Get your kicks on Route 66

Good evening, Campers! It’s Silver,Cliche’ back again and tonight again from Fort Tuthill County Park in Coconino County, Arizona (best known for the City of Flagstaff).

After nearly a week in the NM/AZ, I think my Spanish is improving. Of course, since I speak no Spanish whatsoever it would be hard for my Spanish to deteriorate. So, here we are in Coconino County. I believe it was named for a boy who liked hot chocolate. 

Tonight is our last night in what I consider the southwest. 24 hours from now we’ll be in “the west”, specifically Nevada for one night then on to California on Tuesday. Here’s the route we took since the last time I updated you with a map:

That’s Rockhound State Park, NM near Deming, three nights in the Tucson area, two nights here in Flagstaff the off to the very southern pointy tip of Nevada. When we were kids we had a wooden cut-out puzzle of the US. I remember that Nevada was the only state with a point sharp enough to act as a weapon. That’s where we are headed... the tip of the spear. We’d probably skip it except that would leave a gaping white spot in out travel map, so we are committed.

So, this morning was chilly. The Silver Cliche’ weather station reported 37 outside, making it the coldest temperature we have seen so far on this trip. We’ve camped colder, so no worries, but the furnace earned its keep to ensure our comfort last night. The high for today was low 70s when we decided to seek cooler temps, we found what we were looking for in Flagstaff.

We lounged until the time came to prep and head out for a Mother’s Day lunch in Flagstaff. When we diverted here instead of heading to Phoenix as originally planned I turned to Open Table to see what was available. We had a reservation but evidently people in Flagstaff don’t honor their mothers because we were the first folks seated. We took it slow, strolled around and did some shopping after lunch, then drove around Flagstaff to see the old town center.

Flagstaff clearly remembers itself as a logging town. It may still be. Certainly it has the standing timber for it even today. Heres what our campground looks like:

I believe the dominant species here is the ponderosa pine (which I recall was named after the ranch in a 1960s TV show  starring Michael Landon and some other guys... but it could have been the other way around). Anyway, the first guy to arrive here with a saw found a bonanza on the hillsides. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks run right through town, as did a long train while we were there. On a siding near the post office sits a steam locomotive with a single freight car coupled to it. On the freight car (which is a flatbed) are three large ponderosa pine logs. It’s nice to see heritage remembered.

The main drag that runs parallel to the tracks on the north side is historic Route 66. 

The GPS called it out several times as we tried to find various landmarks and hotspots. This isn’t our first encounter with the old road. It’s hard to miss if you zigzag around the belly of our country. Here’s a map from the National Park Service that shows its route from Chicago to LA. Nat King Cole immortalized it for the theme to the TV show in the 60’s. Flagstaff even gets a shoutout in his original recording.

So, another chilly night ahead. I finally lost my battle trying to convince Verizon Wireless that they really should have a way to sell me more streaming data for our mobile hotspot. I thought they were in the business of selling people connectivity? Guess not. Anyway, T-Mobile is in that business and sold me a second hotspot yesterday then told me how I could buy as much of their data as I wanted. Nice folks T-Mobile! So, tonight we are back in the business of streaming data to the projector. I’ll post this then head to the Silver Cliche’ cinema on wheels to see what Mrs. C’ has picked for us.

Later...