GRANTS, NM ~ May 26, 2007

The town of Grants is named after the Grant brothers who contracted to build the section of transcontinental railroad in this area. Although the first settlers had raised livestock, the timber industry took over once the railroad came in. Logging camps and sawmills sprang up throughout the Zuni Mountains, with branch lines connected to the main railway. In 1931, the lumber business slowed down as did the rest of the nation’s economy. By World War II, railroad logging had ended. Uranium mining began to flourish in the early 1950’s until the 1980’s when that also declined. The town’s population has dropped considerably since then, but Grants looks like a nice community with well-kept parks for the residents and mining museums for the tourists. Grants is the nearest town with hotels close to our next destination of El Malpais National Monument, but this was a budget trip for us and we were going to be camping, which is also easily available in the forested areas around Grants.

One thing to keep in mind about both Grants and Gallup is that most stores and restaurants are closed on Sunday. Coming from Arizona where everything is open all the time, this was surprising and seemed rather quaint in our current day and age. It’s a good thing we were traveling on a budget anyway and had brought a cooler full of sandwiches and snacks. Even so, Rich at least wanted to sample some New Mexico chili so on Saturday night we did stop at a place called Chili Kicks on Route 66. It’s owned by a local chili cookoff winner, Millie Chavez. She had won first place at the annual Chili Fiesta in Grants, as well as first place at the Sky City Salsa and Chili Championships. Definitely a family restaurant, the Chavez family was eating there at the time, too. The furnishings were simple, the prices were inexpensive, and the portions were plenty. The chili, salsa, and enchilada sauce were indeed good but they were all extremely HOT, even for us Arizonans. It’s a good thing they had free refills on soft drinks! If you have tender taste buds, you can just get a plain bean burrito with Spanish rice on the side, which wasn’t too hot. Sit by the window so you can watch the trains go by.

GALLUP, NM ~ May 26, 2007

While the Acoma, Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni Pueblo Indians have lived in northwestern New Mexico for centuries, it also seems that this area has always been a thoroughfare for travelers. Spanish Conquistadors led by Francisco Coronado arrived in the region in 1540, and although this wasn’t the “Seven Cities of Gold” that they were searching for, they did find a sophisticated network of roads connecting the various Indian settlements.

The Spanish were followed by other explorers, mountain men, cattle ranchers, cowboys, sheepherders, homesteaders, and expeditions sent by the U.S. Government to map the territory. (New Mexico became a U.S. territory in 1848.) Europeans, Asians, and Mexicans came to work in the region’s coal mines and build the railroad in the late 1800’s. (Originally called Carbon City, railroad workers re-named the town in 1881 after David Gallup, a paymaster for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.)

The establishment of Route 66 in the 1920’s led to an increased stream of travelers through Gallup, from farmers fleeing the dust bowl to soldiers starting a new life after World War II. Gallup was one of the first cities along Route 66 to have paved streets from end to end, and the town’s name is mentioned in the lyrics to the popular song, “Route 66.” Today, people still travel that route to see the wonders of the American Southwest.

Gallup is sometimes called the “Indian Capital of the World” for its centralized location in the heart of American Indian country. Since the early frontier days, Gallup has served as a major trading area for Indian arts and crafts. Gallup is the largest city in the American Southwest that holds onto this unique tradition. While Gallup is now a modern trade and tourism center it still retains its trading post atmosphere, western frontier flavor, unique cultural diversity, classic Route 66 roots, and productive railroad industry.

Driving into downtown Gallup along Route 66 you will see a bustling place with lots of traffic moving through, tourists shopping for souvenirs, and trains running along the tracks. There is a big lumber yard right in the center of town. There are over 100 trading posts, shops and galleries specializing in original American Indian art, including upscale galleries for the discriminating buyer. But the transient nature of the town combined with a plethora of roadside motels makes for cheap lodging, which means you will also find plenty of pawn shops, liquor stores, and fast food restaurants in Gallup. There are a dozen old motels all within a mile of the center of town.

El Rancho Hotel with its huge neon sign and western motif is a prime example of the heyday of Route 66. El Rancho was built as a home-away-from-Hollywood for movie stars filming in the area. These included such notable actors as Jackie Cooper, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, and Kirk Douglas. We stopped for gas at a Texaco station across the street from El Rancho, and later I found out that it’s also a Route 66 landmark that the same family has owned and operated since 1939. Oh, and speaking of movie stars, it was great to see an old single screen theater still in operation in the heart of downtown Gallup. Built in 1928, El Morro theater features performing arts as well as movies. (Spiderman 3 was on the marquee when we drove by.)

