Today wa
s a day of weather contrasts, from fair in the 60's to snow in the low 30's to desert in the 80's. We left Sedona this morning, after sticking our heads in the film museum to confirm what we knew all along in our hearts--Johnny Guitar was filmed here. Can't wait to get home and watch it again with this scenery fresh in our minds. We enjoyed a beautiful drive up to Flagstaff. Highway 89A is lush and tree-lined, following Oak Creek and through a large canyon. and I enjoyed taking time to photograph a bit more of the amazing scenery.
s a day of weather contrasts, from fair in the 60's to snow in the low 30's to desert in the 80's. We left Sedona this morning, after sticking our heads in the film museum to confirm what we knew all along in our hearts--Johnny Guitar was filmed here. Can't wait to get home and watch it again with this scenery fresh in our minds. We enjoyed a beautiful drive up to Flagstaff. Highway 89A is lush and tree-lined, following Oak Creek and through a large canyon. and I enjoyed taking time to photograph a bit more of the amazing scenery. Just west of Flagstaff we got onto I-40 and hit heavy snow and had some scary moments in our tiny PT Cruiser. Once we dropped down below 6,000 feet, though, the snow tapered off. We stopped
for lunch and then drove for a couple of hours on Route 66. Our diner in Seligman was just what you’d expect with a caustic waitress, stuffed animals, and crowds of anxious travelers traumatized from the snow.
for lunch and then drove for a couple of hours on Route 66. Our diner in Seligman was just what you’d expect with a caustic waitress, stuffed animals, and crowds of anxious travelers traumatized from the snow. We pass lots of prairie dogs and one beautiful scene with cowboys herding horses, but the road is mostly deserted and undistinguished (at least compared to the stunning scenery we’ve enjoyed the past couple of days). There were some notable wildflowers, but I found them hard to photograph and the roadside was so filled with empty booze bottles it was hard to navigate. Tumbleweeds are caught in the fence on either side of the road.
W
e pass a tourist site called “Grand Canyon Caverns” and Kitty eagerly anticipates a transformative experience. It is quite bizarre and a disappointment, though we had no regrets. It’s about 2 miles off the main road, attached to a large restaurant and shoddy looking hotel. Like much on Route 66, it seems to be stuck in the 1960’s. As we come in, there’s a wedding party just getting ready for their reception in the tacky restaurant (tables set in mock-elegance with pre-poured champagne). Our tour guide for the caves is a wiry, wheezy smoker with thin, greasy, long grey hair. He leads the group of about 30 into an elevator where we descend about 22 floors into the earth. The caves are decidedly unspectacular, although the tour goes on for about 45 minutes in a rote and hurried fashion. There is little color or variation, just some limestone formations and abandoned cases of survival rations in one large cave that were left over from the Cuban missile crisis. I can’t believe people would choose to get married here. We are relieved when the tour is done and we can get back on the road.
Needles is at the edge of the Mohave desert. The landscape still has beautiful mountains in the background, though the vegetation of the plains has been replaced by sand dunes. We will overnight here and then set out for LA in the morning. We plan to stay in Pasadena tomorrow. We have deviated from Sydney's itinerary, but are pleased to not be in San Diego tonight as they have bad flooding. It feels great to be in California and within such close reach of our destination.
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