Route 66, Arizona

The mother road is alive and well in Arizona! It guided us across the northern part of the state as we connected with history, left the boring interstate behind, and rolled through its collection of desert landmarks and small towns with big character.

This part of our trip was also full of amazing vintage neon hotel signs. They have become one of my favorite things to find and photograph in any town we stop in. I'm especially charmed if they advertise modern innovations like color TV. It's now at the point where Ben helps me find them and already knows where to slow down or stop the car without me asking.

The towns we visited along the way each had a quirky charm all their own.

Oatman You can still feel the gold mining, rough and tumble, wild west history in this Arizona hill town. Named for the Oatman family, who were victims of a Mojave Indian massacre back in 1851, it has seen a series of booms and busts ever since its founding, from gold, to route 66 tourism, to ... burros.

Today, Oatman's western spirit is alive and well, with saloons, historic hotels, old jails, museums to explore, and the herd of burros that call the town home. They were impossible to miss as they wandered along the main drag, accepting scratches and eating from people's hands.

The challenge for us was that burros are afraid of dogs, and our two corgis love to bark with abandon at any animals they see. We walked carefully through town, keeping an eye out to avoid startling the burros, successfully avoiding potential kicks or stampedes! The drive out of Oatman is almost as fascinating as the town itself, winding up a mountainside on hairpin turns that offer expansive desert panoramas. We stopped at a viewpoint that also held at least 50 grave markers. We weren't sure if the windy road took these lives or if it was just a lovely, historic place to memorialize loved ones, but it was easy to imagine how either could be true.

Seligman

Seligman's claim to fame is being the birthplace of Route 66. It's also the starting place for the longest surviving section of the road.

Vintage cars, Route 66 memorabilia, and classic Americana make Seligman a town straight out of a bygone era or a scene from the movie Cars.

Seligman is also home to a classic burger stand I wanted to eat at, Degladilo's Snowcap. I was ready to go all in on some fried food, but our off-season travel meant the Snowcap was closed on our drive through town. At least I got some fun photos while being spared the delicious calories.

Holbrook We stayed a while in Holbrook since it serves as the gateway to Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert. Holbrook is home to some pretty amazing rock shops. Left unchecked, I would probably fill our whole trailer with rocks, so I'm following a rule parents probably make for their kids, keeping my collection to a single container and deciding which rocks to keep if it ever gets full. So far, this has kept me from getting out of control. :)

My other favorite thing about Holbrook was the Wigwam Motel, which inspired the Cozy Cone Motel in the movie Cars. And yes, after seeing all these references along Route 66, we did take a moment to watch the movie again. It just felt right.

Winslow

Whether you are an Eagles fan or not, you can probably imagine what Winslow, Arizona, is all about. The town brings the lyrics from "Take it Easy" to life, with its Standing on a Corner Park, complete with a Flatbed Ford and a statue of Glen Frey. The song is based on a real-life car breakdown and encounter with a memorable lady that supposedly occurred in this very spot.

We went right ahead and stood on that corner and got our picture taken, as one does in Winslow.

In addition to checking out all the gift shops and song references, we had an amazing lunch at Relic Road Brewing.

This leg of our trip was a fun, carefree time in the sun. As we put Route 66 in our rearview mirror, we were left with a renewed fondness for quirky small towns, American nostalgia, and the movie Cars.