2022: Route 66 and Beyond, Day Six

Back on the road, baby.

Got up and ready, packed the car, cleaned the rental (a LOT of instruction on this one, fam. A lot. Like in a We made lists so we could check things off kind of “a lot”). Then we headed out to each family member’s rental house and said our good-byes to the family.* WAH.

*When I got to my dad’s house, it smelled of bacon, delicious bacon. He let me in with a cheerful hello and said he and the dog had just split a pound of bacon for breakfast. LOL WUT. But, friends: my dad is in his mid-80s and still strong a horse and agile as a fox, so maybe bacon is the answer. I dunno. Let’s try it tho.

After fam time, we got coffee. It helped cure the sads, a little. Then we had to drive back to the rental one last time because I loaded and added detergent to the dishwasher but wasn’t sure if I actually started it so WHOOPS. (Turns out I didn’t, so it was good we went back, because lord knows we would have been in trouble for missing something.)

That coffee was divine, by the way. Just Dutch Bros., but meh who cares if it’s a chain, iced Golden Eagles forever. I tossed a few extra straws in mine so the kids could share and they sucked that puppy down.

So, time to talk destinations. I originally booked a hotel in Seligman for that evening, thinking we’d backtrack. But since we already were able to squeeze in time in Seligman, I cancelled it while in Prescott and we decided a night in Williams would work better. Only a 90-minute drive vs. 2.5 hours if we backtracked to Seligman, and we could squeeze in a Grand Canyon stop. Can’t argue with that.

And in no time, it was helllooooooo, Williams.

I read that “Chinese food” restaurants were huge in the heyday of Route 66, and sure enough we did find a lot of cheap American-“Chinese” restaurants or really old “Chinese food” signs on this trip. Some just said “Chop Suey!”. The olden days were a wild time.

Found some stellar parking right on the main drag. We got a bit of a late start by the time we finished all our good-byes, so it was definitely time for some lunch by the time we hit Williams. Thus began the hunt for some grub.

First time seeing a solid Native trading post was here, I was in awe but a little intimidated, as I hadn’t really gone shopping for Native jewelry before (and what I inherited from my mom didn’t include the old family jewelry). But no worries, because by the end of the trip I was a pro and now I am properly addicted.

We ended up at Historic Brewing, because their beers were pretty highly rated.

Then we ordered prickly pear margaritas, ha. I MEAN BUT WHEN IN ARIZONA, RIGHT. I can get a good beer anywhere.

We got a cheese pizza and some garlic fries. Couldn’t finish either. So good and so much food.

They had a tiny “shooting range” inside. So the kids had their own “when in Arizona” moment.

Packing up the leftovers and behold, our trunk-packing genius. Actually I was pretty proud of myself, I was the packing queen who reorganized that back area every day. And hey, maybe this brings me to the Tip O’ the Day!

So, above? Scott’s dumping the leftovers in our “cooler”, which was this freezer bag:

I bought it at Braum’s a few years ago, it’s been a pretty effective cooler bag but also more importantly: was something that was insulated, roomy, and folded nice in flat. It packed nicely in our checked luggage along with a few gallon freezer Ziploc bags. All we had to do was remember to fill those Ziploc bags with ice in the mornings, and everything we dragged along the way stayed nice and cold. Nice for saving cheese pizza for midnight munchie attacks. And it was soft-sided so that sucker molded into whatever little space we needed it to fit. WIN WIN.

ANYHOO. After lunch, we hit the road to the Grand Canyon. Williams is known as The Gateway to the Grand Canyon – the famous Grand Canyon Railway departs from here, but it’s also only a 60-minute drive. Actually, I was told to plan for more like 90 minutes, but I’m guessing that must be weekend traffic because we made it in an hour easy.

My brother went to South Rim and was telling me it was weird, because you’re driving through the trees and then you park in a huge lot and thennnn: welp, there it is.

I wasn’t really sure what that meant, like: is it anti-climatic? Or was he baffled by the fact that you really don’t have to walk anywhere? His wife then told me that the view is disorienting, because your eyes/brain can’t really process how big it is, and that description I can totally get behind.

We arrived, parked, and walked right on up, just as promised. It’s huuuuuuuge, guys. Huge. I put my 24mm on my camera and could have used a much wider angle lens. And it’s true that you have trouble judging depth perception.

All the colors came out much brighter on my camera, in person it was super bright out so looked muted. But you could still make out all the colors, creams and reds and purples and blues. I bet at sunset it’s a real stunner.

We walked a bit west along the rim and took it all in.

