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Well, there’s no Internet here at The Wigwam Motel, so here’s a teaser from the iPhone!
We have arrived in Holbrook and are absorbing more fabulous old-school Americana! Here’s a shot in front of our home for the night: Teepee #10!
Lots to report on today … more updates later!
Today we woke up bright and early and said goodbye to The Grand Canyon. We left the National Park via the East Rim, and boy are we glad we did – the views on the east are really spectacular!
Also on the way out was the historic Desert View Watchtower, which was definitely worth the stop.
You can climb up to the top for really great views and the inside is pretty neat – twisty and Native American inspired.
After leaving the Watchtower, we had a long drive through miles of open nothingness. There were red rocks all around, old shabby Navajo Trading Posts and more picturesque scenery than we could ever describe. It was a quiet drive for the two of us, just trying to take it all in.
However, we lightened things up a bit and headed out to the Meteor Crater – a stop that Ed was especially looking forward to! We had fun checking things out and absorbing the kitsch that goes along with the visitor center there. Here are a few shots:
Ed’s interpretation of the impact!
Say what?
The awesome 80s looking reenactment of the meteor hitting the earth
Happy Ed on site
After leaving the crater, we were headed off to Sedona, where we’ll be staying the next two nights. But we did make a brief stop in Flagstaff for a yummy lunch downtown. We didn’t get any pics unfortunately, but the downtown area is really cute – very liberal feeling with lots of college students. It sorta feels like Davis.
The drive to Sedona via Flagstaff was easily the most scenic and magical yet! It is amazing how the landscape changes here in Arizona – earlier that day we were surrounded by canyons and dust, but this route was cloaked in Pine Trees!
This was our first hint we were about to arrive in Sedona:
This is the view we have about 20 steps outside of our hotel:
Tomorrow will be another day of hiking and taking in the great outdoors. So far, this vacation has been VERY different for Ed & I, but we have to admit we sure are being wowed by Mother Nature!
See ya tomorrow!
Today’s leg of our trip focused on all things Route 66! There was plenty to see and do – and we couldn’t wait to hit the road!
But, first things first – keeping in line with our kitschy theme, we had to hit up The Pioneer in Laughlin for breakfast before starting our day. What can we say – the Pioneer was a goldmine of kitsch, and we thoroughly enjoyed the Old West theme!
In Ed’s words, “When you’re in a gamblin’ kind of place, you gotta have a shrimp cocktail, no matter how early it is” – so here is my happy guy with his Shrimp Cocktail:
I chose to stick with coffee and pancakes. :)
Route 66 Roadside Town #1: OATMAN
Oatman is quite a place – and yes, you read it right – the sign mentions Wild Burros. As you walk through the main drag in town, there are tons of donkeys just cruising around unattended! They are descendants of all the pack animals brought to the tiny town by miners back in the day. You can buy a bag of carrots to feed them for $1, so of course we did!
Another big claim to fame for the town is the Oatman Hotel – where Clark Gable & Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon! The actual suite is undergoing renovations, but here is the entrance:
Oatman is a cute little old west town, and it was fun to take a few shots of all the old signage.
After leaving Oatman, we made a few stops along the way to take in the scenery. A man was even nice enough to take a picture of the two of us! Here are a few shots, but man – it really doesn’t do things justice! One thing we both agreed on was that it was during this stretch of the road that definitely seemed the loneliest, and definitely most forgotten …
We even drove by the infamous Cool Springs Mobil Gas Station, which is an icon of stops along The Mother Road:
Route 66 Roadside Town #2: KINGMAN
We got into Kingman, which is one of the better known roadside towns. It was home of the Route 66 Museum, so we had to make a stop inside to check out all the memorabilia.
Also in Kingman is Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner. We were holding out for another place to actually eat at which was a few towns away (more on that later!), so we settled on a milkshake at Mr. D’z.
We didn’t have too much time in Kingman, because we wanted to make sure to get to the Grand Canyon Cavern in time to check it out before it closed. On the way, we passed through a TON of open road, some Hualapai Indian Territory, and the teeny tiny town of Peach Springs.
Route 66 Roadside Attraction: GRAND CANYON CAVERN & CAVERN INN
The Cavern was so awesome! We were glad to make it in time for the last tour of the day (they don’t let you go down there unattended). We took an elevator 21 stories down underneath the ground with 4 others and our tour guide, Johnny. Tough to capture – but here we are in the Cavern!
Also on site is a ton of other fun stuff, like dinosaurs & the groovy old sign at the Inn!
Route 66 Roadside Town #3: SELIGMAN
We hightailed it out of the Cavern as soon as the tour ended en route to Seligman – where the fictional town of Radiator Springs (from the Pixar movie Cars) is basically inspired from. There were promises of a pretty extensive (and wacky) mega gift store, as well as the diner we’d really been holding out for all day – The Snow Cap Drive-In. We are bummed to report the Snow Cap was CLOSED by the time we got there! However, they had lots of pictures of cars just like the ones in the movie Cars – so these pics are for you, Facey family! :)
Look at the eyes they put in the windows:
We were really disappointed, the Snow Cap just seemed like the ultimate place to stop … SO old school!
They’re most famous for their “Dead Chicken” – and we didn’t get to find out what it was all about!
Route 66 Roadside Town #4: WILLIAMS
By the time we got to Williams, the sun had already gone down – but this was the most bustling of the roadside towns. Don’t get me wrong – its still teeny & quaint – but the lights were on, the Old West vibe was strong, and there were lots of people milling around. This is the Route 66 town before we left the Mother Road to head to the Grand Canyon.
To finally quench our ultimate Route 66 diner quest, we had a bite at Cruiser’s Cafe 66.
That wraps things up for day 2. We gotta get some rest – we’re planning a big day of hiking at the Grand Canyon. We both can’t wait to see it, we’re getting up early!
It’s our anniversary! What can we say, being a Mr. & Mrs. is still our favorite thing in the whole wide world.
On Saturday, I was lucky enough to be a part of Jennifer Shrier’s Baby Shower! I volunteered to make the favors, and we decided on making a CD. The theme of the baby shower was a Mama Bird/Baby Bird, “nesting” theme, so all of the tracks on the CD had to do with birds in some way. Here’s a few shots of how the favors turned out:
As usual, I also knew I wanted to make a diaper cake. Ever since I found out Jen was pregnant, I knew I wanted to buy her these kitty Mary Janes for the top of her cake! This is how it turned out:
Close-up of the shoes (available in grownup sizes, too!)
And of course, the amazing Joni Newman made the cake and the cupcakes. This was her first time using fondant, and I think she did an outstanding job! Joni can do anything she puts her mind to, and I am very proud to know her! Here’s a shot of her cake and cupcakes – all vegan and delicious!
Overall, it was a fantastic day. We all even got to make our own onesies at the shower! Our host Elizabeth Arzate had the great idea and she rounded up tons of fabric swatches, felt, stamps, paints, and ribbon for us all to make our own creation.
I stuck with my kitty theme:
And here are a bunch of others!
Our hostess with the mostess Elizabeth, along with the Mommy-to-be-Jennifer!
Congrats to Jen & Laurence – we love you guys & know you will be amazing parents!