Day 6 - Sedona

We ate breakfast at the hotel in Kingman and checked out at 8:20 AM where it was 89 degrees already. We went into old town to look at the Route 66 museum and hang out by the tracks. We found the museum to be open! There were many stories and pictures by/about the people who travelled Route 66 in the depression (and before and after). We saw one picture of a group of men with shovels and rakes building the Route 66 dirt road - what a lot of work!

We got a picture of the classic tower near the depot just before 11:00 and headed out for Sedona.

We couldn't dawdle too much on our trip that day because the rel squad was waiting for us in Sedona where a birthday party for my uncle and aunt were planned. We pulled into the classic Hackberry General Store where a ginormous tour bus had just dumped a load of tourists (imagine!). But we got a couple of pictures.

Jackson Browne album notwithstanding, I remember these "Saturate Before Using" water bags. My grandpa had one on the front of his car and it holding it on your lap was one way to stay cool before the advent of air conditioning.


We pulled off for a quick picture at Grand Canyon Caverns; though my cousing Rebecca and I remember it being called Dinasaur Caverns back in the 60's. We didn't want to partake in the whole tour, but did want to see the dinasaur!

Then on to Seligman where we hit the classic Snow Cap Drive-In. This was one of the must visit places on my agenda. What a kick. Once again we got there just after a large tour bus had disgorged its human cargo. But that just gave us more time to enjoy all the fun. The owner of the place (forget the name just now) and his brother are big boosters and coordinators of the resurgence of Route 66. We saw a little video about them in Kingman. Seligman is a bit off I-40 so you really have to want to see it. It was lunch time, so we had hamburgers, fries, and cokes.

The owner is a real trickster. When Carla was in line, a guy had ordered 2 small ice cream cones. He got the sawed-off bottoms of two classic "cracker" cones with a small dollop of ice cream in each; less than a mouthfull!. The owner said, "you said you wanted small!"; the customer was ready to get angry but everyone was laughing and he got his "regular small" cone.

Check out another piece of work by the owner. Look at the door closely; especially where is says "Pull".
Carla was fooled, mentioned it to one of the workers and she told Carla the owner is her grand father, she's worked there for years and got fooled herself earlier in the day.

We stopped by a souvenir shop owned by the daughter of the Snow Cap proprietor and her husband. He told us how they were working with other towns in eastern Arizona to revitalize Route 66. Their work showed; the town was bustling even in the 105 + degree heat. Many of the signs we saw on the way said "Bikers Welcome". There were numerous motorcyclists on the road. We talked to one family who had changed their plans because of the heat. They were headed west but decided not to deal with the heat across the desert we had come the day before.

We pulled into the hotel in Sedona at 3:25 where it was 107 degrees in the shade; As we were checking in, our son Andrew pulled in right behind us. He came up from Tucson. We washed up and headed over to my Aunt's house for the birthday party.

We had a lovely picnic party with some DELICIOUS cantalope, watermelon, ham, devilled eggs and more. Anytime I can get a picture of my boys, I do it.

It is such a treat to see my mom's brother and sister, my cousin, and the rest of the crew. We were together last Thanksgiving (along with my sisters and nephews); so getting to see them twice in just a few months is a special treat. It was one of the big reasons for our trip.

I have a camera and a tri-pod;, but I'm a picture taker,not a photographer. I totally didn't even notice the streak of light blocking out faces!
From left to right in front are my uncle Jake (his birthday!); Carla, Howard, Sally (Jake's wife). In back row from left to right are my aunt Lucinda (her birthday is later in the week). My cousing Rebecca, Bill Galamore (cousin), Andrew, and Ruth Galamore. Rebecca, I totally apologize for putting you in the sun!

After the party Andrew, Carla, and I headed to our hotel where we sat in the pool for about 30 minutes.

The next morning we headed to the train mecca: La Posada hotel in Winslow. Unfortunately, we didn't have internet access so I couldn't get postings up as soon as I would have liked.