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

Trip So Far!

Hello blog friends..this is a fast blog to update on my vacation progress...IM Having A Blast!So far I arrived in Colorado and my sis and I are currently in Page, AZ, just over the Glen Canyon Dam..

Also in this area of  Arizona is the Horse Shoe Bend of the Colorado River. 

I think they have since then put up a guard rail too bad, cause this is one heck of an overlook. 

 Before that we spent time in Bryce Canyon...

                                                                   Sharing my lunch..,,

 Monday we toured Best Friends Animal Rescue in Kanab Utah,

Kanab Utah.,

   

They have more than just dogs n cats

there's a well done pet cemetery,,,sadly I guess many animals don't survive. 

 had a wonderful experience there we took the guided tour...

Yesterday.we went on a Navajo Guided tour of Antelope Canyon,

                                                                        Blaine Yazzie
 

                                            Sis and I 


 Today we will take a 1/2 boat tour of Lake Powell...

   

 and then we head to Monument Valley and then to Canyon DeChelly--and Anasazi ruins...SO much beauty..So...Plenty of sights to see yet..This trip has been amazing so far...the weather is perfect!! We have enjoyed the pools at various motels where we are stopping...Tonight my laptop is on wifi and working great..tomorrow and we are here for 2 days so Hooray for that!! I will not be able to visit you my friends until we settle down a wee bit more..I miss reading all your blogs and hope all of you are

 doing well!!