Hooray for a fun day!

You know, there’s really nothing like waking up in a concrete wigwam in the middle of the Arizona desert. You should try it sometime. Nicolet and I, as usual, woke up first. She slept while I wrote the journal entry for the day. When I was finished, we showered and grabbed the dirty laundry and paid a visit to the local 24 Hour laundry mat (also known as “coin-ops” in some parts of the country). In the meantime, we retreated to the car and listened to The English Beat, making our jolly way to a certain generous motel that just happened to be giving away free internet. We posted the journal entry, answered an email or two and zipped back to the laundry mat. And with a bag full of dry clean clothes, we met up with Derek and Boo, half awake in the wigwam.

Nikki and I discovered a small, concrete dinosaur peeking its head out from around a bush at wigwam number 9. I took a pic of it. Look at it if you please.

On the way out of Holbrook, I wanted to do two things. The first was to stop at a store called Julien’s Roadrunner Giftshop which is a Route 66 classic. The second was Kester’s Bug Shop, which is a shop where this Kester fellow works on and hacks VWs. Nikki and I saw him two years ago and it was a sight to behold. He was sort of a grumpy man, but his work was amazing. But more on that later.

In Julien’s shop, he carries some turquoise jewlery, a bunch of metal signs and some tshirts. It’s not a huge shop, but it’s a blast. He’s also got a dog who only understands commands in French, though when Julien gets mad at him, he gives him commands in German. Julien also taught us the the Russians have 32 different words for the “f-word.” No kiddin’. The shop was also inhabbited by a incredibly huge cat who would only sleep on a certain size Priority Mail box. Julien would have to get a new box about twice a year because the overweight cat would wear it out.

Oh and Nikki bought a ring. :)

On our way to the interstate, I figured that we’d stop by The Bug Shop. As I got up to where it was, I saw a big For Sale sign on the building. A few VWs (including a Bug limo) were around, but the owner had not been there in some time. So very sad.

This part of 66 is mostly buried under the interstate. So we hop on the monster and take it to Joseph City. It’s the oldest community in the county! A sign welcomed us to this metropolis: “The best thing about Joseph City are the people!” That bugged me. If you’re going to make a sign, at least make sure it’s grammatically correct. This is middle school stuff!

From Joseph City to Jackrabbit, it’s all old road. A quick jaunt, but old road, nonetheless. I grabbed a few pics of some choice buildings along the way (as I do) and we pulled into Jackrabbit. Here It Is! This is the tourist trap where you are greeted at first by a huge, ridable jackrabbit. Two years ago, Ashley Taylor refused to ride the rabbit. She flat out refused. I believe she fully regrets this now. This year everyone rode it but Derek. Pictures were taken, of course.

Inside Jackrabbit, there’s your typical selection of tshirts and various curious. Nikki bought a juice drink and that’s about it.

On to Winslow! The town that never gets tired of the Eagles. See, their song “Take It Easy” happens to mention Winslow. “Standin’ on the corner of Winslow Arizona….” They play this song constantly. There’s even a monument to the song at the main square. Freaky. But there’s also a great Route 66 store (possibly the best on the whole Route) there. I forget the name of it, unfortunately, but it’s well worth a stop.

Oh and more interstate driving. This part of Arizona has killed 66. It’s a real shame. Our next stop was Two Guns, an old tourist trap. Derek and I walked across a bridge spanning Canyon Diablo, but everything on that side was fenced off. Two years ago, Nikki, Ashley and I were able to tramp all over the canyon. Not so this time around. Kind of a bummer, but I got some pics anyway.

And don’t forget Winona! We didn’t forget it, we just didn’t stop. However, from Winona, we could take old 66 to Flagstaff.

The road goes from desert sands to a pine forest in about 15 miles.

All throughout today, we looked west and thought “wow, it’s really hazy out there!” But the closer we got to the haze, the more it smelled the wood burning. And it was. Just south of Flagstaff, there’s a forest fire of some kind. The smoke can be seen over 50 miles off. Weird stuff.

Our Kampsite came a few miles before Flagstaff proper. We unloaded our stuff and headed into town.

Nikki and I love this place. We’ve both talked about moving here sometime. It’s just a wonderful place. Please visit if you can. We actually planned this trip to allow for us to spend half the day just wandering around Flagstaff.

We found a great little vegetarian cafe called Macy’s European Coffee Shop and Restaurant.
I ordered a Hummas sandwich because the pasta had cheese in it and their pitas were inexplicably not vegan. Nikki ordered the most amazing burrito that she’s ever had. Derek got vegetarian ravioli and Boo got the same thing as Nikki. Yum!

After Macy’s we took Boo back to the campsite so she could go running and we headed out to Flagstaff again. Nikki, Derek and I hit a bunch of shops. Nikki tried on clothes mostly, but it was great fun.

We stopped by Macy’s again for some smoothies and a quick check of the internet. We’re headed back in the morning for vegan waffles. Oh my! Vegan freakin’ waffles!

Nikki and I bought a paper just to see how much apartments cost here (don’t worry, nobody is actually moving anywhere just yet) and discovered that they’re not so very expensive. We then waited at the train station so that I could see the Amtrak train roll in. We got tired of waiting, so grabbed some samosas from the Indian place, brought them back to the campsite and ate them. Yum again!

And that pretty much ended our day. Good day? Yes. Indeed.

Just now, as I was writing this, Nikki was asleep next to me. I nudge her and she says, “wasn’t that him?”
“Who?” I ask.
“Wasn’t his name Ant?”
“Adam Ant?” I question.
“Yeah.”
“What did Adam Ant do?”
“Didn’t he crawl into the bottle?”
“Oh that’s possible.”
“That’s why I screwed all the caps on.”
“Oh, so he didn’t crawl in the bottle?”
“No, that was later.”

What a gal! :)

Oh, and Nikki is afraid of three things. 1) Trains that are loud and close to the tent, 2) Wind when she’s in a tent and 3) Zombies. So a train-full of zombies attacking her tent on a windy night is pretty much hell for her. This is fun!

Miles: About 100
Music: The English Beat, Feelies, Mission of Burma

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