Cross Country from New York to Arizona – New Mexico to Arizona

Here is the sunset from last night and the sunrise this morning, before we departed Grants New Mexico. The KOA we stayed at offered a Continential breakfast that was better than some high end hotels that we have stayed at! The place was packed when they opened at 7:30. It is really a great idea, they get to interact one last time with their guests, before they depart and it leaves a very positive vibe on the guest. Positive feelings, equal good reviews, equal more reservations! Pretty smart!

I do have to admit, I love the desert sunrises ans sunsets almost as much as I love the beach or ocean sunsets and sunrises!

We passed the Rodeo Arena, to locals it is known as the “Cow Palace!” It is a rodeo grounds, shouldn't it be called the "Horse Palace?" Downtown Grants has some good neon and there are some nice neon signs that are now dark. Since we are traveling during the day, we are not sure which is which! But they sure are pretty. I might consider hitting these towns again,but in a car ... Sleep during the day and travel at night to see all this impressive neon. Of course, sleeping all day and traveling at night sounds like something I should have done in my youth, not during retirement! I am not sure if either of us could stay up late enough to accomplish that goal!

After leaving Grant and passing through Milan, Bluewater and Prewitt we arrive in Thoreau. Along here is where Route 66 begins to parallel a long row of pink-tinged cliffs and hills. It is amazing how flat some of the tops are. One of the items I read, said these cliffs can be seen in many movies.

Past Thoreau is one of the best photo opportunities on Route 66. A historical Route 66 sign above a Dead End sign. Which is a true statement, there are many points on Route 66 in New Mexico that turn into dirt roads, or disappear entirely! I should have saved this picture for the last blog of our two lane adventure on Route 66, oh well ... this picture might be seen again!

Gallup New Mexico is a thriving southwest town full of galleries, trading posts and public art displays. I could have spent the day and then some in Gallup, just looking and taking pictures! I am including just a few of the very interesting items we saw!

A top the Chamber of Commerce building in downtown, is a great new neon “Here we are on Route 66, Gallup NM.” Plus there are many old neon signs on the main drags. I could fill a blog with the neon pictures ... maybe after our Route 66 two lane adventure is done and before I start the Yankee RV Tours Southwest Caravan Two Lane Adventure ... I will do a blog of just pictures with descriptions and locations of all the cool neon signs!

Photo courtesy of the Gallup Chamber of Commerce

This is how the downtown sign looks when it is illuminated.

The most historic hotel in Gallup, is the El Rancho Hotel with rooms named after movie stars. There was a second neon sign that was equally as pristine as the one in this picture.

Outside of Gallup is Red Rock Park, we did not tour the park, but Church Rock was visible from the road. I am sure that Red Rock Park is full of the beautiful red rock, we have been seeing n this part of the country!

We entered Arizona from New Mexico on Interstate 40. There was many times that Route 66 was in conjunction with I-40, because the roads were impassible for an RV or just dirt. Sometimes, we drove on a frontage road right next to the Interstate. This area did give us some great desert scenery!

At the state line, colorful gift shops gather near the base of some majestic brown cliffs, while a deteriorating painted mural and plenty of plastic animals perch precariously, including a giant TeePee!

In Lupton, the Geodesic Dome is now closed to and has been vandalized … as it seems many of the old iconic buildings that are abandoned are vandalized. Sad, sad state of affairs in our country.

 Stewarts Rock Shop has colorful and crazy folk art statues galore!

The most iconic place to overnight in Holbrook is the Wigwam Motel. These concrete wigwams have been owned by the same family since they were built in 1950. This is the next to the last set of Wigwams in a chain of seven built from 1933 to 1950. This location and the recently renovated set in San Bernardino are the only locations still open!

Winslow has a very nice “9/11 memorial park” at the entrance to town. The park includes two steel beams from one of the towers. Many small towns have petitions to get pieces of these buildings to build memorials. Have been down there the the Guard after it happened, I carry pieces of that terrorism with me everyday, no need to stop at a memorial to read about. I live it.

The biggest draw to Winslow is the “Standing on the Corner” statue, it is dedicated to the classic Eagles song “Take It Easy.” There is a mural painted behind the statue depicts a girls in a flatbed Ford, as if it is a reflection in a window. A huge Route 66 is painted on the road, fills the intersection.

Off of Route 66 is the Meteor Crater, we skipped it, because two different couples told us not to waste our money on seeing a big hole in the ground!

Two Guns is a storied tourist town of days gone by. The side of the road now is just stone ruins. They say they are of gas stations, two roadside zoos, hence the “mountain lions” spray painted on the ruins and a museum. I can not really see any of those in this rubble, we will just have to take their word for it! I am always dishearten when I see such pieces of our history that has been defaced by vandals, even if they think they are warning you of something.

Just before Flagstaff, we said good bye to our last “Historic Route 66” sign … as once we get to Flagstaff, we will be heading south on I-17. 

As we started traveling on Interstate 17, there was a 7,000 feet elevation … remember that! As we headed down from Flagstaff we watched the elevations decrease to 6,000 … 




going down to 5,000 feet elevation

and finally 4,000 feet of elevation. Actually we were still a bit under that, because we went down even further. This more than 3,000 foot drop was accomplished in an 18 mile grade of 4 percent to 8 percent. You want to be careful on your breaks in this area!

We are spending the night at Distant Drums in Camp Verde Arizona. It is a beautiful desert RV park of 158 concrete and racked rock sites. I would definitely stay here again!