Arrived in Tucson at our next day’s destination just before
midnight.Found a nice spot to park
behind a light industrial site near the airport.Got up
early the Thursday morning and had breakfast at the Waffle House on the other
side of the building we had overnighted at.Heading down to our day’s destination – The Pima Air and Space
Museum.My Museum of Flight (Seattle)
membership got me in for free.But the
museum had to wait. For seven dollars I bought a ticket for a bus tour of the
nearby 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG)
located on the grounds of the adjacent Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.AMARG is a storage facility (boneyard) for
all aircraft held by all the braches of the armed forces, NASA and many other
federal agencies.There are currently
4,400 aircraft stored here consisting of some eighty different types.These aircraft cost the American taxpayers
over 35 billion dollars when new.The
site is currently at 60% capacity.Some
of these planes are mothballed and can be put back into service if the need
arises.Others are held a source of
parts for similar craft in service and some are in the process of being
scrapped.Most impressive is the rows of
larger aircraft, C-5 transports, B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, C-141
transports, C-130 transports, and P-3 Orion sub chasers.Of course there are scores and scores of
fighters (F-16, F-15 and F-4) and helicopters as well.The bus tour lasted about an hour and then
returned us to the museum.
Row upon row of Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers
Boeing B-52 bombers mothballed at AMARG as back up to those currently in service
First entered service in 1955 and are projected to remain in active service through the 2040's
F-117 Stealth Fighter
The Pima Air and Space Museum is the third largest such
museum in the world.It has always been
on my list of museums to visit.The site
has about half a dozen buildings housing aircraft as well as a mammoth outdoor
display area.There are some 300
aircraft on display here.The museum is
also pet friendly, Piper and Quincy made several friends among the museum
volunteers.
Convair B-36 Peacekeeper bomber
Convair B-58 Hustler bomber
Super Guppy transport
Boeing B-52 mothership for the X-15 space plane program
NASA KC-135A dubbed the "Vomit Comet" used to simulate zero-g for astronaut training
We spent the entire day at the museum and then headed to the
Pima County Fairgrounds RV Park where we overnighted.
After leaving the Grand Canyon late Wednesday morning we
headed south back to Williams and went to Bearizona, a drive through wild
animal park.Driving a nearly forty year
old motorhome with two Jack Russell Terriers onboard through an enclosed area
with bears, wolves, bison, big horn sheep and wolves roaming around is not for
the faint hearted.No doubt there should
be some kind of medal awarded or maybe a reserved place in some sort of an
institution. After surviving our close encounter of the wild kind we drove through
Williams again and headed west to Seligman.
Welcome to Bearizona
Quincy says "Let's stop for lunch!
Da Bear!
I’m happy to report that Seligman is enduring as a stopping along Route
66.I walked through town again as I had
on my visit in 2006.One of the shop
owners asked where I was from.When I
replied “Seattle” he informed me that I was the first American to stop in that
day.He told me that the town owes its
survival to the dollars spent by foreign tourists.How sad that we as a nation ignore our own
heritage.Visited the Angel Delgadillo’s
barber shop/souvenir stand store and bought various Route 66 trinkets. Angel
Delgado is The Father of the Mother Road because of his tireless efforts in
promoting Route 66.
I went across the
street and had an “Oink Burger” at the Snow Cap Drive In that was established
by Angel’s brother Juan Delgadillo and is now owned and run by his children
since his passing in 2004.The Cortez
generated much interested by the shop keepers and tourists alike.Headed back east just before sundown to our
next destination-Tucson.
Tuesday morning made preparations to get underway to the
Grand Canyon.After having to add a
little oil to the Cortez and noticing a couple of small spots on the ground I
got underneath and tightened the bolts on the oil pan and main seal.Said my goodbyes to Fred and Barney and made
my way north during another rain storm.The weather had scared everyone off.No wait at the main entrance and I was able to get a campsite without
reservations in the Mather Campground.After getting parked and settled in the dogs and I hiked up to the
visitor center to get our first look at the canyon.Well my first look was rather
anticlimactic.The canyon was socked in
with zero visibility.Undaunted we
returned to our campsite.
The Cortez at the Mather Campground
These critters were everywhere.
The weather
broke a few hours later and I returned to watch the sunset in the canyon from
the Mather Viewpoint.It is indeed a
Grand Canyon.
A view worth the wait
A definite must see.One of the seven natural wonders of the
world.Bedded down for the night and got
up early Wednesday morning to take the park bus to Powell and Hopi points which
are closed to vehicle traffic the majority of the year.Again sensational.
Woke Wednesday morning to find this guy in the next camping site
The view from Powell Point
Certainly one could make an entire vacation
just here.Got a couple of books at the
visitor center and headed out to Williams again.With the improvement in the weather they were
backed up almost a mile to get into the park as we left.