That red chunk jutting out, I could never figure it out. No matter the angle, it looked thin as a piece of paper, like an optical illusion. So weird.

Tried to get some people in the shot below, for context on the size of this place (and we were just at a tiny portion of South Rim).

Pete’s transforming into a true teen, guys.

And Moose is… well. Moose.

After a bit it started to get a bit warm (and I stupidly wore jeans; in my defense PRESCOTT WEATHER WAS LOVELY AND TOTALLY JEAN APPROPRIATE). So we started our walk back. Along the way we saw some weird foliage. I keep meaning to look this up.

We spent some time at the park museum, then at the gift shop, then away we went back to Williams.

We had a fun vintage motel in Seligman that I was sad to cancel (same owners as the Roadkill Cafe and shared a parking lot, even). All we found in Williams at that late date was the Comfort Inn. But hey guess what, it ended up being the nicest stay at any “modern hotels” that we had on the entire trip, so there.

Scott went out in search of some local beer (it was our grand plan to stock up on this trip and spoiler: didn’t exactly happen as planned). Meanwhile I took the kiddos to the hotel pool.

Pete wanted to do that “wet hair water flip” thing you used to see all over social media, and he kinda sorta pulled it off, if you don’t look at his hilarious face.

Loved the classic 80s glass block thing going on in this pool area. I mean, seriously! The sunset glow was surreal, I wish I got a better picture of it.

Scott showed up at the pool shortly after, with a few cans in hand (not much to choose from around there, so nothing to really drag home, just hotel-room sippers). We let the kids swim until they were good and prune-y, then we went back to the room to clean up and unwind a spell. Then back downtown to see what was up (… and eat).

We ended up at El Corral on 66. (Route 66 goes right on thru the center of town, by the way; it’s definitely the Main Street). I took exactly zero pictures in there, so these were all stolen from the Interwebs. Here’s the cute inside, which according to Internet sleuthing is fairly new (much more humble digs until they could afford the upgrade a year or so ago):

Our entrees came with this cute “Mexican soup” as the opener! Then I knew we were in for a good meal.

It was here, like RIGHT HERE, that my love affair with the chile relleno began. I ordered the chile relleno smothered in green chile pork stew, their specialty. BE STILL MY HEART (maybe my arteries too). Spicy, cheesy, and rich; with that distinctive bright, earthy, grassy flavor of a GOOD green chile. There is nothing like the chile you get in the Southwest, guys.

It was there that I perfected my strategy of eating as much of the relleno and the chile sauce without touching my rice, beans, or salad because hello that’s just a waste of stomach space. SORRY NOT SORRY.

After dinner we were definitely due a walk! And lucky us: it was dark and town was all lit up and ready for us.

(I mean but first we found a bear so you gotta do what you gotta do.)

Back to the neon. The best Route 66 towns light up at night, and Williams is definitely one of those towns. We took our time and wandered the main drag, popping in and out of shops, getting smashed pennies and small souvenirs.

Well, and ice cream for the kids.

This store touted that they were the home of the world’s largest tin Route 66 shield and who are we to disagree.

So pretty, I loved it all. One of my favorite evenings on the trip.

Eventually we made it back to the hotel, where we settled in and got a decent night’s sleep for once! Tomorrow: on to Flagstaff, one of my most anticipated towns (LAWRENCE DOPPLEGANGER YOU GUYS, NOT KIDDING, STAY TUNED FOR THAT).

Day Six Stats:

The Mileage: 195 miles

The Towns!. Williams – an old Railroad town with a wild-west vibe. Also known for being a Route 66 stop! It’s a fun little town to stop and explore and a perfect place to stay if you are hitting up the Grand Canyon south rim. Also, the neon along the main drag at night should not be missed.

Dwellings: Comfort Inn, Williams

Attractions: Grand Canyon!

Roadside Oddities: I mean we saw an Elvis fortune teller and also he was driving an old car. But that’s about it today.

Meeper Count: so I missed this while in Prescott (sorreh), but in Prescott Moose picked up a rotund turtle he named, aptly, “Turtly”. Pete got a fluffy soft keychain bunny he named “floof 2000”. And here, at the Grand Canyon, Moose got a chipmunk named “Checky”. Yeah, I dunno about that name either.

Stuff To Do That We Missed: We never made it to Pete’s Gas Station, somehow?? There’s a small museum there too which is fun to see, we’ve been told.

Foooooooood: Lunch – Historic Brewing; Dinner – El Corral on 66. Both quite good and worth a stop!