Pics from cross-country trip!

[deathegg]

Hello everyone!
Well, I wanted to share some pics from my trip for you. Sorry the pics are a bit big; no time right now to reduce the size.

First two pics are the old Twin Arrows Trading Post, AZ. Has been closed for many years, but there are signs there that seem to indicate that they want to restore the place. the big arrows in the ground are a Rt.66 landmark.

twin arrows


Up the road a few more miles is the old Two Guns Trading post. This was a HUGE place, a few acres. Back in the 40's and 50's, they had mountain lions and a small zoo, side shows, etc. Not much left but some crumbling remains.


This is an abandoned Rt.66 bridge at Two Guns. This was on the old alignment of 66, but now it's in the middle of nowhere; no remains of the road even lead up to it anymore.


A still-operating "trading post":


This is the Meteor Crater Observatory tower. Years ago this was used to view the crater, but was abandoned long ago:


A very cool '50's style sign in Grants:


This is the Blue Swallow motel in Tucumcari, NM. Staying here was great, I can imagine how the travelers of the 40's felt when they stayed here. Each room is as it was back then, including Western Electric dial telephones! And each room has it's own garage:


This is the leaning water tower in Groom, TX. It was actually built this way.


The famous Cadillac Ranch, in TX. I almost missed it, since it's off in the distance a bit. I had to get off I-40 and backtrack on old 66 to get to it:


More pics tomorrow,
Mark

[Team Lightning]

Great photos!! Can't wait for more. Nice Festy.

[GenevaDirt]

thanks for sharing...nice pics

[SimonTuffGuy]

That looks like fun! A friend of mine took Rt 66 on his way back from PA to his home in OK. I'd love to take some time off work just to travel along there.

[Festiva_tunner]

I've driven past that tower before - it really looks like its ready to fall over any day.
Looks like an awesome time

[batstiva]

Nice pics! Always kind of been a goal of mine to drive Rt. 66 from start to finish. Thanks for sharing.

[ejp2fast]

i am waiting for a call from Mark to maybe meet up.....hope its soon.

[Safety Guy]

Great pics Mark!

Your Festy look awfully nice, too!

Karl

[gdawgs]

Great pictures. It's almost like traveling back in time.

[TominMO]

Great fotos and a nice looking Festy too! Did the Indians have to deal with dinosaurs tho? :-)

[Stivadiva]

I really like your photos. Makes me want to take a road trip. I also like your two-toned Festy.

[FFesti_90]

Is Rt. 66 still driveable? I'd love to cruise down it, but I don't know if it still fully exists!

[Smedley]

Pieces still exist, but not the complete road. Looks like you are having a great time deathegg.

[deathegg]

Yes, it's been a nice trip so far. More pics when I have time to download, etc..

Rt.66 is very often referred to in the past tense, but much of it still exists and is drivable. Probably 80-85% is still drivable. Now, most of it isn't actually called Rt.66 anymore, but 85% of the actual road still exists, no matter what they call it. Much of it is the small access road running right beside the interstate (such as right next to Cadillac Ranch), or is the business loop through small towns. I'm going to the small town of Rolla tomorrow.
Some of the drivable parts are very rough though. I drove a small stretch in Arizona, and couldn't go far because the pavement was so broken up.

However, the other 15-20% is either non-drivable, hard to get to, or both. OR it now lays "underneath" the interstate that replaced it. I passed a few places so far, where you can see where 66 leads up to the interstate, then ends about 50 yards away.

And there's the fact that some of the non-drivable parts are seemingly in the middle of nowhere, with no beginning and no end; just a 1/4 or 1/2 mile stretch of concrete or asphalt lying in the middle of a field. (as an example, the abandoned bridge in my photos).

I met a trio of brothers who were taking the entire 66 from CA to Chigago, driving every stretch they could. They can attest to the roughness of some of the original road; they had 2 flat tires so far in the trip, and they were only in Texas, with a few states to go.

[deathegg]

A few more pics:
This is an example of how Rt.66 sometimes just abruptly ends. You can see it's replacement, I-40, in the backround.


The Route 66 sculpture in Tucumcari NM:


The First/Last motel and service station in Glenrio, TX. Literally on the state line of NM, one side of the sign said "First Motel" (coming into TX)...the other side said "Last Motel", leaving TX. The only signs of life in this ghost town were 2 stray dogs, which didn't look very friendly.