[twobjshelbys]

I was planning on leaving on Monday. As I was plotting the route and decided that I was going to go through Flagstaff. To find out the distance penalty, I Google-Mapped it and an alternate route was offered. It is a little less distance than I-25 to Albuquerque and 40 across. This route takes me to Grand Junction and down through Moab on Utah 191.

from:grand junction, co to:Flagstaff, AZ to:peach springs, az to:Las Vegas, NV - Google Maps

I'm going to leave this afternoon and stop in Grand Junction tonight (I'll listen to the Bronco's game on the way).

I plan on staying in Flagstaff Monday night at this old hotel, famous for the famous people that have stayed there:

The Hotel Monte Vista: Flagstaff Arizona's Premier Historic Hotel.

Then since I'm only 4 hours from Vegas, I'll dawdle on Route 66. Leave late enough from Flag that I can stop in Seligman at the Snow Cap:

Seligman, AZ - Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In

I don't know how much access I'll have to the Internet before I get to Vegas. I doubt there will be daily updates

I forgot to add: I'm driving the Shelby GT/SC!!!

Cheers!

[Orion]

Hope you have a great trip!
I'll keep my eyes open for you. I should be in Vegas sometime on Tuesday afternoon, and will watch the cruise on Wed.

[mywickedshelby]

Have fun and be safe Tony.
Adding a new ride to the collection?

[twobjshelbys]

mywickedshelby, on Oct 5 2009, 02:24 PM, said:

Have fun and be safe Tony.
Adding a new ride to the collection?

Lets see, h**l is still above 0*K. Probably no new cars although I expect there will be some spectacular bargains.

Some pictures from the first leg. A few before Grand Junction and the rest from Grand Junction to Flagstaff).

[twobjshelbys]

I spotted this on the drive by Vail. There were actually two on the truck. I understand that privately owned tanks are now all the collector rage.



Drove through spotty rain - it never poured but was just nasty enough to make the car quite dirty. I washed it at the hotel parking lot Monday morning.



Coal trains are a frequent sighting. Boy do they haul. I paced him at about 79MPH.



A lady drove up in a SRT10! I've never seen one in the wild. When I bought my work truck in Vegas in 2004 the salesman really wanted me to buy one (he saw the handwriting on the wall). It would have been fun but not exactly a work truck.



The trip took me through Moab and by Arches and Canyonlands. I've never been to Arches but have been in Canyonlands from the Colorado River. Maybe next summer. So on the way south of Moab here is an arch. Sad to say there is a small subdivision just to the right.







Highway 666 was renamed. Religious fanatics. But maps are maps so now it's "OLD 666".





This is the Mexican Hat rock. There was a gravel road to it but I didn't want to take a chance with the paint.

[twobjshelbys]

Before you get to Mexican Hat you enter the Navajo Reservation. The road changed from something that was bumpy and terrible to a wonderfully maintained highway. It's two lane with a 65MPH speed limit. I never appreciated the supercharger until on this road. Wow, hit the accelerator and go around campers and cars, 3 or 4 at a time. There are passing lanes but on the hills the big rigs just can't keep up to the speed limit.

Here is some of the landscape as we get closer to the Monument Valley area.




As I got closer the pullout opportunities got better. Monument Valley was backlit and the air was hazy. At one place I stopped the view was right but there was a guy taking a picture of his orange Chevy version of the PT Cruiser. Right across the road was an elevated place where the Navajo sell jewelry and stuff but noone was there so I pulled mine up on the ridge. It would have been perfect at about 6:00PM but I wasn't going to wait.



More photos through Monument Valley. I have lots more trust me but these are the best.









This probably isn't technically in MV. If so it would be at the way southern end. There is a MV visitor center just before you cross from Utah to Arizona. I've already gotten my summer trip for 2010 planned.



This shot is similar to what you see in the Painted Desert. I don't think we are close to it here though.




So I stayed at the Hotel Monte Vista in Flagstaff. I was flipping through some Arizona Highways from last summer and the hotel was mentioned there and it was that that made the decision to come this way easy. Last year we stayed at the Strater in Durango and with the summer season over the room rates are very reasonable (about $90). The Monte Vista has had lots of famous visitors. John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Air Supply (yes, the band), and others. I took pictures of the doors and will post the summary later. Portions of Casa Blanca were filmed here. I got the Humphrey Bogart room. Before you think - this is a 1927 hotel, not very plush but very full of memories.

[twobjshelbys]

The outside of the hotel. I was watching the Minnesota/Green Bay game in the pub and went to get some food. The light was getting good for photos.



Inside the lobby (from earlier)



An old sign on the building across the street.



A bicycle made from beer kegs. I hear him say you could ride it but he had just broken the chain.



A statue in front of the old Flagstaff train station.





Just as I was getting ready to continue on the light changed and the lighting on the sign was perfect. I exposed this from the meter reading on the sign.



I had taken this with the intent of "black and white". Ansel Adams Zone system in digital photography. The D700 has the dynamic range to do it. You can't see it in this small image but there are probably about 6-7 stops of exposure from the sign to the back corner of the building with detail everywhere.



Your taxpayer dollars at work. This is the start of Highway 66 that I will drive today.




Trains were frequent. The only noisier thing was the loud neighbors in the room next door at 4:00AM.

[twobjshelbys]

Night shots






Lobby shots





They are doing construction in the lobby area. They are putting the entrance back to the original location and restoring the front close to what it was in 1927. The night desk person let me in but the manager didn't want me in there "in the dark" and invited me back today when it is light. I will be heading there with camera in about 1/2 hour. Ronnie (the site "jack of all trades" was telling me about the construction of the original building as he is also wiring for internet and new phones. It's a pretty sturdy building built to last.






Here are some old pictures of the hotel.





The official style is "art deco".





