[JONAT] Arizona Sector Report

[Bob]

Wow !  Mark , you've simply got to get this up on a website ... this is a
great description of your sector ... Bob


-----Original Message-----
From: jonat-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:jonat-admin@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Mark Stephenson
Sent: March 2, 2004 1:47 AM
To: jonat@autox.team.net
Subject: [JONAT] Arizona Sector Report


I want everyone to know that the Arizona Sector is just about cast in the
old concrete of Route 66.

Bob has the route directions and I'm just waiting for a final answer from
Hazel (San Diego) about her end and a tiny bit of rerouting in Page, AZ
before I give Bob the go-ahead to make a map and post it. I have a bunch of
links to the sites embedded in the directions so even if you can't make it,
you'll be able to get a virtual flavor of what we'll be enjoying.

This is going to be absolutely awesome section of the tour. We start off
April 29 at Mesa Verde National Park, which is the end of Robert's (CO)
sector. This is that Indian city built into the side of a cliff that almost
everyone has seen a picture of. We take a quick side trip to the Four
Corners Monument (small entry fee), which is a totally man-made artifice
where four states meet in one spot. It's not that exciting compared to what
came before and what comes after, but it'll be time for a break. Besides, if
everything is spectacular, spectacular will get boring. There are usually a
lot of Indian craftsfolks there, so it's a chance to buy unusual gifts for
yourself or those not fortunate enough to join us on the tour.

Next we cross the West of the movies and eat lunch in the heart of it all.
John Ford loved Monument Valley, and if you have any old westerns in your
tape or DVD collection, take a look at them before you leave. You'll be
traveling the same roads as John Wayne and Alan Ladd five or six decades
later.

We bunk down at Page that evening, after a long, scenic drive through the
Navajo Reservation. There will be more sellers of jewelry and fetishes (the
tiny animals carved from stone) along the way. If you like turquoise and
silver, you will be awed by some of the pieces. Just like at open markets
anywhere in the world, prices are negotiable and far less than you would
find similar pieces in the galleries of the big cities. When the route is
posted, click on the link for Page, AZ. If we get there in time, you can get
a picture of your car in that spot.

Friday April 30, we wake with one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World
on our route. But first, we make a stop at the Cameron Trading Post. We may
have stopped at some of the more authentic trading posts Thursday, but this
a the touristy one. That means they have a huge selection and very often
have a Navajo woman weaving a blanket. In addition to their jewelry skills,
the Navajo are accomplished weavers and their blankets are a weave so tight
that no machine can duplicate it. It takes weeks to weave a blanket and they
aren't cheap, but they adorn the walls of many homes in the Southwest.

>From Cameron, we head to the Grand Canyon. As we enter the park from the
east ($10/person or $20/car), there are vistas and viewpoints all along the
way, each as breath-stealing as the next. I have links to pictures included
in the route directions. Dick Hile AZ-ASC, who seems to know everyone in
Northern Arizona, is making arrangements for a separate parking area with a
guard to protect our cars. There my be a tip or small charge involved, but
it leaves us worry-free to roam the rim and perhaps start down Bright Angel
Trail. Just don't get down too far. Between the altitude (nearly 7000 ft.)
and the incline, it takes a lot longer to get back. Plans are to catch an
early, relaxed dinner at the El Tovar Lodge, one of the famous Harvey Houses
that dotted the West along the Santa Fe Railroad.

And, just as in the bygone days, the train once again runs up the spur from
Williams to the Grand Canyon. You'll probably see it resting at the Grand
Canyon Village after struggling up the grade. The Grand Canyon Railway has a
steam locomotive and a pair of diesels so depending on the load either might
be there.

