First stop of the day was less than five minutes away, in downtown Gallup, The El Morro Theatre, opened in 1928. A little way along the street was stop number two, another in the Muffler Man giant series, this time a cowboy version, atop a used car dealership. This will be the last giant we shall see on this trip.
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| Cowboy Giant, Gallup, NM |
The last miles of New Mexico would take us over the border into Arizona and to the Teepee Trading Post. As the name suggests, this is a giant teepee, craft and souvenir store. At Allentown, we paid a visit to the Old Allentown road bridge, in use on a pre 1937 alignment of the Route. As we left and came to cross the railroad track, the bells started sounding and we had to wait, as the barrier came down and the goods train thundered past. Only 80 carriages, so not massive, this was the second train filming opportunity this morning.
Onwards, we made a stop at Fort Courage an old gas station, refreshments stop, based on the fort from the television series, F Troop (google it, you youngsters!). Now deserted, it makes a sorry sight.
Following old and unpaved Route 66 onto the Navajo Reservation, we made a stop at the Querino Canyon Bridge, built in 1929, it spans a deep-ish gorge. As Route 66 ran out we were forced to take the interstate. A 25 mile jaunt to the exit that leads to the Painted Desert National Park.
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| Querino Canyon Bridge |
We had some lunch, a chilli dog for me, before watching a short film in the visitor centre and then took to the road and the drive through the park.The route through the park, is about 26 miles long, the first part being a vast multi-coloured landscape. About 5 miles in, you come across a spot where Route 66 used to run through the park. An old rusting Studebaker sits as a memorial. All that is left, to show where the road was, is a line of telegraph poles, stretching both ways into the desert.
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| All that remains of Route 66 through the Painted Desert National Park |
After stopping at an ancient Puebloan settlement, about 800 years old and then Newspaper Rock, to view some petroglyphs, we entered the second part of the park, the petrified forest. We have both been to another, on Lesvos, Greece but this is on a larger scale. There are a number of 'pullouts' to use the American expression, where you can view the vast number of fossilised trees and walk among them, to get a better view. Sadly, most of the more spectacular pieces, those with semi precious stones, have long since been removed but even so, what is left is still worth viewing. In the museum at the end of the drive, they have a couple of examples that have been cut and polished. They are quite beautiful.
From the park, we had a short drive into Holbrook. Here we stopped at Joe & Aggie's cafe. There's a nice mural of the Route on the side wall. I'd been for lunch here back in 2010, so we checked when they closed, in case we needed to return for dinner, before making the 500 yard drive up the road to the Wigwam Motel, our bed for the night.
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| Wigwam No. 3 |
Opened in 1950, the 'rooms' are actually tee-pees but the man who patented the design didn't like tee-pee, so called them wigwam instead. There were seven of these wigwam 'villages' built between 1936 and the 1950s, this one in Holbrook is number 6. There are a number of period vehicles around the court, outside the wigwams, which adds to the authenticity. It looks really cool and definitely worth a stop for photos, even if you don't intend staying.
For dinner, we did go back to Joe & Aggie's, as there is little else up this end of town. I didn't remember the inside but the chap told us they'd had new booths put in since 2010, so not surprising. The food wasn't gourmet, tacos and burritos but tasty enough, with some of the home made chilli. I had a Grand Canyon Brewery ale to wash it down with, which was rather nice. It's brewed in Williams, which just happens to be our stop tomorrow night ;-)
As we were leaving, the chap asked us to sign the visitors book. Having told him I had been before in 2010, he fetched the previous book. Searching through it, I was delighted to find I had signed it back then, 19th June 2010, it seems one of only 3 of the party who did. Signing it again, I made reference to my previous entry. I don't expect I'll make a third but maybe another Devall will, in June 2016. Who knows?
As I said, tomorrow, we will end up in Williams, starting point for the Grand Canyon railway.
June 3rd....
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