It was interesting to see that Gallup is a hillside town with steep side roads leading up from the main street into residential neighborhoods. While cruising along Route 66, look for the parking area next to the tracks where there is an old caboose with a map painted on it. You can step up onto the caboose and peek in the windows while watching the trains go past. We were separated from the train tracks by only a fence, and we could hear every squeak and creak of the train cars as they rumbled by. Once when we weren't looking, a locomotive blew his horn right next to us and made us jump!

HOLBROOK, AZ ~ May 26, 2007

Holbrook is located midway between Flagstaff, AZ and Gallup, NM on Historic Route 66, about 30 miles east of Winslow on I-40. Since 1881, Holbrook has been a busy frontier town – first there were the cowboys and cattle ranchers, followed by the railroaders and travelers. Holbrook is served by two railways: the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and the Apache Railroad. The centerpiece of town, the 1898 courthouse, is now home to the Navajo County Historical Society. Holbrook serves as a great base for a tour of Navajo, Hopi and Apache country. It’s also the gateway to Petrified Forest National Park, and you will see lots of petrified wood in and around Holbrook plus souvenir shops where you can buy some.

If you’re looking for an authentic western restaurant, try the Butterfield Stage Co. Steakhouse on Old Route 66. It’s a little pricey (as are most steakhouses) but the food is good and you get large portions. We didn’t go there this time but we ate at the Butterfield Stage Co. last autumn when we visited the Petrified Forest. It’s the exact kind of place where Keita, our friend from Japan, would love to go when he’s in America! The décor is rustic, the atmosphere is friendly, and our waitress was very nice. As I remember, we were there early (around 5:00 pm) so it wasn’t busy yet at that time. I had spaghetti but all of my hungry guys had steak. Butterfield Stage Co. also has a long mural of Route 66 painted on a block wall.

“Have you slept in a wigwam lately?” The Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, built in 1950, is a Route 66 landmark and it’s also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Cozy Cone Motel from Pixar’s Cars movie was patterned after the Wigwam, although to keep with the car theme they used orange traffic cones instead of teepees in the movie. At the Wigwam, there are fifteen teepees (numbered 1-16, with no number 13) encircling the motel office. Parked in front of the office and outside some of the teepees are several unrestored classic cars from the good old days of Route 66, giving the place a nostalgic appearance. To add to the excitement, the teepees are probably only about 100 feet away from a busy train track – as are all of the other motels along Old Route 66. (Even the fancy La Posada hotel in Winslow has the track running right behind it.) The trains come through about every half hour and they are loud (you might want to bring ear plugs), but to me that’s part of the thrill of staying on Route 66!

I’d sure like to be able to say that I had personally slept in one of the wigwams, but I can’t find a phone number to make advance reservations and every time we drive by, the office is closed. Apparently the owner just comes for a short while when it’s time for people to check in for the night, so it’s not like we can stop by and ask ahead of time either. I guess you have to be lucky and get there at just the right time when the office is open but before the fifteen rooms are sold out for the night. If anyone has stayed there before or has any more information or a phone number to call for reservations, please let me know!

ASH FORK ~ February 11, 2007

Ash Fork is located in northern Yavapai County at the junction of State Highway 89 and Interstate 40, along Historic Route 66 which runs the length of the town. A large monument in the center of town tells about the history of Ash Fork. For many years, stage coaches headed for Prescott started from here. Visitors can see some businesses here that have been in operation since the 1920’s - and from our more recent past, a computer store on the corner in which you can still see a big poster in the window announcing “Welcome to the World of Windows 95.” Ash Fork was named for the ash trees that grew on the town site. Today, Ash Fork is known as the Flagstone Capital of the United States. Elevation: 5,128 feet.

The original transcontinental railroad line that the Atlantic & Pacific constructed in the 1880’s became part of the Santa Fe Railway’s main line connecting Chicago and California. Like the Beale Wagon Road, the Arizona section of this railroad generally followed the 35th parallel in crossing the northern part of the state. The northern Arizona towns of Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, Williams, Ash Fork, Seligman, and Kingman owe their existence to this railroad. The railroad dominated the economy and served as a lifeline to civilization for the towns along its route, which were otherwise isolated settlements in the middle of the wilderness.

