Sunday, April 11, 2010

Day 2 - Friday, 4/4/10 Needles to Sedona






















We ate breakfast at Juicy's, which was compliments of the hotel. Diced ham and scrambled eggs, hash browns, biscuit and a beverage. Then checked out of the hotel and we were on the road again about 8:45 am.

We are taking the Historic Route 66 to Kingman. Route 66 became a national highway in 1926.

At 10:10 am we cross the borderand are now in Arizona. At 10:34 we arrive in Oatman Arizona, It is as if taking a step back in time a couple hundred years.Founded in 1881, it has some very interesting shops and we would have loved to have stop and visited some of them but it is a little too early I guess....lol... as most still have closed signs up and the couple of tourists we see are just walking about. Maybe on the return trip we can stop.

N.R. Dunton Built a gas station just east of Oatman, Arizona. It became known as "Cool Springs"This was our next stop we arrived here at 11:30 and it was 76 degrees. In 1936 James & Mary Walker Walker from Indiana bought the station, adding a restaurant and bar. "Cool Springs" became famous for it's pan fried chicken! James didn't take to the desert life, so he left Mary and the 4 kid, returned to Indiana and started a new life. Before long, Mary met and married Floyd Spidell, a soda pop delivery man. The marriage didn't last, Mary left and Floyd kept "Cool Springs". When the new section of Highway 40 opened in 1953 the hay days of "Cool Springs" were over. Floyd converted the Cabins into chicken coops. In 1964 Floyd left "Cool Springs" for good, retiring in Kingman, Arizona. Vandals, harsh climate and the filming of the movie "Universal Solider" left "Cool Springs" in ruins. However, in the year 2001, Ned Leuchtner from Chicago bought the property and has completely restoration of the Mobil gas station which is home to a cozy gift shop. Future plans include a museum.

Outside you will find a unique portable with a Route 66 flag, 6 feet tall wood fencing making walls around it and a mirror on the fencing. I will post a picture of it. In the gift shop we got some Rout Beer made for stores on Route 66, and it is made in two places, California and Illnois. Kevin got a Route 66 hat, and I got a necklace and earrings. We also picked up a Route 66 map and some post cards. After talking with the owner for a bit we were back on the road.

Along the road a few times we would pause for pictures and a couple of times stopped to pick some wild flowers for me to dry for the scrapbook. I had seen a real pretty orange one and then didn't see it anymore, finally Kevin spotted it. It seemed to be more rare than the other flowers in the area.

Around 2 pm we were just outside Willaims, Arizona and found a bit of snow on the gound. TBy this time we had climbed to 6762 feet and the temp had dropped to 61 degrees. As we continued on the road, it slowly rose in elevation. We made a gas stop at A-1 Mountain Rd where we were at 7,335 feet and it was 60 degrees at almost 3 pm. this was just before the exit to Flagstaff.
As we continued on to Sedona we desended to 5,000 feet and the landscape was beautiful. The dirt is red like it was in Kauaii. The green trees against the red is so pretty and the formations of the mountains is amazing.

At about 3 pm we checked into the resort and got the paperwork of what is happening on the resort during the week. We recieved two tickets for margaritas on Thursday. There is a Wecome Breakfast and Tour Orientation Saturday morning. After receiving all this on to our unit, it is number 500. It is like a little one bedroom mobil home, cover with stucco. They have little babbling brooks between each row of homes with a fountain at the end. After dropping our things off at the unti we went to the grocery store. What is nice about staying at these type of resorts on our vactions, is that we save money fixing our meals instead of eating out all the time.

Back to the unit for dinner, and some TV. We watched Ghost Whisperer and Medium. Then Kevin went to bed and I tried to do some stuff on the interent, but sometimes difficult as the reception is sporatic.

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