I hope that I turned the sprinkler off at the house before I
left!
After waking up Monday morning parked in the empty lot we
spotted the night before, I realized that I had parked right across the street
from the Williams Justice Center and Sherriff’s Office.Well I guess I couldn’t have picked a safer
spot.Ate a hardy pancake breakfast at
the Pine Country Café in Williams and then set out to walk the town.
Not often that you see a MiG 15 at a truck stop. This one was on its way to the Planes of Fame in Valle, Arizona
Headed north towards the Grand Canyon but that wasn’t the
day’s destination.About halfway between
Williams and the Grand Canyon in Valle, Arizona is the Flintstones Bedrock City
theme park and campground built in 1972.I had to stay at this roadside attraction.The buildings look exactly like those on the
cartoon.Constructed of shotcrete and
painted garish colors, it was Bedrock.
Wilma...I'm home!
While the exteriors look spot on the interiors were dark and
dank.It had rained very hard that
morning and water streamed in everywhere from the ceilings.This place was old and worn out much like the
people running it.It was like passing a
really bad traffic accident that you could not look away from.Such a shame as so much traffic passes here
on the way to the Grand Canyon.I watch
several carloads of families go into the gift shop and come right back out and
keep going`.I found the state of decay
morbidly fascinating.I decided not to
risk a case of pterodactyl ptomaine and passed eating at Fred’s Diner.Instead I walked next door and visited the Planes
of Fame Air Museum.
Western Airline Convair 240 at the Planes of Fame Air Museum
Flintstones Bedrock City is for sale along with the 30 acres of land that
the park is located on.Asking price $2
million!Left Bedrock for the Grand
Canyon Tuesday morning. Good luck Fred!
Bobby Troup playing "Get Your Kicks On Route 66", which he wrote, on the Julie London Show in 1964. Julie and Bobby were married in real life. You may remember both from their roles on the television show "Emergency".
After leaving Albuquerque Friday
night headed west to the Grants-Milan Airport to spend the night.Coincidentally this was the first stop of the
day Saturday.The Western New Mexico
Aviation Heritage Museum has restored a 1929 Airway Beacon here at the
airport.Long before GPS and even before
radar and air to ground radio this is how planes navigated across the
continent.This system was designed by
Charles Lindbergh for the Transcontinental Air Transport (forerunner of TWA).This particular airway covered the route
between Los Angeles and Amarillo.These
beacons were located every 10-15 miles along the airway route, at night each
had a two million candle power rotating beacon and a course light that put the
site location out in Morse code.During
the day the site had large concrete arrows along with the route and site
numbers painted on the roof.
Navigating the old fashioned way.
Left the airport and continued
west.I made appoint of getting off I-40
whenever a surviving section of Route 66 was available.I-40 not only a major truck route but this
section parallels the BNSF southern transcontinental railroad.A freight train and the Cortez kept pace with
each other for some distance.As we
entered Arizona we repeated a section of the first major road trip I took with
the Cortez just after I bought it.As we
passed Houck, Arizona I could see the roadside attraction called Fort Courage
(inspired by the TV show “F-Troup) that we visited in 2006 was now
abandoned.Continued on stopping in
Holbrook and visited the Wigwam Motel that was the inspiration For the Cozy
Cone Motel in the 2006 Pixar movie “Cars”.Supposedly they are still renting rooms.I called a day or two earlier and was told they were booked.When I arrived Saturday afternoon there were no
guests and the office was closed.Several tour buses stopped and their passengers roamed the site.I sure they would have purchased some
souvenirs if the office was open. What a shame.
Wigwam Motel on Route 66 Holbrook, Arizona
The Rainbow Rock Shop on Route 66 in Holbrook, Arizona
After cruising around Holbrook
and Joseph City continued west.Stopped
at Jack Rabbit Road and got a 2015 photo of the Cortez with the iconic “here It
Is” sign.Picked up some trinkets at
thee Jack Rabbit Trading Post and then continued on to Winslow.Stopped by the Winslow-Lindbergh Regional
Airport and saw the original Transcontinental Air Transport terminal and hangar
buildings that I was told about at the Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage
Museum.There is also an unrestored
Airway Beacon tower here.Found an
antique car show in progress in downtown Winslow.Looked at the cars and walked around
downtown. Fueled the Cortez up and made my way over to the Walmart to park for
the night.
Jack Rabbit Road revisited in 2015
Got an earlier start Sunday
morning getting another blog post out and then headed west.Stopped at Meteor Crater and bought some souvenirs.Noted as I passed Two Guns and Twin Arrows
that both sites had been severely damaged by vandals since my 2006 visit.Stopped in Flagstaff and spent the afternoon
and evening exploring downtown and the Route 66 sites.Coolest weather of the trip along with some
thunder showers. Lots of rail traffic both directions here.Headed out to Williams where we walked around
in the night air.Found a spot in an
empty lot to boondock for the night.
