Saturday May 15, 2010

Last morning in the Grand Canyon. Wow. This has been quite adventure for us. We want to take a final drive over some of the ground we covered on Thursday when we entered the Park. We have gorgeous blue skies with a few puffy clouds here and there.

We head east on Highway 64. Our goal is to reshoot Desert View (our very first glimpse of this Wonder of the World). Each turn out becomes our new favorite. lol We stopped and enjoyed cereal and toast at one of the turnouts. Dennis positioned the motor home so that we had our own “window view”. Awesome. I pulled out our little video camera and took a couple snip its. I tried to hold the camera still and pan some of the areas. If any of them turn out decently, I’ll post it to my Facebook page. Cecil B DeMille will not be calling me anytime soon, I assure you.

Our last stop of the morning was the Yavapai Observation Station, near the epicenter of the Grand Canyon. We were going to skip it but at the last minute decided to stop. We won’t be here again anytime soon so why not stop? Glad we did. Turns out the Observation Station was the first information/museum that the National Park Service ever built. Truth be told, we should have STARTED our visit to the Grand Canyon here. We started at the Visitors’ Center. This place had all the historical, geological and anecdotal information about the Park PLUS they had a magnificent glass enclosed view of the Canyon. It probably is positioned this way so that winter visitors can still see the Canyon. We have seen the snow markers everywhere indicating where curbs, etc. are for the snowplows. If you were a visitor to the US in the winter and always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, this might be the only viewing area available. Nice.

We bid a fond farewell to this phenomenon, heading south to Williams. Did you know that over five million people visit the Grand Canyon every year? The number one question asked of park rangers is not one of topography. It is “how many people fall off the cliffs every year?” The answer is at the end of today’s blog.

Williams is 54 miles south. Its claim to fame is the Grand Canyon Railway, a private railroad that travels to and from the Grand Canyon daily. They have a hotel and RV park associated with the railroad. You can get a package price if you want to ride the rail. Actually, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for anyone thinking of spending a day in the Canyon. It is a two-hour ride to the Grand Canyon by train. The depot in the Park is very close to the shuttle buses that can take you around the Park.

Williams is also on Route 66. We have reconnected with our road warrior friend. Williams has Route 66 signage galore and stores that try to capitalize on the name.
We found another restaurant located in an old gas station parking lot. This was well marked with Route 66 signs. It is called the Roadside Kill Café. Yum.

I had read in one of our many resource books about a small town called “Seligman’s” (emphasis on the second syllable). We plan to stop there for lunch on our way to the Hoover Dam. It is right on Route 66. Seligman is known as the birthplace of Route 66. Two brothers, Angel and Juan Delgadillo owned businesses on Route 66. When I-40 was planned to cut across Arizona towards Las Vegas, the design did not include a path that ran through Seligman. Angel Delgadillo fought and fought hard to get the Transportation Department to change their plan to no avail. Before I-40, 9,000 cars passed his barber shop daily. Once I-40 opened, it was as if a water faucet was turned off. Drivers, always in a hurry, drove the new interstate and abandoned the treasured Route 66. Finally, in 1987, Juan was successful in having the stretch of Route 66 from Kingman to Seligman designated a historical road. That brought funding and notoriety to the highway. While probably not even 10% of the old traffic drives through Seligman, it is still a destination for many, particularly foreign visitors. They see the requisite McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Walmart, Denny’s, etc at every town. They are seeking Americana.

Once we arrived in Seligman, we parked the motor home on the street and began to walk. We heard the foreign voices. In fact, we were the only English speaking voices we heard on the street for a while. We captured all kinds of Route 66 images. Signs, cars, buildings, etc were like candy to us. Dennis stood beside a life-size image of James Dean. He also sat between Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley on the bumper of an old Edsel. Watch that guy’s hand!

We decided to eat at the Snow Cap Drive In, opened by Juan Delgadillo in 1953. Although he passed away in 2004, his sense of humor lives on. A sign on the door says, “Sorry, we’re open”. If you order a milkshake, they might bring out a carton of milk and ask you how long you want them to shake it. When we stood at the counter to place the order, the waitress picked up a bottle of mustard, pointed it at Dennis and asked him if he wanted mustard. Then she squirted the bottle at him! Out came a stream of yellow……rubber. Too funny. She got Dennis, though. When we were done with our order and she collected the money, she asked for a name. She said we could use any name. So Dennis said, “James Dean”. We went to sit outside at a table. When the order was ready, a loudspeaker announced loudly, “James Dean, your order is ready.”

We walked the town and went into a gift shop located where Angel Delgadillo’s barber shop once existed. We spoke with his daughter and she told us the history of the town. Then she introduced us to Angel, the visionary who fought to make Route 66 a historic route. At 83 years old, he was working behind the counter, happy as a lark.

We left town with our bellies full, heading down Route 66 towards Kingman. Dennis wondered out loud if we would see any Burma Shave ads. Those of you old enough to remember the old Burma Shave ads remember that they were a series of strategically placed signs that had one-line phrases. You read each sign as you drove to create a quirky thought. Here is one we saw, broken down into four signs…
.
Thirty days hath September
April, June
And the speed offender
Burma Shave.

Here is another we saw:

You can drive
a mile a minute
but there is no
future in it
Burma Shave

It is no wonder that I-40 took a different route, miles from Route 66. Because of the mountains, Route 66 took a large curve for about 87 miles. Taking the interstate and going through cuts in the mountains shortened the trip to 72 miles. Sad those 15 miles changed the lives of so many people who lived and worked this famous road. This ends our stint on this historic highway. It continues to California. We will head northwest towards Las Vegas in Kingman Arizona. It has been a blast and a step back in time to see the towns along this famous route.

We arrive in Kingman, ready to take a break. We will rise early and head northwest on Highway 93. Our first stop will be the Hoover Dam and then “Sin City”.

How many people fall to their death every year in the Grand Canyon? 1-3. More die from heat exhaustion and other maladies related to hiking and climbing.

In case you're interested, here is a clip on Route 66 with the famous song in the background:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEDGSPehGpA&feature=related