ROUTE 66, STAGE 9: GALLUP - FLAGSTAFF

We wake up in Gallup, a very laaaargo town but, except for the El Rancho hotel and the occasional harvest, it doesn't have much appeal. We went on the road following I40 on a super windy day, which added to driving a fairly large motorhome, means: very careful!

As we have already told in the previous days, this whole area of ​​Route 66 is done following the Interstate 40There are some sections of the route that coincide with the entrances to the villages, where you can take the opportunity to relax a bit, go at your own pace and enjoy the scenery more. But if you need to eat your miles like there's no tomorrow, I40 is a good trick.

We made the first section through these trucks, and so we entered a new state. We are now in Arizona! Shortly after passing the border on the right there is a trading post (or what in my town is called a road sale) of Native Americans in a very cool natural enclave: just under a cave in a huge rock. If you are lucky, you can see the kids on top, and if you don't have it too, they are plastic goats!

We follow a rate along I40, on the right bank of this road, a few miles ahead is an abandoned fort, with its entrance (where you can pass by the way) its turret and its Taco Bell (this one also abandoned). It is called the Fort courage. The truth is that it is in a rather painful state, but if you want to know more about its history, here it is.

It is time to forget again for a few miles of Route 66, and well worth it. The reason is to visit the Petrified Forest National Park, a fascinating millennial park where lots of petrified trees! As we tell you. Millions of years ago this was a huge forest of gigantic trees, where they roared freely dinosaurs. As time passed, the trunks of fallen trees became fossilized becoming minerals of many colors. The truth is that it is a real past!

The park is visited by the road of 28 miles which crosses it from north to south, to Highway 180, which if you follow it will take you to Holbrook where you can join Route 66 again. park there are three zones: the first one has a very cool panorama, with brown and orange colors and typical formations of these deserts. In the second, later, you will see how the mountains are formed by layers of different colors according to the type of sediment. In the last part is where the remains of the fossils of these trees, which have given the name to the park, are concentrated. At one stop there is a 1.3 km trail around these rocks that is highly recommended! A mile before finishing there is a museum where they explain more about the formation and evolution of this strange phenomenon and another interesting little path.

The ticket price is 20$ by car, although you can pass if you have the annual America the Beautiful pass. The park, although only 28 miles long, takes about an hour and a half, with stops and walks. If you think you don't have time but you have the pass and it would be free, why not do the first 5 miles and then turn around? (If you look at the map, the road that travels through I40, unfortunately it has no exit, so you would have to turn around).

When we arrive at Holbrook our soul fell a little to the ground when we saw how there was a company that had hundreds and hundreds of these petrified trees on its land and then sold them as a souvenir in small pieces ... To me this sounds like a full-blown plunder!

At the Arizona Visitor Center (or something like that) in the town of Holbrook you can pick up a passport of Route 66, which is still a bacalá! You can go collecting stamps along the attractions of Arizona, but come on that some are pure tourist ... Although as I remember it is not bad!

At the exit you have to go through the Wigwam Motel, may be the most curious motel on the entire route. They are neither more nor less than cabins in the form of tipis Individual Indian where to spend the night. Know that you will not be able to park right at your tipi's door (if you have decided to stay here), because it will already be occupied by an old car that probably does not move in many years.

The next stop is one of those geeks, the Jack Rabbit Trading Post, it is a store that had its peak when Route 66 was in full swing. Now it has obviously come to less, although you can still go in and buy a souvenir. But the most striking thing about the place is the huge rabbit at the entrance, if you have never climbed into one, this is your moment! It was ours ... jiji. As a curiosity to tell you that the sign that says “HERE IT IS” was an inspiration for PIXAR in the movie Cars:

A pretty town you'll find below is Winslow. It is tiny but has a very interesting historical center of a couple of blocks. The epicenter is the corner with the huge sign of Route 66 on the ground. The site is called the "Standing on the Corner“And you will see that it is a very quiet place. Here everything invites calm ... literally: you'll see lots of posters with the "Take it easy" that refers to an Eagles song that mentions this place: "I'm standin'on a corner in Winslow, Arizona " So they mounted this corner to not miss the opportunity. The photo is indispensable for your travel album.

A site that we would have loved to visit (if not for the $ 18 of the entrance) is the Meteor Crater, a huge crater formed by the impact of a meteorite. But ... $ 18!

The next stop was the ghost town of Two Guns. Actually there are only a few ruins of buildings, a busted gas station and little else. But in the past he had his vidilla. History tells us that it was the place where there was the greatest confrontation between the Navajos and Apaches tribes ... More info! It is right next to the road and not lost more than 5-10 minutes.

Also on the side of the road (on the left to be precise, we throw to the right and end up in a casino ... if the destination calls us !!) is the Twin arrows, two huge arrows that worked as a claim of this road sale. The deal closed like most, but the arrows are still stuck in the ground waiting to be photographed.

Although we have won an hour for the clock, the afternoon is on and the detour to Winona also ... Will we forget Winona? No, we do not! So we take this road, from which we see one of those old iron bridges, to continue ascending feet and feet. And in a moment the landscape changes flatly! The plains and deserts give way to lush pine forests and bear sculptures!

So we continue a few miles until we reach Flagstaff, our end of the day. Apparently it is the highest place on Route 66 (we also heard it from Continental Divide, before arriving in Gallup) ... and here they have a facility to give the title of the MOST to things ... We attest that the site is high (The most?), and maybe today I have to sleep with a little blanket.