Monday, June 8, 2009

Hoofin' it around Holbrook, Route 66 style

In its original form, this trip was a Route 66, LA to Arizona weeklong adventure I created maybe 2 years ago. Because of work, and because of marriages and visiting Eddie in London, it never happened. Route 66 was the vein of America for decades, bringing people westward. Since the drives were long, people needed neat motels to rest their heads at, and boring, people needed roadside attractions so they wouldn't go nuts. I like history. Wanted to be entertained and see some goofy statues. Though I knew I wasn't going to focus on Route 66 sights, I definitely wanted to visit some key attractions, the main one being the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook. 

We stayed inside one of these babies. It was a little claustrophobic, but really neat. There was a classic car parked in front of each, and Chris excitedly commented to the lady at the check-in, "looks pretty full!" and then we laughed at him for a bit after since the cars were just for show. But in all actuality, many of the rooms were occupied by bikers and young couples. 

That night we made a run to the Safeway across the street and I noticed there are a lot of east Indians living off of I-40, there were many the next day in the Grand Canyon, too. Anyway, we bought mixers and when we returned to the motel, some people were shooting off fireworks across the street. Good ones, too. A nice welcome to Holbrook, indeed.  
The next morning we decided to just eat in the hood at Joe and Aggie's Cafe. It was really neat inside with Route 66 memorabilia. The whole town was small, but had a shit ton of personality. 
This guy was just hanging out downtown. 
We ended up at the Rock Store which is reminiscent of a scene in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. It was divine. They sold pieces of petrified wood. We never made it to the Petrified Forest down the road, but I did buy a tiny piece of ancient history.  
Jimmy and I imitated the dinosaurs.

1 comment:

Emily Sue said...

I want to go! You know, I think the actual Pee Wee's Big Adventure Dinosaurs are near Joshua Tree...You probably even drove near it. I need to go on a Pee Wee's Big Adventure road trip. I wonder how many times that's been done? Probably a lot.