The construction area has found the original steps that entered and behind "remodel concrete" is some of the art deco tile like above. I'll have to come back here after they finish.

[twobjshelbys]

More of the art-deco theme.





Photos from inside the old elevator:






I'll post some more of the "secrets" uncovered in the old lobby, and the rest of the Route 66 drive later!

[mywickedshelby]

awesome pics Tony.......looking forward to the rest.....thanks for sharing..........

[RmGardner]

Great pics. Love the west, but I live in Illinois. Will be in Vegas the 7th at 11am flying. Will be staying at Mandaly Bay and at the Car Show after the cruise. Hope to meet som of TS members. Rick

[twobjshelbys]

OK, beginning with the final review of the Hotel's remodel. The "site engineer" brought me into the area and showed me some of the original stuff he found plus their plans. From one of the pictures you can see what the building should have looked like but they didn't do it for some reason that noone understands even today.

This is some of the art-deco tile that has been covered up since the 50's.



Some of the painting details also covered up.




A light fixture, that I don't think was original.



THe space where the new entrance door will be is now this window.



We talked about remodeling old construction like this. I've done old houses that had surprisingly similar construction styles, but the scope of this is amazing. Especially since they are talking about MOVING windows that are huge, ancient and fragile. They hope to have this all done in January (I think they want to do it for the anniversary of the opening).


I left Flagstaff about 11:00 with the goal of getting to Seligman about noon to get lunch at the Snow Cap. For a while Route 66 merges back to I40. On the way to Seligman I saw a sign about a wildfire. Unfortunately I didn't have the Cobra or I would have grabbed the fire extinguisher to help.



I saw a sign at Ash Fork that said 66 got off so I ducked off to look. I'm glad I did. I think carnut's cruise last summer had this place except it was open then (check me carnut). Now it's for sale. Sigh...

[twobjshelbys]

Airstreams are cool. There is a whole subculture about restoring them.



Snow Cap. Look it up from the link. It's a Route 66 subculture thing. I celebrated my 30th anniversary (actually, June 1979). After deciding to go to Flag for the first part, stopping here was an easy choice. Then i get to do the rest of the 66 tour.



A motel across the street. I liked the light. It might be good in B&W, but no time tonight.











Among other wonderful food, you can get Dead Chicken



It's a walk up/walk in to get your food. Somewhat small and cramped with tons of business cards everywhere. Mine is buried somewhere in there from my last visit 4 or 5 years ago.





WHile I was getting my order the car that was parked in front left so I moved my Shelby!

[twobjshelbys]

More of the SGT. Shortly after I moved it a couple of tour buses pulled up - photos of my car are likely to show up on the internet in Japan and Scandinavia.





There are lots of old cars here. The cover on the Camaro disentegrated. It's a vert with a 350.













This is the son of the guy that started the place. He told me his dad passed away about 4 years ago. He now does the schticks that his dad did 30 years ago. I'm glad this little piece of Americana will survive for a few more years. They don't have to worry about getting the business - every tour operator stops here.



My fries had this in it. I'm sure it was left over.

[twobjshelbys]

More from the inside of the Snow Cap.





This is Delgadillo Senior. RIP.



Love this business card.



OK, so now for a minor segue to "favorite old cars", to which I may cross post these photos later.

I'd gone to get gas and doubled back to get lunch. On the way back out of town to get a cold Diet Coke at the gas station my jaw dropped. I've stated elsewhere that a 300SL Gull Wing is my favorite car EVER, even topping my the Cobra (second place). I can own a Continuation Cobra but noone will ever make a Gull Wing. To get one you have to step up to the originals. I've seen only one in person (cross posted elsewhere from the Imperial Palace collection. Imagine seeing two in one place at once. It's like seeing the Cussler collection - any one of them alone is a masterpiece, but two at once:

[twobjshelbys]

More Gull Wings.








So there is more to the Gull Wing story. I'm driving along Hwy 66 and I see some cars coming at me. They got too close too fast to get my camera to take a photo of them coming by but there were four more. I almost doubled back but it was about 20 miles and couldn't afford the time. Imagine seeing them all at once. Wow.


A tourist attraction in Seligman.





Highway 66 goes about 75 miles from Seligman to Kingman. Most of it is desolate high desert.



After getting to Kingman it's another drive to get to Vegas. Eventually you go over Hoover (Boulder) Dam. One of the modern engineering marvels of the world.







What color is this Mustang? It was rented by some people with a British accent (could be Australian too) and they had no clue what color it was.



They are building a new bridge to lessen traffic (and security risk) over the dam. Eventually this will be the main route and the dam will be a place you deliberately go to. There is alot of commercial traffic so the whole experience should be better. Supposed to be done in 2010? Seems like lots more work to do to finish in a year and a quarter.

[twobjshelbys]

After crossing the dam you get to see Lake Mead.



Trip summary. Pay no attention to the number in the upper right.

[FordFan1]

Thanks for sharing-
I love road trips, we took a 3k mile 10 dayer last year..

Be safe-

This post has been edited by FordFan1: 06 October 2009 - 08:14 PM

[09shlb]

Tony, several of us who are also going to Barrett-Jackson are also going to SAI on Thursday morning for the tour. It would be great if you were able to join us. That would possibly make 4 TS members there at the same time. maybe we could get a special tour. PM me if you think you are interested

Randy

[twobjshelbys]

09shlb, on Oct 6 2009, 10:16 PM, said:

Tony, several of us who are also going to Barrett-Jackson are also going to SAI on Thursday morning for the tour. It would be great if you were able to join us. That would possibly make 4 TS members there at the same time. maybe we could get a special tour. PM me if you think you are interested

Randy

I'll be in the parade down the strip tomorrow. I'll probably just run up to SAI on Thu. AM and meet you there.