We're leaving the Wigwam Motel, it's 6 AM, cold 20 degrees. The sun is shining

so it's a good day. We're traveling without the group today, on our way to the

Grand Canyon. There is alot to see between here and there, we'll miss the

Meteor Crater, oh well. But, I did stand on the corner of Winslow Arizona,

what a fine sight to see. Winslow has other things to see as well, to bad we

couldn't spend more time there. We met our good friends from Gold Canyon,

Arizona just out of Flagstaff, we'll be traveling to the Grand Canyon together.

It is good to see some familiar faces after two weeks on the road. We arrived

in Williams to take the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon. It's a 2:15

ride to the rim, we had a continental breakfast, they opened the bar, first

time I've ever had a drink at 10:30 in the morning. It was a fun drink, the

bartender called it the Slimfast. We walked out to the platform at the rear

of the train, watched the terrrain change from high desert to high elevation.

Stayed at the Bright Angel Lodge in Buckey's cabin, the oldest on the rim.

It was recently remodeled and is just beautiful, we walk out the door 20 feet

and we're at the rim. Did a little hiking on the Bright Angel Trail, there is still

a little ice and snow on the trail, watched the sunset from Hopi Point, the

next morning we walked the other way.

Caught the train at 4 in the afternoon back to Williams where we all joined

up with our Corvette friends again. Had a nice dinner together. The next

morning which would be Sunday we said goodbye to Tim and Jo and we

headed to Needles, California with the group.

See the Flickr link for Grand Canyon photos.

Until tomorrow, do it my way, take the highway and get your kicks on Route 66.

We've finished up Arizona today, 178 miles. The weather has warmed up a bit

but the wind is following us everywhere.

Our first stop was in Seligman where we visited the Sno Cap Drive-In Diner,

this has got to be one of the wackiest places we've seen, see the pics under

day 15 in my Flickr link. We were the only ones in town until 5 tourist buses

loaded with none other than tourists embarked on this small town, heading into

the gift shops in droves. We asked one of the girls behind the counter and

she said don't worry, in 20 minutes they'll load back up and head out of town.

I guess this happens quite frequently which is good for the town, the foreign

visitors love Route 66. One of the highlights was Angel Delgadillo. Angel has

lived in Seligman all his life, he is 81 years old, a retired barber who occasionally

still cuts hair. He is the founder of the Route 66 Association in Arizona and was

instrumental in lobbying the Arizona Legislature to preserve Route 66 as a

historical highway.  After the Interstate bypassed Seligman in 1978, he watched

his town almost die a slow death. Seligman joined the list of death-row towns

condemned by the very brand of progress that originally energized them - a new,

faster highway system. Businesses closed, people left, buildings decayed.

Angel is the "Guardian Angel" for Route 66. So not only did he talk with

us about this but he also gave Jim and our traveling buddy Paul a hair cut.

Nex up was the Hackberry General Store and Visitor center, with lots of

old gas pumps, a sweet red 1956 Corvette out front, and plenty of

souveniers inside.

In Kingman there was the Route 66 museum, offering a look into what

it was like to travel the route in the early years.

In Cool Springs, the 1926 store and camp burned to the ground in 1966, it

was restored and used a movie set for "Universal Soldier" with Van Damme.

Not much was left after that so it has been restored again, the owner is

continuing the restoration to bring it totally back to its original look. Then came

the ride into Oatman, with the mountain curves and switchbacks that make

driving exciting. Oatman has wild burros running around town begging

carrots from anyone who buys a bag. It also has the 1902 Oatman Hotel

where Gable and Lombard stayed on their honeymoon in 1939. In the early 60's

How the West Was Won was filmed in Oatman. On to Needles for the night.