Day #8

Well, apparently a HUGE storm hit Holbrook last night. It is amazing what a cement structure can do to completely insulate you from the outside. We had a FANTASTIC night’s sleep! (Steve even said he thought the bed was ‘comfy’!)

We had the car packed up and ready to go by 9, and we all decided that another trip back to Joe and Aggie’s was in order. Steve ALMOST ordered the Huevo Rancheros again, but he decided Mexican food twice in a row was not nice to his body, NOR to us! We took a few more goofy pictures before heading out of town.

In this part of Arizona you are mainly on I-40. To get to anything that is vintage Route 66, you have to take an off-ramp, see the thing, and then get back on the highway. Such was the case in Joseph City where we stopped at the Jack Rabbit Trading Post. This place has been here forever. They are the home of the “Here It Is” sign as well as a huge Jack Rabbit. After photos on the Jack Rabbit, off the Jack Rabbit, BY the Jack Rabbit and under the Jack Rabbit, we went inside and looked around. We were quite successful in spending our money.

Back on the highway, we decided to get off at Two Arrows, AZ to see the Two Arrows Café. Unfortunately, it not only is closed, but the two giant arrows in the ground (which were its defining item) are falling into disrepair. I read that someone is working to move the entire thing, building, arrows, and all, to Flagstaff. It kind of defeats the purpose of being in Two Arrows, AZ. Nonetheless, we took a few pictures and headed back onto the highway.

As we drove past Two Guns, AZ I read out loud a story of how it was once a tough cow town complete with houses of ill repute, saloons, and nightly gunfights. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing there now. Steve had the brilliant idea of opening up a family friendly saloon/café there to recapture the old west. I told him that there is NOTHING THERE for a reason! He thinks it is a viable idea. I think living the rest of my life in Two Guns is NOT a viable idea. We move on.

Our next stop was Winslow, Arizona. What a wonderful town! They have really been trying the past 5 years to spruce up the town. We stopped at a coffee house and were able to upload the past few days worth of blogs, as well as some very sweet coffee. We then ventured out to the “Standin’ on the Corner” statue. I don’t know how many of you know the Eagle’s song “Take it Easy” but the lyrics go:

“I was standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see. There’s a girl, my lord, in a flat-bed Ford slowing down to take a look at me…”

Well, Winslow has taken that song to heart and has used up every bit of it. They have the statue of man holding a guitar at one of their corners, and someone has painted a mural behind the statue of a girl, my lord, in a flat-bed Ford slowing down to take a look at him! Unfortunately, the building burned last year, and so now they have these rods shoring up both sides of that last wall standing to try to save the mural.

We took the requisite number of photos, and then hopped back into the car. Our next stop (after a “Wait! We forgot to see something! TURN AROUND” moment) was La Posada. This is a refurbished hotel in Winslow that is absolutely georgeous. It is right where the Amtrak train comes into town, so you can literally get off the train and stay in the hotel. Where you would be coming from, I have no idea, but it seems like a grand idea.

Once we had thoroughly exhausted Winslow, we headed towards Flagstaff. We noticed that the closer we got, the more the temperature dropped. In Joseph City it had been 85 degrees. By the time we hit Winona (and you thought I’d forget it!), the temperature said 65! It was drizzly and very cool, compared to where we’d been. The high point of Flagstaff was when the back seat yelled “I HAVE THREE BARS! YES!!! YES!!!” Is he a teenager or what?!?

We continued in awful traffic into the downtown area along 66, and then bailed to go north to see Sunset Crater National Park. Once we were through Flagstaff, the ride got much nicer. While it was still cool, the rain stopped and there were only a few people on the road with us. We headed into the park and stopped to climb Lava Trail. It was only .8 miles total, no biggie, right? Well, it went STRAIGHT UP and then, once you got to the top and said “Wow, a big dip in the mountain where the top blew off a volcano” you had to turn around and go STRAIGHT DOWN!! Not fun when you have a 3-year-old who stops every 15 steps, and refuses to go any further, until you take his shoe off to get the lava pebbles out of them. Only later, back in the car did I read “This trail is quite treacherous and is not recommended for the average family.” Thanks. Note to self: Read ahead.

The next stop was at the Sunset Crater trail, and, of course we all had to do the BIG loop (1.5 miles) not the SMALL loop (.5 miles). But this time I was prepared. I put Pete in Hiking Shoes! No more pebble stops for me. We walked around and I read the self-guiding pamphlet and we saw the lava flows, the twisted tree trunks, and generally learned about volcanos. It was pretty cool. I think Pete even liked it (especially kicking the rocks part.)

Back in the car we all decided that we REALLY NEEDED to get to the Grand Canyon. It was getting late. But the drive we were on took us into the Watupaki National Monument past these really cool Indian Ruins, and someone had to go to the bathroom, and, well, they WERE right there, and then the Ranger told us that we’d LOVE the Blow Hole, and, when you say Blow Hole, well, Steve can’t resist!

So, we found ourselves with another guide book, and me reading as fast as I possibly could, walking as quickly as we could past the ruins, headed as fast as we could to the Blow Hole. You know what? It WAS pretty cool! Ask Steve about it sometime. ☺

We headed back to the car, trying to finish the guide book, and me starting to sound like that Fed Ex ‘fast talker’ guy from the 80s reading as fast as I could. We returned the guide book, thanked them for the “Blow Hole Tip” (Bet you can’t find a use for THAT phrase in YOUR daily life!) and RAN to the car.

We headed north as quickly as we could, stopped for Gas at a station called “Speedy” in which the pump took FOREVER to fill our tank (what did we expect?) and then headed into the Grand Canyon via the East entrance.

I must say, if you ever find yourself going into the Grand Canyon, the east entrance is the way to go. It isn’t used as much, and so we found ourselves driving along with almost no one around us. I wanted to stop and get out and photograph, but the sun was getting lower towards the horizon, there was lightening in the distance, and Steve was in GO! GO! GO! Mode. Any shots you may see from us of the east side of the canyon will be from a speeding car.

We made it to the campsite, it was VERY cool, which was encouraging, but concerned me at the same time. We weren’t going to sweat it out tonight, but was it going to be too cold for Pete? We got everything set up, but THIS TIME I put Pete at our feet instead of our heads. Unfortunately, I put Pete’s head right at Andy’s feet, and I spent the night worrying that Andy was going to smash his skull, but we were fine.

After the tent was set up, my plan had been to go to the lodge for dinner. The sun was setting and Steve was exhausted, so we decided to go to the Village Store (which is an AWESOME store if you ever get there) to buy something there instead. On our way out we passed a HUGE Bull Elk just STANDING in a campsite checking out to see if anything good had been left behind. We took a few pictures and headed on. He was an INCREDIBLE SIGHT! After buying some simple camp food, we headed back, got a fire going, and actually had a decent meal and a decent evening.

Night #2 in a tent ended up being much more pleasant than the first tent night. The storm never hit us, but I did hear a faint bit of rain as I fell asleep. Everyone slept peacefully, for the most part, except that Steve, Emily and I all heard Andy say in the middle of the night “Oh great, now I lost BOTH my front teeth!” He couldn’t explain it in the morning. I heard a coyote, or something, howling VERY nearby at one point, but no one else in my tent heard it. I did hear the zippers going crazy on the tent next door after the howling stopped, which made me giggle. I can only guess that they either 1. Unzipped the door and ran to their car for the rest of the night or 2. Closed all the windows to keep the animal out...Ha!

Tomorrow we will actually SEE the Grand Canyon!