Encounters with Route 66

Route 66 has been replaced by Interstate 40 as the main east-west highway across the USA, but we found our route regularly coinciding with or running parallel to "The Mother Road", as they call it in these parts. Sometimes we made a special detour to drive along it, just to get our kicks, of course! Flagstaff was where the original campaign began to have Route 66 recognised as a "historic route", to ensure its iconic status was preserved. We visited a famed Route 66 stopover - The Museum Club, otherwise known as The Zoo. It's the biggest log cabin in Arizona, built around 5 trees (still standing inside, but long since dead) & originally constructed to house the owner's taxidermy collection (also long since dead, but still there). This is the place to go for cowboys who want to do the Arizona 2 step. Occasionally the Texas 2 step can be seen, but line dancing is a no-no. We weren't there of an evening but there were cowboys hanging out there, even on a Sunday afternoon, by a roaring log fire watching horse races. We left before the Poker tournament began but not before the barmaid showed us round the 1880s mahogany bar & the old brothel & Poker rooms. She was very keen to share her ghost stories with us.

We drove on along the section of Route 66 between Seligman (with its 50s diners & motels) & Kingman, which gave us a taste of the classic Route 66. We were enthralled with The Hackberry General Store. In the middle of nowhere, it was an amazing relic from the past - old petrol pumps, rusting old cars, advertising hoardings & signs, an old Greyhound bus stop & a small wooden building with the words "Music Hall" over the doors. Having read Bill Bryson's "Lost Continent", we were very excited to see the roadside advertising for Burma Shave. If only road side advertising had stayed like this: simple wooden boards with white lettering at strategic intervals along the kerb

"Along The Road

How Sad To

Know You're

Out of Mode

Burma Shave"