Route 66 - Day Six (Holbrook to Sedona, AZ)

We busted out of Holbrook for the Petrified Forest & Painted Desert National Park, but without breakfast, our navigational skills were a bit lacking. We ended up on old 66, but it was a part that didn't intersect with the I-40, so once we hit dirt, we had to turn around and go all the way back to Holbrook, hook up with the I-40, and stop at the Hopi Cafe for a trucker's breakfast. I had chicken fried steak smothered in white gravy, and biscuits and MORE white gravy. They sure do like their gravy down here.

Petrified Forest & Painted Desert was nice, but in retrospect, we should have skipped it in order to see more of the Grand Canyon, which was later in the day.




Pop quiz: Winslow, Arizona is known for:

a. its efficient crystal meth production facilities
b. its mention in the Eagles song 'Take it Easy'
c. a place with a lot of fast food restaurants
d. all of the above

I made Ivan stop in Winslow, to go to "the corner". While we were there, a couple got me involved in their argument over whether the song said "a corner" or "the corner". I confirmed it was "a corner". They then got me to explain the difference. I went into definite and indefinite articles (Ang, you'd be proud at my ESL teaching skills to EFLs), which may have been too overwhelming for them, since they smiled, nodded, and ran away quickly.


(an Ivan, my Lord! In a flatbed Ford; us standin' on a/the corner)

We stopped in Flagstaff for lunch. Flagstaff is more of a name that evokes images of westerns, and less of a place to visit for any touristy goodness. If you're ever in Flagstaff for lunch, stop at the Beaver St. Brewery. Then ask for directions to a better restaurant.

A lot of driving got us to the Grand Canyon after 4 p.m.; the sun sets around here about 6:30ish, so it didn't give us a lot of time with pics. Ivan wasn't impressed, but I was okay. I realized that I am not a fan of big landscapes and vistas. I don't have anything against them, but they don't fill me with awe. I'm more of a small town, stop in a bunch of buildings, snap some pics, and talk to people type of guy. Ivan's more of a big scenery, talk to minimal people kind of guy. The Grand Canyon was the Grand Canyon.


(Chicken Little on top; Grand Canyon in middle; bravery on bottom)

Iv did a lot of jumping from rock to rock, which made me super nervous. I couldn't do it: if I got closer than three metres from an edge, I had visions of me falling off and smashing at the bottom like an egg. After the Grand Canyon, we drove to Sedona in the dark. A lot of winding down steep roads, but we couldn't get a sense of what was around us while driving. Sedona's hotels were mostly full; we tried five or six before settling on the Day's Inn, where we found out it was peak tourist season (September & October).