homeward bound

Well today is day six of our trip and we're finally almost home. We had a last minute change of plans when the weather turned on Thursday morning. We went from a warm and comfortable 80 degrees to a brisk 40 degrees overnight. Not only that, but a huge wind storm came into Amarillo and it seemed like we couldn't drive out of it. The strong gusts followed us all the way from Cadillac Ranch to Winslow, Arizona were we pulled off to "stand on a corner." When we went to hop back onto the I-40 it looked like a train a hundred miles long had parked itself on the freeway. We've never seen so many semi's on the road at one time. The freeway had been closed due to a bad wind/sand storm and was backed up for as far as the eye could see.

Wanting to avoid further bad weather, we scrambled to find an alternative route. After a few phone calls and about an hour of deliberation, we found a small highway that took us away from the dusty desert plains of Arizona and into a lush national forest of beautiful pine trees and shimmering blue lakes. What seemed like a long trip out of our way, turned into a fortunate and beautiful detour. Once we arrived in Flagstaff however, our luck changed. We hit a nasty snow storm as we rolled into town and having no heater or functioning windshield wipers, it was definitely not a pleasant experience. We decided that instead of heading north from Flagstaff and up through Kanab, we would go to Vegas and stay with Rob's sister to ensure better weather.

Today we drove to St. George to stay with my grandma since Fillmore got 4 inches of snow and Beaver and Nephi looked to have the same fate. Tomorrow we go home. We decided to take advantage of the red rock backdrop while we are here, and took the car up to the golf course to get some sunset shots. We couldn't get a good vantage point as there were cars parked in the ideal location, overlooking the golf course and red cliffs of Hurricane. So, with little convincing, we got the club house workers to allow us to park our Chevelle on the golf cart path right on the green. It's amazing the benefits you get with a car like this.

My grandma couldn't resist getting behind the wheel

We've seen 7 states in 7 days, made LOTS of new friends on the highway, and taken advantage of many great photo ops. It's been an incredible adventure but I'd be lying if I said we weren't a little anxious to finally be home.

Here are some more shots from our amazing trip:

Glenrio

Rob, leaving our mark at Cadillac Ranch

"takin it easy" in Winslow, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ

The adventure continues...

Well day four of our trip has finally come to an end. It was a long day filled with some really awesome sights. We saw what some consider to be the best part of Route 66 as we drove through Texas and New Mexico. We photographed the famous Cadillac Ranch, drove through Glenrio ghost town, explored Motel row in Tucamcari and saw some of the old motels and cafe's, stopping off at the Frontier Restaurant to get some delicious sticky buns, in Albuquerque.

Today was incredibly windy, but other than that it was a lot of fun. We pulled off of I-40 to jump back on the 66 somewhere back in Texas and we saw a little turtle chillin' in the road. So as I photographed the historic Route 66 sign, Rob came to the turtle's rescue by removing him from the middle of the road. The turtle happily repaid him by peeing on him. Maybe next time he'll let him stay in the road...lol

Here are some photos from today:

Cadillac Ranch

Abandoned gas station and motel in Glenrio

Abandoned Juarez Cafe in Glenrio Ghost Town

On the way to New Mexico

Route 66 in Tucumcari, NM

The famous Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, NM

Santa Rosa, NM

Dreams do come true...

Rob and I have been talking about two things for as long as we've known each other. One: owning his dream car, a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle, and two: cruising and taking photos on old route 66.

This spring we were finally able to make both dreams become a reality.

After years of searching we finally found "the one" and on April 25th 2010, after months of planning and negotiating, we flew down to the small town of Seminary, Mississippi to pick up our new "baby".

Drinking some cokes in a bottle with our new ride, outside Cranford's Drugstore in Seminary, MS (Population: 340)

We decided the best way to see how solid she was, was to drive her over 2000 miles back across the country and to our garage. We figure, if she can make it home, she can make it anywhere. And since we're out here, why not take advantage of the history and culture route 66 has to offer by making dream number two come true as well.

It's the start of day four of our adventure and so far so good. Car's running great and we've seen some amazing things.

We've driven through the lush countryside of Mississippi, stopped off and had some amazing Louisiana BBQ with a side of Southern hospitality, and brushed up on our history with a quick stop in Dallas to see the infamous site of JFK's assassination.

The book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot JFK from.

Our new ride sittin' pretty in the Texas countryside

We stopped at Red's Drive In in Quanah, TX for an old fashioned hamburger and some vanilla coke.

Yesterday we finally made it to the northwest part of Texas where our Route 66 journey began. So far we've been through Shamrock, where we saw the U Drop Inn, Conway to see Slug Bug Ranch and we crashed for the night in Amarillo where we will be enjoying our breakfast at the famous "Big Texan" restaurant, home of the free* 72 oz steak. (*yeah, free if you can eat it all in an hour).

It's been an exciting adventure so far and we've learned that everyone's your friend when you drive a classic. We get lots of thumbs up, big smiles and lots of waves. Did I mention that not only did we get a free upgrade to a suite at our hotel (and at a discounted rate) but the hotel manager was more than willing to let us park our new ride in the drop off area right in front of the hotel entrance over night.

With a little over 800 miles down and roughly 1200 to go, the adventure has only just begun. We'll keep updating everyone on our long journey back home.