I have this thing about traveling on Route 66. It was the original Mother Road, the only way to go. There is something magical about it and by traveling on it you can almost feel the history; that if you closed your eyes you could almost turn back time.
As we left the Grand Canyon we ran across a sign that advertised a drive-thru wildlife experience. So Shane pointed the van in the direction of Williams, Arizona, to Bearizona.
It was a little expensive, but well worth it.
First we came upon the Burros ...
Then Buffalo
Arctic Wolves ...
This guy was huge too ...
White Buffalo ... He needs washed
Black Bears ...
This is not zoomed in. These were right outside my window, which was rolled up.
The guide outside of this area said that if the bears got close to the van,
that we needed to drive off slowly so they did not damage our vehicle,
not so we did not hurt the bear, but so that the bear did not damage our van ... LOL!
I was feeling a little like John Candy in the movie The Great Outdoors.
This guy was awesome. His name is Tracy Fuller and he played a little of the Indian flute,
but then he pulled out a three string guitar and it was totally amazing. I bought one of his CDs.
I even managed to record some of his playing. All of us were totally enchanted. Shane had to leave before he bought one of the guitars. They were $200. This guy was very nice.
The kids wanted to take this picture ... He was that awesome.
I cannot get the video to turn so you have to tilt your head,
or just close your eyes and listen to the music.
We walked through the park area that had all of the baby wolves and bears.
It also had a petting zoo that we walked through.
Here are a few shots of the walking tour of the park ...
There were some seriously ugly chickens there.
I believe some of them were Angora, Silky-Bantam, Perry, and Polish chickens.
Yes, those are all breeds of chickens. No, I don't know if they taste different.
My bet is they all taste like chicken.
There was a really fat piggy
I want a goat.
Arctic Fox
Bobcat
After we finished up at Bearizona we were on our way on Route 66 to California.
As it happened, we saw a sign (literally) around lunch time.
The advertisement was for the Roadkill Cafe Bar and Grill.
Where their motto is "You Kill It, We Grill It." America's Original "Meal on Wheels."
If you know us at all, you know that we had to stop. It was amazing. A total must stop on Route 66.
Of course I needed a t-shirt and a magnet. They also had a candle, but even after smelling it (and you know I did and it smelled really good) I could not bring myself to buy it.
After our wonderful lunch, we all packed in the van and headed for California once again.
This is where our story takes a frightening turn. I requested that we stay on Route 66 until we made it out to Needles. (I should really quit with the song references.)
The drive started out like any other, just a normal boring drive ... Look at those hills and cliffs ... Beautiful. The family was really tired of me saying "pull over," so I had to shoot from a moving van.
Oohh ... Pretty ... Look at those foot hills ...
Just for fun:
We really should have stopped at the sign when we saw it. The sign, as seen in this video, provides much needed information. Had we stopped to see the sign, and take a picture (nooooo, we were not stopping for that - I apparently take too many pictures) we never would have traveled this road.
I have dubbed this section of my beloved road, Route 666. It was possibly thew most entertaining portion for this trek for my family. I, however, do not agree. First there was the sheer height of it; I am not a fan. Then there was the tarantula that WAS CROSSING THE ROAD!!!
I screamed. It was huge! SHANE BACKED UP TO SHOW THE KIDS!!
I was screaming for him top keep going, please just keep going ... don't stop ...
I rolled up my window. I thought he ran over it, but it was not flat. Just legs up, playing dead.
I begged for him to keep going. Crying and laughing the whole 20 miles of the road from hell.
No place to turn around.
It looks harmless. Oh, look we were just on that road ...
You would never know what lies in wait ...
We made it through the 20 miles from hell and ended up in Oatman, AZ.
The town of Oatman was insane. Too many tourists for even me. We did not stop, mostly because I wanted on a modern road. I was no longer wanting to be on Route 66. I had learned my lesson.
On our way out we laughed when we saw this sign:
Burro Crossing Next 8 Miles, really?
LOL!
Yes, really ...
It is going to be a head on collision.
How do you tell your insurance company that you were hit by a runaway donkey?
Would they believe you?
There are two donkeys here, they both almost hit us. We were at a complete stop.
Shane thought it was cute to roll down my window
(which has been up since the tarantula incident) ...
Both donkeys stuck their heads in to say hi.
I thought they were going to get in, they certainly did not want to get moving.
Well, that pretty much did me in for the day.
We did make it into California that night and our first meal was the the In-N-Out Burger.
That was a tasty burger!
I will have the final leg of our trip later tonight or tomorrow.
For now, we are going to the Aquarium and possibly whale watching.
I am taking my camera with me.
With love - Jennifer
Oh, one more encounter ...
ELVIS LIVES!!!!
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