BEALE WAGON ROAD ~ February 11, 2007

We were driving down Route 66 from Kingman to Seligman, through the little towns of Hackberry and Valentine. Just before Truxton, we got off on a side cattle road to have a picnic lunch. It was a grassy area with rolling hills, and we didn’t see any cattle although a herd of pronghorn was grazing nearby. The railroad runs parallel to Route 66, and we stopped just before we got to the track. While we were there, several freight trains passed by. After lunch we walked down to the tracks and waited for another train to come by. We waved at the engineer, and he blew his whistle and put his hand out the window to wave back at us.

The dirt road that we were on ran alongside the railroad tracks, and we decided to drive that way for a while because we thought it might lead us to Truxton. It didn’t, but we made an exciting discovery. Along the dirt road there were BLM markers that said “Historic Beale Wagon Road 1857-1883 BLM AZ Heritage Project 1993.” Suddenly it all made sense! The modern-day roads and development followed these historic trails, of course, over which people had traveled through the centuries and built up towns along the way. So if you go all the way back to its original beginnings, Route 66 was even more historical than we thought. It was so cool to think we were traveling on the same path that wagons had traveled on in the 1800’s.

After we got back home, I did a little research on the Beale Wagon Road. In the late 1850’s, Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale and his party of men set out on a route along the 35^th parallel to construct a wagon road from Fort Smith, Arkansas to the Colorado River. Beale’s road roughly followed Lieutenant Amiel Whipple’s trail west across Arizona. They took a detour around Canyon Diablo, continued on through the Flagstaff area, headed northwest through Peach Springs and Truxton Wash (named for Beale’s son), then through Kingman and on to the Colorado River. Portions of this historic trail are still visible near the Navajo community of Leupp, at Laws Spring northeast of Williams, and between Valentine and Peach Springs.

This wagon road was once the major “interstate highway” across the northern Arizona Territory during the 1860’s - 1870’s. It traversed deserts, forests, and prairies. Deer, elk, and pronghorn antelope were commonly seen along the way – and they’re still there, as we observed. Modern roads, most notably Route 66, indeed followed the Beale Road alignment. Two of the best preserved original stretches of the Beale Wagon Road are northeast of Williams - the open grasslands of Government Prairie and dense pinon-juniper woodlands near Laws Spring. From Laws Spring, hike about 1/4 mile south and east along the marked trail to discover a segment of the original road that appears as two rows of rocks about a wagon-width apart.

http://www.southwestexplorations.com/bealemap.htm - Beale Wagon Road Navigation Map. (See also: http://www.tomjonas.com/swex/beale.htm)

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/kai/recreation/trails/wil_beale.shtml - Printable map of Beale Wagon Road Historic Trail #31, from the U.S. Forest Service.

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rse/riordanrt66.htm - Route 66 and Northern Arizona: Presented at the Riordan Mansion Brown Bag Lunch Sessions on June 13, 2000.

Did You Know…? Beale is most remembered for using camels in his road-building expeditions. Camels can travel for days without water, they eat more types of forage than mules do, and they can also carry heavier loads than mules. Beale’s camel driver, Hadji Ali (Hi Jolly), later lived in western Arizona. Ali's grave in Quartzite is marked by a stone pyramid topped by a copper camel.

PARKER/LAKE HAVASU ~ February 10, 2007

After leaving Swansea, this time we headed west at the four-way stop to Shea Road and Parker. It was actually a better, faster road than the one from Bouse. Parker has a historic AZ & CA Railroad Depot with old coach cars on display. The gasoline prices seemed to be a lot cheaper in Parker compared to other places – perhaps a ploy to get Californians to drive over to buy gas? We drove across the river and back again for what the kids called our “30-second California vacation.” We drove up to Parker Dam and passed over the Bill Williams River where it flows into Lake Havasu. It’s hard to believe it was the same river that we were picnicking at upstream. The river was so much wider here and swamp-like due to the lake water backing up into it. There are some nice state parks along there, as well as a national wildlife refuge. But we didn’t stop because we were making good time and were eager to get through Lake Havasu City so that we could find a camp site before dark.

When we were passing through Lake Havasu City, a lady pulled up next to us at an intersection, honked, and pointed to our front tire which was totally flat and we hadn’t even noticed. We drove around for a while looking for a gas station – which of course are on every corner except when you really need one! Then Rich wondered if there was a Discount Tire in that town. Almost as soon as he said that, he spotted what looked like a Discount Tire sign down the road as we were turning right at an intersection, so we turned back around and went that way and sure enough, it was a Discount Tire store. But it was going to be closing in just five minutes! Even so, they cheerfully took us in and checked our tires, and the rear tire was flat, too. I thought it may have been from a sharp rock on our off-road escapade, but in fact both tires had nails in them. I guess we must have picked them up in the ghost town? Rich has road hazard insurance with Discount Tire so that was good; and we were so thankful that those guys were willing to help us at closing time. We were lucky, too, because we would have been in bad shape if that nice lady hadn’t honked at us and we had gone camping in the middle of the desert that night, then woken up to discover that we had two flat tires and only one spare! We had a guardian angel watching over us I think!

