Route 66

Many people asked what Nate and I were doing for our honeymoon, due to time and money restrictions we decided to drive Route 66 back to Kansas City.

We started our trip Monday heading from Tucson to Flagstaff. Yes, we know that part of the drive is not on Route, but you have to start somewhere right? On our way up we stopped in Sedona, Az. to check out the beautiful red rocks.





We then weaved our way back up to Flagstaff once we took the turn off we were ready for food and rest. It took us three tries to find a hotel that did not ask for us to pay another full price night for Todd the dog to stay with us. It ended up ok, we stayed at a Comfort Inn where they not only had free internet but free breakfast.

While we really did not have time to explore Flagstaff, due to the fact we got in around the time all the stores closed, we were able to have a full piece of our wedding cake for the first time. Yes, I know it's tradition for the bride and groom to wait and eat their top tear of their cake on their first year anniversary, but we couldn't wait. We only got a little bite at the wedding and the rest of the cake was cupcakes so I feel like we didn't really break tradition.

The next morning we hit Route 66 in Flagstaff and headed for Santa Fe, NM.

It is true about what people say about 66, that it is a lost highway where the people and business on it are lost too. What I mean by this is kind of simple, Route 66, while some of it is major highway, a bunch of it is not so it takes you through a bunch off little towns and whole in the wall places.

Our first stop of the day was Winslow, AZ and not to our suprize there was a girl in a flat bed ford. Due to that fact I made Nate go stand on the corner =0)



Across the street from the famous corner is a little gift shop with a very nice women. She has a little guest book where everyone who ever entered her store signs. There were people from everywhere taking the Route 66 trip just like us. At this store Nate and I decided to pick up a Route 66 book/map to help guide our way. We would totally recommend our book, EZ 66 Guide for Travelers, it takes you start to finish/turn by turn, gives you tips on where to stop, what to see, has a great written history, and even has some games to play.

One of the places the book said we should stop and check out was the Jackrabbit. It is a little convenient store that has a a giant Jackrabbit statue you can take a picture with.



The best part, and also the sad part, about this stop is what I mentioned earlier about the places and people here getting lost. Nate walked in to get sunflower seeds and beef jerkey and when he opened the door the owner walked out from the back and turned on all the lights of the store. He was a nice guy, just looking for someone to chat with.

We got back on road and in the next little town found some Disney friends. If anyone has ever seen Cars you will totally understand this next part, and some other parts of our honeymoon adventure. We passed a place that had Teepees as hotel rooms, this is the inspiration for the big traffic cone hotel in Cars. I got really excited, and was happy there was no traffic, because I stopped in the middle of the road, looked at Nate and turned around. We drove through the parking lot of the hotel and guess who we found the real Doc Hudson and Mater.





It was awesome and let Nate and I feel like we were five again.

We also found other Cars inspiration as we drove the rest of the trip, it was really cool to see and we were wondering if we did go from L.A. to Chicago if we would find the rest.

Sorry, turned into a 5 year old again.

Further on down the road we stopped at the Continental Divide, Todd even got to join in on the fun and was actually listening when we told him to pose for the camera.



We finally made it to Santa Fe in time to wlk around a little bit and grab a bite to eat at a dinner that has been open since the early 1900's. It was really good food and a lot of it. It was also very relaxing, we people watched and enjoyed the lightning storm that surrounded the city.



Nate said he really liked the feel of Santa Fe, it is still one of my favorite cities in the U.S. I think will be going back there in the future.

The rest of the trip was stormy and about 13 hours of driving. Due to these facts we decided to just drive the main highway back to Kansas City. It was sad that our Route 66 trip was coming to an end but Nate and I decided that on our 5 year anniversary we would do the whole trip start to finish on Route 66 using our new book as our guide.

Next time we would really take our time, explore the little towns and shops more, and get to talk to some locals.

I would recommend this trip to anyone, so many good memories to make, history to take in, and America to see.