Day 10: Grand Canyon South, Arizona

Woke early at the Wigwam Motel and decided to do a spot of breakfast and camping supplies shopping at the Safeway conveniently located over the road. Returned with our trolley load, that was squashed into any available space in the car, and then chatted to fellow travellers as we breakfasted outside our wigwams.

Once on the road, our first stop was the iconic Winslow from the Eagles’ song Take It Easy (opening line; “Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona…..”). Much to the children’s embarrassment we insisted on singing it as we drove to the very corner (allegedly). We knew it was the very corner because it came complete with bronze statue of guitar boy and a sparkling flatbed Ford parked up next to it! No girl – My Lord! – she only featured in the mural behind. Over the road was the Standing on a Corner store where we wasted even more money on tacky souvenirs.

Back on the road to Flagstaff, where we took the scenic US89 & HWY64 to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. This route climbs up the Navajo Nation desert and onto the Kaibab Plateau. The views were incredible; north across the desiccated Colorado Plateau, east to the Painted Desert, west to the Kaibab National Forest and south to the San Francisco peaks. Altitude sickness and painful sinuses kicked in once more as rose up to 7000ft above sea level. But we grinned and bore it! We stopped at the Little Colorado Canyon to take pix and buy a few Navajo souvenirs. We contemplated the rugs but at $650 dollars for one the size of a doormat, decided to save our pennies for a hotel in Vegas instead.

On entering the Grand Canyon National Park we veered off to the Desert View Point for a few more pix and then onto Mather Campsite. We set up the tent in scorching temperatures and took lots of rests – lack of oxygen apparently. The evening was spent teaching the children Blackjack in preparation for Vegas.
Today’s Tune: Take it Easy by The Eagles – of course!
Wildlife Watch: Our first Elk! Pulled over to take pictures along with about a hundred others

Day 9: Holbrook, Arizona

We left Albuquerque by the I40 and carried on straight to Grants where we picked up the scenic Highway 53 heading through Western New Mexico. It loops between Grants and Gallup and crosses the continental divide. Covering the Zuni and Navajo Indian Reservations, it is described in Road Trip USA as one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The road skirts the foothills of the Zuni Mountains and travels the edge of the massive El Malpais lava flow – thousands of acres of pitch-black rock, some of it 115,000 years old. We passed the El Morro monument, a 200ft sandstone cliff with 400 year old graffiti from the Spanish discoverers. It was midday in the desert and we really didn’t feel up to the 2mile walk to the top so carried onto Gallup.
Lunch was at the El Rancho hotel, another Route 66 icon. Built by the brother of a Hollywood film director in the 1930s, the hotel was frequented by matinee idols and the rooms are all named after the stars who stayed in them; the Marx brothers, Doris Day, Burt Lancaster, Ronald Reagan and so on. The boys were particularly delighted by the burgers’ side of jelly beans but also loved the huge southwestern style lobby filled with hunting memorabilia, a walk-in stone fireplace and an entire three-piece suite made out of cattle horns.
The last stretch of the day’s driving was 70 miles to Holbrook, Arizona. We checked in at the Wigwam Motel at 3:30pm and left the children to veg in their concrete wigwam. Mark and I headed off in search of a cold beer and bumped into two British couples from Abingdon doing Route 66 via Virgin Holidays. We swapped tales and then headed back to the wigwam for supper and an early night.
Today’s Tune: Mustang Sally by The Commitments
Wildlife Watch: Mustang horses at Ramah on the Navejo Indian Reservation

Day 8: Albuquerque, New Mexico

We took the scenic Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe, the state capital and, apparently, one of the USA’s prime vacation destinations. We stopped en route at Tinkertown, a delightful piece of wacky roadside Americana. It was dreamt up by a guy called Ross Ward and is a ramshackle old building (created mainly from wheels and bottles) that is home to a vast array of miniature wooden figures fixed in incredibly intricate and often animated settings – all created by Ross “We Did All This While You Were Watching TV” Ward. Apparently the Dalai Lama found it delightful, and so did we!

