Day Eighteen - Route 66
// August
14th - Route 66, Arizona // Distance today: 426 km // Total: 1530 km //
It smells
like incense sticks, the first shop I see will cleanse your Aura, and it
feels like someone set back the time. Flagstaff is a charming old town which
still transports the atmosphere of another decade. And probably today's
highlight.
In the
morning I hiked a few miles on the Bright Angel Trail, but I didn’t feel
prepared enough to do the whole trail in just one day. It’s a total of almost
10 miles (16 km) one way to the Phantom Ranch, and leads down all the way to
the Colorado River and involves descending 1500 m and of course the same
altitude up again. That, or hiking Rim to Rim, has to wait until next time,
which preferably will not be summer.
It was nice
though to see the Canyon from another perspective than the view points though.
Since the
Route 66 was on my bucket list, but I basically only crossed it once on my way
here, I decided to give it another shot and actually made the road my
destination.
I stopped in
Flagstaff for a coffee, since I bought a frappuccino on the road and only
realized after finishing half of it that it expired about 2 two years
ago. This town seems to be all about craft beer, good coffee and spiritual
healing. After wandering the streets for a bit I ordered a Coco Loco Latte at
the coffee house "Steep", just because I liked the name, and
continued on the Route 66.
I drove all
the way to Seligman, passing Bellemont, Williams and Ash Fork and if it was not
for Steven Fry and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire while driving, I would
have been pretty bored. There was not much to see.
The Route 66
and the I-40 overlap a lot, so instead of the expected road with rusty cars or
abandoned gas stations at the side of the road it was just following the
highway.
Seligman is
apparently the “place to be”. Loads of bikers, but also buses full of tourists
invaded the small town, especially the old, famous barber shop Delgadillo’s,
which is now a gift shop.
I picked the
wrong location for a snack (it seemed like it was a place with some history,
but I guess it wasn’t famous for more than maybe rude stuff), since I had a
family at the table next to me that made my meal way less enjoyable by
encouraging each other to burp the alphabet. It was hard to understand but I
think they made it to the letter N. Also the staff thought it was very funny
and joined the conversation. The actual talking, not the alphabet one.
All in all it
was pretty frustrating, and I decided to turn around. I might have missed the
best part of the Route 66 then, driving to Kingman, but since I didn’t have
internet to check if it’s worth driving an additional 90 miles – I drove back
to the Grand Canyon to enjoy some of those views.
Waiting for
the next, actual road trip adventure!
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