Chicago Roadtrip

Wow what an amazing drive so far. Stopped in a really small town called Seligman, AZ. Couldn’t believe what I saw. There were 4 or 5 tour buses parked on the side of the road. There were a few historic Route 66 sights and shops. I couldn’t believe the amount of people which were there. Then spontaneous decision (which I absolutely love). Let’s take the old historic Route 66 to Kingman, AZ. It still exists there the old single lane in each direction road. Hardly any traffic on that road. Cool drive. They even had once in a while those old billboards which said a couple words and then came another sign and so on. I think those are so cool. Why don’t they do that these days anymore? The funny thing is I streamed Radio7 (radio7.de) through my phone. I love the tunes which this German radio station plays. (No, they don’t play only German songs there, it’s all international). So driving along this historic route and listening to a radio station from Germany in the car. How cool is that? Worked pretty good until you really hit the boonies and there was no more cell phone signal.

Then stopped in a town called Peach Springs, AZ. It was an actual Indian reservation. Wanted to get some soda. Browse through the gift shop and see this book which catches my eye. The title is “Circle of Life” Traditional Teachings of Native American Elders by James David Audlin. I look through the table of contents and open up the chapter Human Relationships. I loved what I read there as it matches the knowledge in my head. I will share the first pages of this chapter as the last blog entry for this blog. I think it’s the perfect knowledge to end this roadtrip.

After that little adventure I drove on Route 66. Makes you wonder the adventures/stories people had on this road.

Then stop at a place called Hackberry General Store. What an amazing place. You gotta see it to really enjoy it. Basically puts you back in time on Route 66. There was so much cool stuff to explore. I took pictures of course. I also found a swing attached to a tree branch and I had to try that one out of course. :-) I checked the guest log and there were entries from people from all over the world. Also the hurricane force wind is back. There was an old historic Route 66 sign. It moved back and forth with the wind. The sound it made was right out of the movies. It was like when they end up in the middle of nowhere and find a place like that. Not a soul there. The only thing you hear is some ominous squeaky sound. You know something is about to happen, but you don’t know what yet. That’s exactly how I felt.

After that made it to Kingman, AZ. Had lunch there and now I’m on the I-40. Actually only around 10 miles from the California Stateline. Haven’t been to that state for 2 weeks now. Everyone say Hello to California! LOL

Starbucks decided to provide a Starbucks adventure on the last day. Probably you shouldn’t be looking for a Starbucks at 8am on a Sunday morning.

Anyway look in my Starbucks app and it says there are a few around. But there was only one close which was a real Starbucks. It said this one also has a drive through. Didn’t bother to enter the address in the GPS. It basically was on the same street as Buster’s. Looking for house numbers. Knew it’s on the left side. Of course you see the next number and you are too far. But how can we both miss a Starbucks with a drive through? It’s not like they are tiny and the building should be right on the street. Ok find a spot to pull over. Let’s put it in the GPS. Drive back up the street. Only see a taco bell and some china buffet, but no Starbucks. In the back there was a Safeway (grocery store) and it had the Starbucks sign. BUT there has to be another one. This is not the one. Ok, look at the map and Starbucks was still a tiny bit little further up. There finally I see it. I don’t know how it could be missed the first time driving by. Get my coffee and a Dark Cherry Yoghurt Parfait. Now it’ll take me another half an hour and I should be fully awake.

Let’s see what other trouble I can get into today. :-)

Ha! Just saw a sign which said: Vehicle fire. 22 miles ahead. Road closed. Maybe it’s cleared up by the time I get there.

I have made it to Flagstaff. Checked into the hotel. I love the room. Nice furniture, big and rather new. Hotel opened I believe in 2009. Best room on the whole trip and it’s the last one too. :-) I do have the giggles though. Just thinking about the check-in story and finding the room makes me laugh. I wish I’d have it recorded on video. Maybe I’ll have time later on to tell the whole story.

Finally I got to see the Meteor Crater. Well to sum it up: It’s a big hole in the ground. It’s quite big. They say the Meteor was 150 feet in diameter which created this hole. There is a small piece on display which broke off from the original meteor and you can touch it. It’s pure metal. Mostly iron. It feels weird, because you think you are going to touch a rock, but it doesn’t feel anything like a rock. That piece weighs 1400 lbs. Couldn’t carry it out as a souvenir. Just a little too heavy. There was also a 10 minute movie you could watch and some interactive informational displays.

Ok should be in Flagstaff in around 30 minutes.