The trail continued through more cowboy and Indian film footage and we finally ended up in Santa Fe. Stopped at the Burro Café for lunch and gave lots of travelling advice to our waitress who was about to spend a semester studying at Stirling University. (Could she have found a greater contrast to Santa Fe? Probably not). We walked around the shady plaza, viewed the oldest public building in America (The Governor’s Palace est. 1610) and strolled into the Santa Fe Basilica – possibly the best kept cathedral in the world thanks to its many sponsors, even the Stations of the Cross had their patrons listed next to each painting!

Altitude sickness got the best of us once more – we were another 3000ft above sea level – and we took the freeway back to Kirtland for our last night under canvas in New Mexico. Despite having had a fabulous time here, the 5 o’clock dust storm convinced us it is time to move on.
Today’s Tune: Santa Fe by Jonathon Larson
Wildlife Watch: Wild horses alongside the Turquoise Trail (possibly American quarter horses as favoured by the Native Americans)

Day 7: Albuquerque, New Mexico

We decided to spend a quiet day by the base pool having some much needed down time. It reminded us all of the happy days at JHQ Lisbon, temperature in the 90s, a cool breeze and the backdrop of the mountains. New Mexico definitely reminds us of Portugal and Spain; the climate, the landscape and the ability of the New Mexicans to sit back, relax and enjoy life.

We headed into Albuquerque’s Old Town in the late afternoon, taking the old Route 66 through some seriously dodgy parts of town. We initially parked up next to a Rumblers’ Rally but after a quick look round the classic cars decided it probably wasn’t the safest place to leave the car. After finding a more secure slot, we walked through the old plaza – full of adobe buildings and forced the boys to eat Mexican food for their supper (surprisingly successful!). It was a delightful evening, watching the end of a wedding in the square and browsing through the gift shops and art galleries, but we had to head back to camp early as we were all shattered and desperately in need of our beds. We learnt the next morning, from the campsite hosts, we were probably suffering from the early stages of altitude sickness. On top of this we’ve all been suffering from watering eyes and sore throats due to the smoke from the Arizona fires!
Today’s Tune: Albuquerque by Prefab Sprout
Wildlife Watch: Gofers (or prairie dogs) keeping watch over their babies next to the base pool

Day 6: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Took the children into downtown Sayre for a flashback to the dark days of the Grapes of Wrath and then left town on the I40 towards the Texan panhandle. Thank goodness we were travelling through the panhandle – only 200 miles of pancake flat terrain rather than 700 in the rest of Texas. We swept past the tiny town of Groom with its gigantic stainless steel cross (19 stories high) and leaning Tower of Pisa water tower, and headed towards Cadillac Ranch, just outside of Amarillo.

Cadillac Ranch is ten Cadillacs upended in the plains. They were set up by an artistic community as a tribute to the open road, and are now an evolving piece of artwork. You simply turn up with your spray paint and graffiti to your heart’s content. Needless to say this licensed vandalism meant Jowan and Tristan were in their element.
We continued through the panhandle, unintentionally bypassing the Route 66 midway point (Mark was driving, Rachel was sleeping!), crossed into New Mexico and stopped at Tucumcari to lunch beneath a gigantic sombrero at La Cita.

We instantly fell in love with New Mexico; it was like driving through a spaghetti western, rugged desert terrain set against a backdrop of mountains. Albuquerque nestles in the foothills of the Sandia range, at about 5000ft above sea level. We pulled into Kirtland Air Force Base and set up camp for three nights.

Today’sTune: Is this the Way to Amarillo by Peter Kay (as we’re staying on a military base!)
Wildlife Watch: 10,000 cattle corralled next to the I40, unfortunately none of them Texan Long Horns

Day 5: Sayre, Oklahoma

A day of highs and lows!! We left the wonderful Munger Moss Motel after lots of advice and hugs from the owner for Jowan, and headed west towards Kansas on old Route 66.

