[JONAT] Arizona Sector Report

Thu Mar 4 23:13:01 2004

I'm working on your webpage Mark.
Greg

-----Original Message-----
From: jonat-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:jonat-admin@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of Bob
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 11:06 AM
To: jonat@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: [JONAT] Arizona Sector Report

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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