US on the move

The USA is on the move. We are just a small part of it. It struck us just how much freight is moving on the railways. Each day we see many, mile-long trains double loaded with freight .  While that is running to one side of us,  Interstate 40 on the other side is carrying more freight and cars.  We are cruising along in the middle on a good but relatively empty roadway.

While there is much talk of Route 66 having died or being in the process of doing so, you can see physically what has happened. Just as the dirt road was paved, then converted to two lane, then four lane, often alongside one another, the growing economy has just shifted the roadway a wee bit to accommodate InterState 40.

The smaller communities along the way have consolidated into larger towns. The diners have been replaced by McDonalds, and Wendys, and Taco Bell and Dairy Queen. The motels have grown to become Hiltons, Days Inns,  Super 8s and a range of others. As the cars have improved and daily distances increased the gaps between centres has grown.

This country is just so big that the better does not supplant the old it just goes along side it. You can see it in every aspect of life. Houses seem to have their old cars just left nearby as they are replaced. So too with the road. Route 66 lies quietly alongside it newer replacement.  The old business buildings just sit there while their modern equivalents operate a short distance away.

Today, on the route was special.

We were off early. Even earlier than we thought but fortunately Cecilia sent us an email to tell us that, because Arizona does not do Summer time, the hour saving would effectively arise a few miles down the road once we crossed into Arizona.  Luckily, nobody bet against Cecilia being right. Never bet against Cecilia being right! 

We stopped in what was allegedly the setting for F Troop. 

Come on, SOME of you must remember F Troop. Ok, No?  All right then, nothing lost because the fort was not impressive, the coffee shop less so, the trading post poorer still - so we moved on. Moved on into Arizona and a stop at our new time of 10:30 to have an ice cream and confirm discreetly that it was indeed  10 and not  11. As I warned you, it was 10.

Then we headed for Winslow, with Martin’s CD working overtime. We enjoyed Winslow.  Really, we enjoyed Winslow. It’s a lovely, clean, attractive town itself. The locals are very friendly. The ‘craic’ on the corner is like no other. 

Absolutely fantastic what a few words in the lyrics of a song can do.  We made the most of it. We had a coffee. Really, just coffee. We spent hours there. Don’t quite know how, but we did. 

Did I mention that we enjoyed Winslow? Maybe I’ll let the videos speak for us.  Apologies to the Eagles.

In great form we drove on to the Jack Rabbit Trading post. It’s there all right but  … well … the advertising and promotion is great.  The rabbit is good though! Our enthusiasm undiminished, we climbed back into the car and continued to the meteor crater.

Here, the promotion and advertising … undersold the site. 

It was another great hit. We were there again for hours.  Again maybe the photos and video can give some idea. Great place.  Apologies from Brendan and myself to everyone to whom we promised not to let Seamus stand on the edge of a cliff. Great photo though, you must agree.

The song says not to forget Winona. We went through it but we have.

Tonight we are in Flagstaff. Great meal, although the waitress, despite her best efforts, we suspect was new to the job. Careful preparation during the day meant we were able to manage a full dinner and dessert. Tomorrow we hope to explore Flagstaff.  

Hotel staff, when we responded to their question about what we were doing and in what direction, commented that our Westward journey was nearly done. We asked them not to remind us!

So far, so great!