Get Your Kicks...

IF you ever plan to Motor to the West,
Travel my way thats the highway thats the best...

lyrics to the song route 66 written by Bobby Troup

This was one of the first sections I traveled of Historic Route 66 on my recent trip. This shot is in Oklahoma, and thats one of the many family farms that dot the way along this route. I-40 has chopped up much of the old route, but I read that over 85 % is still in tact..I have never traveled along the northern parts of the 66-but that sure is a trip I want to do!

I love the song of the Meadowlark, these guys make their living along the edges of the Old Route as it winds through the heartland of America. This is west of Henryetta, OK

While I traveled the quiet rurals of Oklahoma along old 66 I ran into a really friendly fellow...he posed for a photo and then left me to my task of enjoying a piece of American History-

The sky is the star of the open range...and this sky was telling me to get moving!

The sky continued to grow dark as I exited I-40 again in Newkirk, NM I saw this wonderful little mission style chapel so of course thats a photo opt I couldnt pass by...wind, hail or whatever!!

Could not stop me from mailing my Route 66 postcard back home
right here in Newkirk

Along the old route are the remnants of a time when Americans were traveling the famous highway in record numbers from ....Chicago to LA! This vintage motel is still in use in Santa Rosa, NM.

La Mesa Motel 

For the Vintage Route 66 collectors, this museum is worth a look!! Check out this sofa!!

I always enjoy vintage CARS!! The WigWam Motel located in Holbrook, AZ right on the Historic 66 was quite a site!!

                   NOT just the WIG WAMS but there is a vintage car sitting in front of each unit..

And there was this one....

Now you go through Saint Looey Joplin, Missouri, And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty.
You see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico,

The old Route is immortalized in this historic marker on the lawn at City Hall in Santa Rosa, NM where the old highway still thrives and helps to drive the economy of this fair town.

SO if you ever get the chance....GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66!

Day in the Desert

I love bridges-when I lived in NYC I made many photos of all the bridges--the Brooklyn, the Manhattan, the Williamsburg, the Triboro, the Whitestone, the Verrazano, the TappanZee SO Many bridges when you live on an ISLAND!! Check out this great bridge and dam we saw on our camping/sightseeing weekend when I visited my friend in Mesa, AZ. We drove thru the Superstition Wilderness area via the Apache Trails Scenic Byway, and made a loop using hwy 60. The Roosevelt Dam and Bridge was a beautiful photo opt stop along the way...

The dam holds back the Salt River....it was completed in 1911 is 357 ft high and cost $10 million to build! Originally it was 70 ft shorter but was made higher in 1989 it was also re-concreted and this caused the dam to loose its National Historic Landmark status.-Bummer- but if you look at this OLD PHOTO of the dam you can see it was quite a change-

This is the back side of the dam....you can see its a HUGE amount of water being held back, I would say that is only 15 ft from the top!!!

The Bridge that spans the water beyond the dam is an awesome piece of engineering! Its a beautiful sight!

Roosevelt Bridge 

...thats Hwy 88 /188 going over that-a-way but we went the other way.... this is the bridge looking back over our shoulders...

We had our lunch alongside the water the view was awesome!

...we continued on and just a hop n skip from the bridge is the Tonto National Monument and there are some great ruins of Cliff Dwellings right behind the visitors center there. These were built by the Salado people...and these are approx 700 yrs old....It was close to 100 degrees this day so we took a few photos and kept moving...

This is on the edge of the Sonoran Desert so mannnnyyyyy desert plants everywhere....I fell in love with the desert all over again in this region!!

                    

                                 

More to come

Apache Trails Weekend With a Friend

When I visited my friend in AZ we wanted to do some camping...neither of us have money to burn trust me every dime is cafefully accounted for---and since wilderness is always my main focus, I brought all my camping gear with me just so we could get out there and enjoy the outdoors!! She lives in a busy heavily populated area so we wanted to get out the city but not spend our entire time out driving--so we opted for a spot close by!!!

We stopped at the ranger station in town and got our camping permits...found out later we didn't really need them for the campground but we had them anyways...

On the way out of town we spotted this place called Apache Land. It has been the set for  many a western movies in the past and my man John Wayne  along with many others set foot on this same ground...that really made my day to think John Wayne walked right where I was walking--star struck

Cyndi goofing off...haha 
                                                                                                                    

We chose to take the Apache Trails Scenic Byway which passes thru the Canyon Lake Recreation area, and then head south and around the Superstition Wilderness. The Superstitions are a mountain range in the area. Unfortunately we had to cut our trip short due to mechanical problems!! My car had an issue and had to spend 4 days in the garage so had planned to stay out 3 nights and 4 days had to shorten to 2 nights and 3 days!! BUT we didnt let that ruin our trip!!

We stopped at every over look I think I photographed every single Saguaro cacti standing between here and there I just love them!!! And not just them but all the desert plants!

       

We found a nice camp spot for our first night was at the far end of Canyon Lake in the Four Peaks Wilderness area. The lake is long and narrow but attracts many types of boats. We had no boat but we enjoy paddling in the edge of the water and watching the other boaters parade by!! 

I have to say I was not happy with the Generators that went on about dusk when I wanted to enjoy the sounds of the lake--I think all campgrounds should be separated tents in one area and rv and campers in another...We brought everything for "roughing" it, and the lady camped next to us had everything but the kitchen sink with her including a 12 cup coffee maker!! She served her husband a 4 course meal at breakfast, I guess there are many stages of rough---

Our set up....we left the tent in the shade and moved it closer to our table when the sun went down,,,

  

We had a nice sunset and then lit a bug candle while we sat out and finished up the day...we had so many people ask us if we were leaving...we felt like the hens and the fox was circling!  Yes but we wanted to take our own good time...

After breakfast we packed up..

Somebody snored all night....

So the next day we headed to quieter digs and traveled the byway south where it intersects near Globe, AZ and into the Pinal Mts. We had planned to camp in the Pioneer Pass area but it was FULL! Go Figure--WHAT a steep and narrow road it was going up there...I took only one photo cause there was no place to pull off and my friend was afraid for me to take my hands off the wheel for a moment...lol UP at over 7,500 ft we finally found a spot to turn around--when the sign said "warning, 4 wheel drive only" we took it to heart.

From Pioneer Pass

SO we left that area and headed to Oak Flats which was down at 4,200 ft and a much quieter area...no water nearby but the peace and quiet was a fair exchange!!! Lots of room 

                                                                         the rental car 


We took a little hike on the rocks nearby and then spent our last day sightseeing on the way back to town...

On the way back we stopped at the Apache Leap area where legend says a band of Apache jumped to their death rather than be captured and sent to a reservation...

 I did 2 posts on this weekend getaway because It's a wonderful memory of time spent with my  friend.