Edward Is Everywhere

   Supai Motel at night Seligman, AZ is a popular tourist destination on Route 66. The main street has many hotels, restaurants, and gift shops.  It is right off the interstate (exit 121 or 123, either works) so it is worth stopping there to look around even if you aren't doing the full 66 experience. I first drovet through Seligman when I was going east. It was night so I didn't stay long, but I did take this picture of the neon sign at Supai Motel.  There three motel signs in this picture, The Postcard Motel is right beside the Supai, and then after that the blue vertical sign is for the Canyon Lodge motel.  Old bucket truck All sorts of interesting things are to be found.  I saw this old Ford cherry-picker bucket truck at a former gas station at the edge of town.  Route 66 RoadRunner Cafe and bus ( G. Edward Johnson CC-By Attribution 4.0 )   The Route 66 Roadrunner, Cafe, Art, and Gifts.  In front is parked a 1955 Geyhound bus. This isn't...

Grand Canyon Caverns might have a Peach Springs mailing address, but it isn't very near that town.  It really isn't very near anything, it is just off by itself at mile marker 115.  I guess that isn't surprising, it's not like you can move a natural cavern to make it closer to where you want it. You can read more about the caverns on Wikipedia . The first you'll see of the caverns is probably this sign, which advertises the attached motel.  I'm not sure why they put up two huge pyramids of dirt and stone at the entrance, but I'm sure it makes sense to them.  There is more than just the caverns (which I didn't go in) here. They have a collection of old fire trucks and some dinosaur sculptures.  They are out in the parking lot and you can walk around and look at them. I'm not sure what it is with dinosaur statues and Route 66, but I saw a bunch of them in a number of different places.  Another claimant to the title of the real Radiator Springs from th...

Peach Springs Trading Co building   Peach Springs is a small but active town run by the Hualapai tribe. There is a modern hotel there, the Hualapai Lodge and you can leave for day-long Grand Canyon rafting tours .  This building is currently being used by the Hualapai Game and Fish department and the Hualapai Tribal Forestry Office.  Before that it was the Hualapai Trading Co and before that, it was the Peach Springs Trading Post. You can see the remnants of the last two signs on the building.  When I zoom in I can read (parts of) "Hualapai Trading Co" and also the word "Post" under the "Co". Then the next line "Hualapai Indian Reserve", then the third line "General Merchandise" and to the right of it "Indian Curios" but I think I can see bits of the words "Post Office" there too.  I found old  postcards of these signs online , so I am filling in the covered parts of the sign from them.  Across the street from the tr...

  One side of Truxton At first glance you might think Truxton is another ghost town that no one lives in, but look a bit closer and you'll see that many of the buildings are being maintained, and in some places rehabilitated.  Truxton had a population of 134 in 2010 and 104 in 2020, so it is small, and still shrinking, but it is surprisingly active.  Pretty much half the town is visible in this photo, open a larger version and follow along. From left to right: Truxton Station, Bell Gas (sign with the "A"), Barker Apartments (unreadable gray sign), Truxton Cafe, then Sudbury's Southland Service Station (with the red canopy). Historic Route 66, Truxton, Arizona. Bell Gas station This old gas station is clearly still in use. I didn't see anyone, but the chairs and fire pit are clearly recent additions. It also spent some time as "Frontier Lounge". I saw a photo from 2013 and the gas pumps were missing, but there are pumps there now.  Also in the 2013 photo...

Union 76 Gas Station  Valentine is small, to call it a wide spot in the road is overstating things.  It isn't totally empty,  There are a couple of gas stations that are being maintained and some other buildings, even a fairly new house. In fact, there used to be a lot more here and you can see more remnants if you look harder than I did.  Notable other things are the Chief's Motel sign and the Truxton Canyon Training School. I saw some photos of this station from 2015 where it was overgrown, but now it is in better condition. Given the Coors Light sign out front, I do believe it is an active store, though it didn't appear to be open either time I went there.  The sign is faded almost white on the top, but otherwise seems in good shape.  Behind it is a sign for the "Shit Howdy Ranch". Valentine Union 76 Gas Station The gas pumps are also branded with the "76" logo. They may be original to the station, but some of the older photos I saw of the site didn...

  Hackberry General Store Hackberry, AZ is effectively just the general store and a few acres of land around it. It is very much worth a stop for a drink and to look around. I went there twice, once in the evening on my drive east, then again when I came back west. The store is a low building that has it's front wall covered in stickers. There is a good sized parking area there. The address is 11255 E. Hwy 66, Hackberry, AZ 86411.   It used to be a gas station and there are at least 7 gas pumps out front, however, they are not all the same kind so they are probably not all from there (or at least not all active at the same time). There are also a few picnic tables out front if you want to stay for a while If you are traveling Route 66 you should know about the Route 66 passport. some visitor centers will give it to you free, other places charge a nominal fee. It has photos of various places along Rt-66 with a few bullet points about them.  For many of them there is also s...