First stop was Catharge, the perfect American little town and, for all the world, straight out of the Back to the Future movie. So much so they have regular visitors from Japan thinking that's exactly what it is. We toured round the county courthouse - circa 1895, complete with caged elevator - and then called into the delightful Carthage Deli (www.carthagedeli.com) for a late breakfast. Owner Chris Brown filled us in on some local history and served a delicious latte (he's a coffee fiend). He also talked about the recent tornado that swept through nearby Joplin leaving a trail of destruction and a death toll of close to a 150. Luckily the tornado hit at 5:30am on a Sunday morning otherwise it would have been a lot higher (it completely destroyed a local school). Chris and his family took shelter in one of the old vaults of the bank that the Deli is housed in. We could have stayed and chatted all day but had many miles to cover, so more hugs and a large pot of gumballs for the children and we set off again.

After a 13 mile stint on the 'Mother Road' through Kansas, we decided to stop at Miami, Oklahoma for supplies and then cover the rest of the days mileage on the I44 which runs parallel to Route 66. The only supermarket we could find was the 'delightful' Marvin's Discount Food Store; a venue so grim the children refused to get out of the car. It was an interesting pit stop - the loo had a grimey curtain rather than a door and the cheese we bought turned out to be more than a month out of date!

We covered the dustbowl, despite a major traffic jam at Oklahoma City,and managed to resist the many temptations en route; the World's Only Tribute to the Dogs that Lost their Lives on the Titanic and the Vacuum Cleaner Museum. We finally made it to Sayre at about 7pm. We stepped out of the car at the Western Motel to find our room hadn't been booked, the wind was howling and the temperature was 102 degrees. Sayre is like something out of The Grapes of Wrath - actually it is out of The Grapes of Wrath! It's a virtual ghost town but luckily the motel did have a room for us (complete with depression era bathroom). Sonic was about the only option for food so we called into the local store for some microwave TV dinners. I was very reluctant to even go in the door but the shop assistants were wonderful and very excited to have Brits through the door. After lots chatting they insisted on carrying our bags to the car and told us we really should be heading to the next town for the night rather than staying in Sayre!

So we settled back with the TV dinners to catch up on some 70s sitcoms, only to have our viewing interrupted by a tornado warning! Mark assures me, it's east of here and all will be well. Hopefully, we'll be blogging again tomorrow.

Today's Tune: Follow the Yellow Brick Road by Judy and the Oz crew
Wildlife Watch: Tortoises and armadillos (unfortunately no live ones, all roadkill)

Day 4: Lebanon, Missouri

We crossed over the Wabash river, Gateway to the West, and set the compass for St Louis. The flat farmlands continued but were occasionally dotted with oil wells. Passed through Salem - not very attractive but home to Miracle Whip (yuck), the GI Bill of Rights (yey) and the infamous prosecution of a schoolteacher for teaching evolution (!!). Decided to stop at Lebanon, Indiana, as Charles Dickens recommended it.

Had a delicious lunch of ice-creams and shakes, perfect fuel for the remainder of the journey on US 50. When we reached St Louis, we picked up Route 66. Well, sort off. At this point Route 66 is barely driveable, most of it taken over by the newer I44. However, we did our best and between St Louis and Lebanon, Missouri we switched between the two as and when we could. Some parts of the historic Route 66 are little more than a farm track with grass growing between the tracks.

We pulled over in Rolla at the Totem Pole Trading Post to stock up on 66 souvenirs and were given a rare half-dollar JFK coin by the delightful storekeeper who asked us to sign his visitors book. Also bumped into a very nice couple from Weymouth who were on Day 2 of their Route 66 travels. Compared notes and then drove the final stretch of the day to the iconic Munger Moss Motel for a well-deserved swim and a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is our longest drive so far, over 400m to Sayre, Oklahoma.

Today's Tune: Get Your Kicks on Route 66 by The Rolling Stones/Nat King Cole
Wildlife Watch: Bison (on a ranch - not wild!)