook.
But the real sight to behold was the solitary teepee Charles adorned with lights. Here he is counting down before the switch was flipped on!
People took the donut exchange part of the gathering very seriously. There were SO many donuts! Someone even kept the kitsch theme alive by creating an Astro-DONUT Tree (inspired by the Astro Weenie Trees of the era). Boy was it a beauty!
Ruby had a blast – “The teepee has lights on, the teepee has lights on!”
We got to meet Charles, too (he was a fan of our glasses!), but unfortunately my iPhone flash turned everything this ugly green color. :(
All in all, there couldn’t been more of a perfectly fun & festive way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We love Christmas, we love Charles Phoenix, we love kitsch – and we love donuts!