Last Sunday afternoon we got into Albuquerque and stayed
several nights at the Enchanted Trails RV Park and Trading Post located on
Route 66 just outside of the city limits.The campground is a former trading post with a friendly staff.They even have some vintage trailers on-site
to stay in.Albuquerque was one of the
destinations along my journey due to its Route 66 history a lot which is still
evident on Central Avenue, the old main drag through town.
The Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post on Route 66
Over the next week in addition to just hanging out I covered
the 18 miles of Route 66 through the city.I utilized a number of modes of transportation including walking,
bicycling, public transportation and the Cortez.Some notable points of interest included:
·The Sandia Peak Tramway which takes you from the
6,000’ level to the top of Sandia Peak at just over 10,000’ where the
temperature was 20 degrees cooler.On
the way up debris from the February 19, 1955 crash of TWA flight 260, a Martin
4-0-4 airliner, can still be seen.Flight 260 was going from Albuquerque to Santa Fe when it hit the fog
shrouded mountain, all 16 onboard perished.
The Sandia Peak Tramway at it approaches 10,000 feet
·The Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon
Museum which included a display of the balloon bombs that the Japanese launched
against the United States during WW II.
·I met “Atomic Annie” at The National Museum of
Nuclear Science and History.No that’s
not local exotic dancer but the nick name given to M-65 280 mm mobile
arterially also known as the “Atomic Canon”.
"Atomic Annie" at the Nuclear Museum
·Quirky Tinkertown a folk art creation that took artist
Ross Ward over 40 years to carve, collect, and lovingly construct what is now the
Tinkertown Museum. His miniature wood-carved figures were first part of a
traveling exhibit, driven to county fairs and carnivals in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Today over 50,000 glass bottles form rambling walls that surround the museum.
Great philosophy from the creator of Tinkertown
·Walked through Old Town which dates back to the
founding of the city by the Spanish in 1706. Now it’s a popular shopping and
tourist destination of about ten blocks of historic adobe buildings grouped
around a central plaza (a common feature of Spanish colonial towns).
Tried the local food scene including the Owl Café, the
Frontier Café, the Route 66 Diner, the Flying Star Bakery, The Dog House (seen
on the show Breaking Bad) and The Gravy.Would highly recommend all of them.
After the trip to the Sandia Peak Tramway the Cortez started
running a little rough.Given that we
still have a long way to go on our journey I was concerned.I have learned to utilize a variety of
resources with the Cortez.Given its use
of the Toronado drive just like the GM motorhomes of the same period I have
lurked on their sites also to glean information.As it turns out there is a shop that
specializes in working on the GMC motorhomes here in town just blocks off Route
66.I telephoned then dropped by the
owner took my rig out for a test drive and told me if I had it back in the
morning at 7 AM he would work on
it.Did some more sightseeing and
decided to boondock out in front of his shop so we were ready first thing.Friday morning the owner himself, Jack Hodges
checked it out and found the trouble right off.The metering rods in the carburetor were seized.He immediately went to work getting a carb
kit and within about three hours the repairs, an overhaul on the carb were
completed and we were back in action.I
am not very happy with my mechanic who was given the task of checking out the
Cortez for a cross country trip back in August.Especially since he told me he had trouble setting the idle on the
carb.I may be looking for a new shop.
Friday night we left town heading west on Route 66
After leaving Page, Arizona Friday morning we headed to our
next destination…Monument Valley which is located just north of the
Arizona/Utah border.After arriving
mid-afternoon and seeing it in person I decided to take advantage of the RV
campsites which are primitive (no hook-ups) but functional.You may recognize Monument Valley from numerous
westerns over the years as well other movies and the television show
“Airwolf”.
The Cortez in the Monument Valley Campground, what a view!
Surprising that a majority of the visitors were either
Chinese or European.
I did a little hiking that day, had to remind myself that we
were over a mile up in altitude so it’s not as easy as back home.Treated myself to a delicious dinner of Green
Chile Stew at the View Restaurant.I
finally resolved an issue that had been bothering me since Eastern Oregon.My baseball hat was just not doing it out
here.So I got me a badass black cowboy
hat!!Watch out Clint Eastwood!!!
Saturday headed north in the Valley of the Gods and then
east to the Four Corners Monument where I stood in four states (Utah, Colorado,
New Mexico and Arizona) at once.
Four Corners Monument
Standing in four states at once
You won’t find Monument Valley or Four Corner Monument in
any of your National Parks brochures as these parks are on Navajo Tribal land
and are administered by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation.Tourism employs many of the Navajo here.The surrounding areas are very economically
challenging.You will encounter many
people on the roadside selling produce, jewelry or whatever to eke out an
existence.
Decided to overnight at the Walmart in Farmington, New Mexico where I spotted a throwback from another era to dine at.
