Day 12 - Standing on the Corner
- Paul Mullan
- Oct 1, 2017
- 2 min read
Trading posts were a feature of the start of our twelfth day on the road. The oldest on Route 66, Ella's was once the San Diego Rawson's Frontier Trading Post and is still standing, perhaps only because of the interlocking timbers of the walls.
It's been a while since anything has been traded here though.
Not far away at Jack Rabbit, the huge sign used as advertising for miles either side of the trading post is still standing. Cut off by the interstate this curios business is still being run by the same family... just!
It's been forty years ago today since the Eagles released that song and put Winslow on the map. Still standing on the corner is the sign, old flat bed Ford and a Route 66 sign dominating the intersection to remind everyone abut the popular seventies track.
Finding ways to stop cars travelling the original road was quite a task and back then plenty of folk had plenty of ideas.
Twin arrows in the ground still mark the place where a gas station by the same name plied its trade and Two Guns once boasted the longest map of route 66 on the 2,300 mile journey.
Maybe the number of abandoned gas stations might become boring to most but to three Caltex Operators from New Zealand, this is possibly a cross between heaven and hell!
The best of all is likely the Zoo nearby that was home to all kinds of wild animals including Mountain Lions. Remnants still exist identifying the once popular attraction and a nearby bridge is only used now for private access across a revine.
In Flagstaff the Galaxy diner provides one of the best shakes around... we called it lunch today!
And it seems we've shared this place with plenty of other famous people too.
There were real wild animals at Bearizona near our overnight stay and we drove amongst the buffalo out on the plains, the bears in the woods.
And a black panther strutting his stuff in his million dollar state of the art enclosure. There was a highlight here somewhere for us all.
And how special was the appearance of Lucy the armadillo, just for our group.
Highlights today were as widespread as the attractions.
One of the seven natural wonders of world is always hard to beat.
The south rim of the Grand Canyon was our reservation for picnic dinner to watch the sun set on the massive cliff faces at 6.16pm, leaving time to take in the iMax film of the history of the canyon. It was then just a 55 mile straight run back to Williams for lights out.
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