AZ_66_Anniv

Arizona Historic Route 66

Ben and I decided (mostly me) that for the 12 year Anniversary of when we met we would finish driving the Arizona portion of Old
(Historic) Route 66.
We had made reservations to stay at the Historic Route 66 Motel in Seligman, AZ. On our way there we drove up through
Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon (as soon as the weather begins to change look for some photos) up to Flagstaff. From there we
ventured East about 30 miles to Twin Arrows. We stopped and took photos of this abandoned gas station and cafe. From there
we headed back West and stopped in Winona (don't forget Winona) and took a few photos of a de-commissioned bridge. We
then headed toward Flagstaff driving all the portions of Old Route 66 available. After Flagstaff we drove through Bellemont and
then we were in for a real treat, nine miles down the road, an unpaved section up through Parks and the highest point on Route
66. This was quite an adventure since it was raining at the time (the car is covered in mud) but it was well worth it. This took us
into Williams where there was an antique car rally going on (i would have loved to take some photos but the storm was moving
in). We had to get back on I-40 at this point to Ash Fork where we got back on Route 66 all the way into Seligman. We visited
several shops and went to Angel Delgadillo's (known as the father of Historic Route 66) Barber Shop, checked into the motel,
had dinner at the Roadkill Cafe went back to the room and waited for the storm to roll through (it poured).
Sunday morning I woke up early (5:15)(normal for me but the bed had something to do with this morning) looked outside and
noticed the moon was still up so I ventured out with my camera equipment and shot a bunch of film hoping for one good shot,
since I had never taken photos at night. It was a perfect setup, the moon was positioned just above and to the side of the Motel
sign and a crow was sitting on a lamppost.
Once Ben got up we had some breakfast and headed out West through Peach Springs and stopped at the Grand Canyon
Caverns for bit. We then headed on out through Truxton, Crozier Canyon, Valentine, and Hackberry to Kingman. We stopped
and took a few photos along the way. When we got to Kingman I realized that 10 rolls of film was not going to be enough for this
trip. I asked someone at the Route 66 museum if there was a camera store in town open on a Sunday (blank looks) so we
ventured to K-Mart to see if we could find some 120 Black and White Film (it's difficult at best to find in Phoenix) and the guy in
the camera department looked at me when I asked him for 120 film and literally his eyes bugged out and jaw dropped. It was
priceless. He then laughed and said we would be lucky if we found it in Kingman during the week. I decided to just keep on going
and use the color film as well as the 35mm that I brought.
We headed out of Kingman through the Black Mountains and Sitgreaves Pass and Goldroad into Oatman where the burro's
were roaming free. After that we headed on to Golden Shores and Topock where the road ends right at the border with
California.
Passing into California we headed to Needles and then turned around and headed back on I-40. On the way we found a very
unusual Geodesic Dome House near the Arizona Chrysler Proving Grounds. As we made it back to Seligman it was just getting
dark. So, we took twelve hours to drive 90 some odd miles to Needles and back, talk about leisurely......(but that was the point)
Monday we got up and decided to take off fairly early, but first some photos in Seligman. I ventured over to the railroad tracks
where a train was waiting but pulled out as I got there. So, I waited and stood on the tracks, took a few photos and waited for the
next train to come (as many as 85 trains pass through Seligman on any given day) in and got a couple of good shots.
We headed back through Williams hoping to get some shots of the old Steam Engine at the Grand Canyon Railroad but they
were using the deisel that day so we headed home.
Our anniversary dinner was chicken salad and chips. (too tired to go out)(I know, we are a boring old married couple)

Below are just some of the photos (the best of the bunch) that I took on this trip.
I used the Mamiya 645 Pro and a Mamiya RB67 as well as a Nikon N55.

The Pro will have a P in the description, The RB67 and R, and the Nikon an N

I kept a journal of all the shots and have included that information in the
description of each photo.

I shot 11 rolls of film. 5 rolls of T-Max 100 120 film, 1 roll T-Max 400 120, 4 rolls
of Portra 160 120 film and one roll of Fujicolor 100 color 35mm. A total of 166
photos

Twin Arrows, Arizona - Mile marker 219
Weather - Sunny, clouds just beginning to form out West
Saturday August 16, 2008 12:00 Noon

Village of Oak Creek Ranger Station
Weather - Semi-cloudy
Saturday August, 16, 2008 10:00 AM

Winona, AZ
(Don't forget Winona)
Weather - Clouds in the distance covering the San Francisco Peaks
Saturday August 16, 2008 1:00 PM

Peach Springs, AZ
Weather - Sunny
Sunday August 17, 2008 10:30 AM

Seligman, AZ
Weather - some clouds in distance
Sunday August, 17, 2008 5:15 AM

Music Mountains West of Peach Springs, AZ
Weather - Sunny
Sunday August 17, 2008 11:00 AM

Crozier Canyon just East of Valentine, AZ
Weather- Sunny
Sunday August 17, 2008 11:20 AM

Just West of Valentine, AZ
South Side of the Railroad tracks
Weather - Sunny, some clouds forming in the distance
Sunday August 17, 2008 11:45 AM

West of Kingman towards Oatman
Weather - Sunny
Sunday August 17, 2008 2:45 PM

West of Oatman, AZ
Weather - Sunny
Sunday August 17, 2008 3:00 PM

Black Mountains West of Oatman near Sitgreaves Pass
Weather - Sunny
Sunday August 17, 2008 3:00 PM

Sitgreaves Pass
Weather - Sunny
Sunday August 17, 2008 3:30 PM