After dinner we'll take a twilight drive along the tracks to Williams. We'll
continue with the railroad theme by staying at one of the historic Route 66
hotels, The Canyon Motel. I fell in love with this collection of 23 stone
cabins, but what really caught my eye were the two cabooses and a Pullman
car out front. Yep, you can stay in them, too. All for the same price. This
is one of the reasons I wrote this travel prologue. Dick and I already have
dibs on the cabooses, but the Pullman car has been divided into three rooms.
These are normally about $20 more than the cabins which are normally
$69/night, but for us they are giving us any room in the place for
$59/night. I wanted to give the hard working ECs and SCs a shot at one of
the Pullman rooms before I offer it to the club. To make reservations, call
1-800-482-3955. Kevin and Shirley Young are the proprietors.

It will be an early departure Saturday morning, May 1. We have to catch up
with the Route 66 Fun Run who will be departing from the little roadside
town of Seligman. We will be a part of an entourage of at least 200 cars of
all types from modern to hot rods to classics to trucks. The Fun Run costs
$44 and the proceeds benefit the Route 66 Association, dedicated to
preserving the Mother Road. Peach Springs, AZ is the site of the Hualapai
Indian Tribe's Barbecue. If you want to eat there, pay $6 with your Fun Run
registration. I'm sure there are some special tribal events associated with
the lunch. Having driven Route 66 just a couple weeks ago, this is truly a
piece of Americana. Taking the trip with friends and period cars will make
the experience even more enjoyable. I've wanted to join the Fun Run for
years, but kids' soccer, car shows, and other things have always gotten in
the way. I'm really looking forward to it, and hope the XK120 holds out.

It will be a wild time in Kingman, AZ late Saturday afternoon and evening.
There a car show and dances. If you have period clothing, pack it. (Although
I won't get anywhere near Dick if he's Elvis again. His wife, Kathy, as a
Las Vegas showgirl is another matter. :->)

Sunday will be a short day. We follow the pre-1952 alignment of Rt. 66
before they built what is known as the Yucca bypass. This is a wild, narrow
road. As you drive it imagine truckers in pre-war semis with chain drive, no
synchros, and mechanical brakes wheeling around the curves. It's a scary
thought from inside the cab or out. I had the very good fortune of being
able to take the trip when there was little traffic. What an outstanding
stretch of twisties. Either my wife had nerves of steel, supreme confidence
in my driving abilities, or she hid her fear exceedingly well. At the end of
the driving fun is the tiny mining town of Oatman. There a few places like
this in Arizona -- Bisbee, Jerome, Tombstone -- towns that almost died, then
were brought back to life by people looking for a simpler life -- artists,
hippies, etc. But the most famous residents of Oatman aren't humans. They're
... jackasses, donkeys. When the mines played out and the prospectors moved
on, the donkeys remained, making a life for themselves in the inhospitable
desert. But there was water and food, and they thrived. When the town came
back, the donkeys were there to welcome the newcomers. They do it every day,
now, wandering into town in the morning, hanging around posing for pictures,
accepting pats and hugs, and most of all, food. In the evening they wander
out of town to wherever donkeys go to discuss the day's largesse.

It's only a few miles to Topock, the end of the Fun Run. There is no town;
there never really was a town, just a few buildings and a ferry. What is
there is one of the monuments to Route 66. Built in 1916, the Trails Arch
Bridge marked the gateway across the Colorado River to the promised land,
California. Steinbeck wrote about it in the Grapes of Wrath. The single lane
bridge remained in service until World War II when it was abandoned. No
longer carrying cars, natural gas and electricity are now piped where Model
T's once chugged.

Finally, our cars may never make it back to the mother country, but it is
only fitting that they should cross the London Bridge. Painstakingly marked,
catalogued, and shipped to Lake Havasu, the old stone London Bridge has been
reassembled here. Lake Havasu is the Ft. Lauderdale, the San Padre Island,
the Rocky Point of the West. Fortunately we'll be there after spring break,
which means we'll be able to get a room.

>From here, it's Hello, Hazel, who will lead the tour to San Diego.

Remember, if you are going on our sector and you want to stay in a nice room
in a real Pullman rail car, make your reservations ASAP at the Canyon Motel.
I'll give you a few days before I mention it to the local club.

Mark - AZ


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