We set off from our friends’ gracious hospitality and headed toward the Grand Canyon armed with our tent, maps and enthusiasm.
We drove a portion of the historic Route 66 east of the Cracker Barrel in Kingman.
Somehow Route 66 became iconic with us Boomers, whether because the show featured young people out trying to find themselves by having free-spirited adventures or because it had two good-looking guys and a Corvette convertible, I don’t know.
Previous to the Nelson Riddle theme song written for the 1960-64 show, Bobby Troup and his wife had written the familiar “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” while actually driving the highway to LA in 1946. It has been re-recorded by many artists over many decades in many differing genres, but the message is, if you want to have a good time, take a trip down 66. So we did.
If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, take the highway that's the best
get your kicks on Route sixty-six
It winds from Chicago to LA
More than two thousand miles all the way
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six
Now you go through Saint Looey
Joplin, Missouri
And Oklahoma City looks mi-ighty pretty
You'll see Amarillo
Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona
Don't forget Winona
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino
Won't you get hip to this timely tip
When you make that California trip
get your kicks on Route sixty-six
Won't you get hip to this ti-imely tip
When you make a-that California trip
get your kicks on Route sixty-six
get your kicks on Route sixty-six
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six
Songwriters: BOB TROUP
(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66 lyrics © TROUP-LONDON ,LLC DBA
Another blast from the past we enjoyed were the Burma Shave signs still alive and well after all these years. We used to read them all out loud in the car on those lo-o-ong cross-country road trips to see Grandma and Grandpa when the sight of a row of red and yellow small rectangular signs would perk us up and we would crane our necks out the window to catch each part of the limerick. It occurs to me now that these have gone into disuse because people are traveling on 8 lane freeways at 75 miles an hour….In 1958, it wasn’t that hard to read them! And on the 2-lane Route 66, it still isn’t. In fact, you can slow down and take a picture of them or do a U-turn without upsetting another soul.
Downtown Williams celebrates Rt. 66 as well as its gateway to the Canyon.
A night at the Grand Canyon Hotel could be had for $3.50, the sign says.
We had reservations in Sedona so we bypassed this quickest route to the Canyon (due north from Williams) and looked for a back road to Sedona. We were warned that the one we were considering was too rough for our van so we headed toward Flagstaff and took the lovely 89A which led us into the Red Rock Country along a woodland stream. 
We didn’t factor in that this was late afternoon on the opening Friday night to a lot of Spring Vacationers so we were taken aback by the traffic after having the roads to ourselves for days. We passed several campgrounds that were filling up and we made a mental note to come back to this area. But for tonight, we had reservations in Sedona.
Our place was a timeshare exchange that was wonderful except for the additional $50.00 fee that they added onto the amount we had already paid. It was just a bit of nastiness that our own timeshare doesn’t do, but we couldn’t avoid paying this hidden fee. Otherwise, it was delightful. A tiny casita~
fitted with all the necessities~
and some of the luxuries~
in a village of other casitas.
We unpacked the car and went to find our sunset picture on the rocks. Red Rock State Park had just closed when we got there but we took a back road to catch the setting sun.
“Who lives here?”, I kept wondering as we saw palatial homes hidden away in the landscape. Maybe relatives of Frank Lloyd Wright. We followed a road up to nowhere apparent and walked with our cameras.
The Grands are up from their naps and have had lunch so I am sending this post haste to avoid a recurrence of my last lost blog. Sorry, I know the music hyperlink isn’t quite right yet.
1 comment:
What fun scenic roads. We love Burma Shave signs. There used to be a property in our area that we'd pass on the way to the mall that would always change out their Burma Shave signs. So much fun for our daughter to read. That's too bad about that hidden $50 fee. The place looked very nice, though. You took some great photos. I find these days it is quite helpful for my memory to have taken lots of photos! Blessings!
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