Moving on to Albuquerque with a side trip to the Painted Desert and the Petrfied Forest after the Blue Hole Okiedokie later told me he left after Friday also, windy and cold!
Left Albuquerque on the morning of April 19 with our eye on making it to Flagstaff. Photos of Petrfied Forest stop near Holbrook Az in previous post. On to Winslow and stopping in Flagstaff. Still windy on I 40 and your full attention is a must. Great Mexican lunch at Joe & Aggies
After spending the night in Flagstaff I thought this would be my last chance to check out the noise I was hearing at highway speed‘s in my cars rear end. I did not want to cross the rest of Arizona and get into the California desert have a breakdown there might of been disastrous. I decided I needed axle bearings and I would need to go south to Prescott Arizona ss none available in Flagstaff. Pick them up at AutoZone and I was given a recommendation for a shop to install them. On Saturday I want to the shop and they told me they could not do the work. I finally was able to make arrangements with another shop although the work could not be done until Monday. To make a long story short, it turns out the wrong bearings were in the box marked with the correct part number. Order the correct ones from Summit in Las Vegas and had them overnighted, so the car wasn’t finished until late Tuesday. The irony of this is that there was large car show in town on Saturday so all the other shops and businesses concerning auto repair were closed. So we made the best of our time down and went to the car show and caught a movie luckily our hotel room was close enough to a local restaurant which we could walk to for meals. When given lemons make lemonade. We did visit downtown Prescott which is very nice during the day Saturday while the car was still intact and had a great lunch at the Palace.
Many thanks to JD Davis at network automotive in Prescott Arizona for all his efforts getting me back on the road. Our journey continues as we head back north on 89 to Williams Az.
We arrived in Williams late afternoon and stayed at the canyon motel and RV park. It’s a neat retro motel with small cabins. We went out for steak dinner and cruise the streets of Williams the last town byp***ed by I 40 on route 66 in Arizona.
We did have ice cream at the famous Sno Cap drive in, Tour buses were also coming through town it looks like the season had begun. I was told that there are groups traveling from South America as well as Europe to experience route 66 these days.
In Hackberry the iconic general store once owned by Rt 66 artist Bob Waldmire is a great stop, you’ll think you’ve been placed back in the 50s. So much to see here. On to Oatman.
Larry’s a/c quit, getting it checked out near Needles California before we head up the good Road to Oatman. Laughlin Nv. Bike Week going on now so lots of Bikes in the area as as Oatman is a very-popular stop. We wanted to avoid the twisty road coming from the east into Oldman. The burros are the stars, we love em.
On to Barstow to spend the night after staying in Needles on the river at a neat old place I neglected to record or take a photo of the sign. We wanted to travel to the Santa Monica pier from Barstow on Saturday morning as we thought the traffic might not be so bad. We did stop in Amboy and Ludlow.
Great sandwich and soup at the Ludlow cafe, we really enjoyed the variety of restaurants and cafés that we ate in on this trip. We did stop at McDonald’s for coffee and a few breakfast sandwiches other than that we ate it all the local places we could. On to Barstow, stayed at the Stardust.
It’s now Saturday, April 28. Our plan was to drive to Santa Monica pier and back to Barstow in the same day. Getting there wasn’t too bad but we decided to take interstate 10 back which was a disaster even on Saturday.
8 years in the making, not traditional but worthy of accolades as it’s very built, Vette suspension, air ride and LS and more.
One last look at the pier before heading back to Barstow with a stop in San Bernardino at the Wig Wam, owner gave us the grand tour as they are all Refinished. They are really nice inside. Stayed at the route 66 motel in Barstow.
Dave Thank you for taking me on the ride through your picture's Looks like a fun trip Be safe coming home See you this summer Ron
Thanks so much, i.rant, for taking us along on such a fabulous journey. I'm glad your car troubles were relatively minor and that you didn't let it sour your trip by making lemonade out of lemons. Safe travels to you both on your way home.
Left Barstow April 30,made it to Winslow, stopping inKingmsn Which we had byp***ed on the way out. Pretty cool town.
Had lunch as advised at mr D’s, yum, the motel El Travatore famous for its theme rooms. I failed to mention earlier in my post how often you will find murals or even just individual paintings all along the route. If you should ever do this take the time to see as many as you can. Much of the artwork is fantastic.
You came right by me at Exit 178, Zuzax in New Mexico. Honk and wave the next time....I'll wave back. I'm on an old alignment of US 66 and there is a FAP marker right up the road for the old road. I'm lucky, I get to travel 66 every day Larry
The ever-changing landscape of New Mexico and I 40 unbelievable scenery and many changes along the way.
The El Rancho was where the stars all stayed, many billboards along the road. Lobby was stunning, Might be the first time I ever used that word to describe something LOL On to Albuquerque.......for lunch at the 66 Diner
On to Tu***cari where we spent the night, one more “artsy” photo at the Blue Seallow then it was coffee and pie at Del’s
Left Tu***cari on 5/1 and did some miles today making it to Stroud OK, stopping at Pop’s for dinner and viewing the round barn. I love neon.
The Jalopy Journal
