WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU TURN 66??!!

When I woke up on my birthday this February and realized I am now 66, I decided right then and there that I MUST DRIVE RT 66!! Or at least part of it........ So I got on the computer and started doing my research. And my friend JOYCE gave me a GUIDEBOOK that was invaluable.

I mentioned my idea to my friend MARY ANN and she said she'd love to join me. Sooooooo, 2 months later WE DID IT. "Two old broads" acting like we were teenagers, driving a SMURF BLUE MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE. But what the heck? Why not, right??

After I had planned a route starting at SANTA MONICA PIER in CA heading east, I found out that the FREE COMPANION AIRLINE TICKET I had, could only be used in and out of the same city. So, I revised the itinerary and made a plan to fly in and out of ALBUQUERQUE, NM. 

This post will share only the RT 66 portion of the trip, although I JUST MIGHT have to do more sharing about the rest of the trip later......

Starting in ALBUQUERQUE we drove RT 66 all the way west to WILLIAMS, AZ - a FUNKY little town, before heading north to see the GRAND CANYON.

Our first stop was the TEENY-TINY town (???) of BUDVILLE, NM. We made the most of it with a few photos.........

Next stop - THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE, which frankly was uneventful.

LUNCHTIME - authentic Southwestern Cuisine - YUM!!

That's our SMURF BLUE MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE parked right in front.

Next stop - THE PAINTED DESERT NATIONAL PARK. Naturally, my photos really don't do it justice. I was ASTOUNDED by the natural beauty and the myriad of colors there!! Who knew? Unfortunately, we had to skip THE PETRIFIED FOREST, due to limited time.

We arrived in WINSLOW, AZ and "stood on the corner" (thank you EAGLES for the song).

Grabbed a photo with five "BIKERS FROM BROOKLYN" (my new "BOYFRIENDS" - hahaha) and enjoyed all of the RT 66 MEMORABILIA around town.

LA POSADA HOTEL, where we spent the night, was a "DESTINATION" in itself. LOVED IT!!.

The ORIGINAL ARTWORK throughout the hotel is PHENOMENAL.

LOVED the food in their TURQUOISE ROOM. BLACK BEAN and CORN CHOWDER SOUPS in the same bowl at dinner and "BAKED EGGS" over corn POLENTA with fresh veggies for breakfast.

The next day we stopped at METEOR CRATER NATIONAL LANDMARK (privately owned), listened to a little information about this "BEST PRESERVED AND FIRST PROVEN METEORITE IMPACT SITE ON PLANET EARTH" and then walked outside.

WOW WOW WOW!!!

That meteor was traveling 26,000 MPH when it hit, so everything disintegrated. However, they DID find a piece of it about 2 miles away, which we could see and touch. FASCINATING. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND making a stop here.

A short visit at WALNUT CANYON NATIONAL MONUMENT was quite interesting too. WHY oh WHY would people live in caves on the side of cliffs? We were told it was because of the fertile land below, where they could easily get water and grow food. The abundance of ANIMALS here also provided food.

The SINAGUA people left this region before the year 1250.

I wish we had planned time to explore FLAGSTAFF, AZ, but it was a mere drive-thru for us.  

And our last stop on RT 66 was that FUNKY little town of WILLIAMS. We had a hot-dog and a milkshake for lunch at their DAIRY QUEEN.

And this was only our FIRST TWO DAYS of our week-long trip!!

Driving PART OF RT 66 was EVERYTHING I had hoped for.

I hear that RT 66 through MISSOURI is quite interesting too.  Hmmmm........

JOAN