That pit stop had put us behind on our time, but at my request we took a little detour so we could say that we had driven over London Bridge. Then we continued northward on I-95 which veered east a little bit, so when we got to I-40 we had to head west. Topock was a strange little place with a bunch of white pipelines stretching over a narrow part of the river, adjacent to the same spot where an old bridge on Route 66 entered California. It looked like I-40 climbed up a hill toward the sunset on the other side, while we got off and went north to Golden Shores. It was a tiny little town with one general store, a pizza/ice cream shop that was closed, a liquor store/gas station and a fire station. That area felt dark and isolated, but not as lonely as we were going to get later. Everywhere else we go in the state, there are either cattle roads or forest roads that we can camp along. But do you think we could find a side road to get off on? We drove and drove, and there were all these weird little circular turnouts on the side of the road but no dirt roads that went anywhere. We were speculating as to whether those turnoffs were something left behind from the busier days of Route 66 perhaps. Finally when we started getting near the mountains we found a dirt road with a maze of others leading away in different directions, probably branching off to old mines. The whole area seemed abandoned, and there wasn’t another soul around. Yet way down across the plain to the West, we could see the twinkling lights of a city – Needles maybe, or Bullhead City?

San Diego Model Railroad Museum ~ December 27, 2006

The San Diego Model Railroad Museum is the largest indoor model railroad display in the world! The individual HO and N scale layouts are also among largest of their type. The San Diego Model Railroad Museum is located on the lower level of the Casa De Balboa on El Prado in Balboa Park.

The mission of the San Diego Model Railroad Museum is to preserve the heritage of railroading through a series of miniature representations of California railroads. The model railroads are constructed by volunteer club members.

Train Layouts

Cabrillo Southwestern – This O-Scale exhibit is a freelance model of an imaginary prototype and features an electric trolley line. The layout is being built in place to give visitors a first-hand view of model railroad construction.

Pacific Desert Lines – An N-Scale Exhibit for which club members have won awards for their meticulous craftsmanship and painstakingly realistic details. For example, the model of San Diego's Santa Fe depot was constructed using actual blueprints of the building. The Carlsbad power plant has fiber optic strobe lights on top of its chimney.

San Diego & Arizona Eastern – This HO-Scale exhibit features an impressive 10- foot high model of the Carriso Gorge in eastern San Diego County and the Goat Canyon trestle, which was the largest timber railroad trestle in the world at the time of its construction in 1932.

Tehachapi Pass – An HO-Scale exhibit of Tehachapi Pass, which is still considered the busiest single-track freight railroad in the U.S.

Toy Train Gallery – This interactive exhibit features 3-Rail, Lionel and Brio layouts. The trains have realistic horns, whistles, engine sounds, and even smoke. A camera car broadcasts a real-time video onto a color television screen so that you can see the scene from an engineer’s point of view. There is also an underground coal mine section where kids can push buttons to operate the coal cars.

Lego City Visiting Exhibit – They really should have a permanent display of Lego trains, but luckily we just happened to go there at the time of a Lego City Visiting Exhibit which began on November 21st and ends on January 26th. This was pretty neat since we weren’t going to Legoland this year so the kids got to see a Lego exhibit anyway! This display included the usual cute details for observant viewers such as R2D2, Spiderman, etc.

TIPS: Be prepared to pick up your little one often or carry him or her on your shoulders throughout the museum. While there are steps and platforms at strategic locations, and the Toy Train Gallery is built at a child’s eye level, they will also want to see portions of the displays that are located at an adult’s eye level. Speaking of kids, we learned from experience that if you don’t like crowds it’s best to visit the museum on a school day, not on a weekend or during a school holiday. There is a snack bar conveniently located just upstairs from the museum. You can schedule School and Community Group Tour admissions, birthday parties, and they also offer summer camps.

WEBSITE: The San Diego Model Railroad Museum’s website at www.sdmodelrailroadm.com has an extensive online model railroad library, exhibit information and photo gallery, and a kids corner with a Virtual Railway. Guide your train, switch the track up, and control its route. How many different ways can you send the train around the track?