Day 7: Winslow, AZ to Grand Canyon, AZ

The great internet debacle began with my overnight in Winslow. The hotel's connection was useless and attempting to use it for anything was an exercise in frustration. This was planned to be one of the shorter travel days to give me a little bit of time for exploration that night at the Grand Canyon. I was a little bummed about yesterday's drive, especially having to pass up the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Parks without so much as a drive through them because it was night. Day 7 would make up for it: "Standin' on a Corner," the massive meteor crater, Flagstaff, and, of course, the Grand Canyon made for a day of eye-popping desert beauty. Map of the day's travels can be found here. Photos here. More reflections on Day 7 after the jump...

Day 8 preview - Video!

The road from Kingman, AZ to the little town of Oatman, AZ is one of the best parts of Route 66. It's about 30 minutes of driving to go these 9 miles. I've condensed it down to the best 13 minutes of the drive. You shouldn't miss the last two and a half minutes, so skip to 11:00 if you don't have time or inclination to watch the whole thing! Oh, and put it in "Full Screen" by clicking the box at the bottom-right corner. It's really beautiful.

Day 6: Albuquerque, NM to Winslow, AZ

First, an apology and explanation about the blog. I'm back home in the Chicago suburbs after my 5,500 mile trek. One thing I learned about driving Route 66 is that it takes a long, LONG time compared to the interstate. Looking back at my tracking data, I can see that I averaged between 30-35 miles per hour, and that was driving with the intentionality of making certain cities by the end of the day. Most days, especially out West, were about 300 miles. Therefore, with stops to eat, get gas, and take pictures, I was in the car for 10 hours a day leaving me little time to sleep, let alone write. Word to the wise: Don't try and "do" Route 66 in less than two weeks! There's so much that I wanted to stop and see that I just couldn't in order to make that night's destination. More about Day 6 after the jump...

Technical Difficulties...

Sorry that the past few days have lacked reliable internet connections. I will attempt to catch up tonight. Lots of pictures of Arizona including Grand Canyon shots coming soon!

Day 5: Amarillo, TX to Albuquerque, NM

Thanks to my host, Richard, I had a great night's stay and sleep in Amarillo. They got some much needed rain while I was there and the day ended with a beautiful double rainbow - a sign of God's favor I trust. Much of Route 66 simply doesn't exist in New Mexico, so a lot of the day was spent on the Interstate at 75mph. It made me miss the two lane highway! You can see my travels for the day here. Don't forget to click the "2" at the bottom of the list of steps to see my whole trip. I drove a long stretch of dirt 66 from the Texas state line into New Mexico and met up with some "roadies" (what 66'ers use to refer to each other) from Birmingham, England who were also on the dirt (the joys of being in a rental car). Photos from the day are here. Tonight it's Winslow, AZ.

Whoops... forgot to post Day 4

Day 4 was a long drive from Edmond, OK to Amarillo, TX. You can see my travels here. Be sure to click the "2" down at the bottom of the list of steps on the left to see the entire thing. This was the best day for photos thus far and I really loved the U Drop Inn in Shamrock, TX. Check out the photoset here. Sorry to say that I ran over a snake; I tried to avoid you the best I could.

Day 3: Springfield, MO to Edmond, OK

The day started with me being interviewed for a story in the Springfield News-Leader, which will probably be published in the Saturday edition. When it is, I'll post the link. The road started to open up a lot west of Springfield and I was able to drive over 50mph most of the day. Made a point of taking more photos and you can see them here. I loved pulling in to Depew, OK, which Route 66 went through for a brief time in the '20s, and then was bypassed to the north. Stopped for the night in a hotel in Edmond, OK, just north of OKC. Did some laundry in the sink, got called "pard'ner" for the first time, and now getting ready to hit the road for Amarillo, TX.