Summer 2011 Road Trip - Arizona & Las Vegas, Nevada
Dates: June 16-20, 2011
[Post 3 of 4]
Last Summer, we road tripped it out to Arizona and Nevada...well, for the most part. We took a quick plane ride from San Diego to Phoenix (just to maximize the time we had out here). I have never been to the Grand Canyon, but I've always wanted to go. So, we (me, my sister Charlene, Enrique & my cousin Alee) decided to go. Our road trip itinerary? It's a doozy, but we drove from Phoenix --> Jerome --> Flagstaff --> Campe Verde --> Sedona -->Williams to see the Grand Canyon --> Flagstaff --> Las Vegas by way of old Route 66!
We designated Flagstaff as our home base in Arizona, since it's right in the middle of all the places we wanted to see. I took SO many photos...so this is going to be a pretty long post! With that being said, I'm going to break up this post into 4 different parts- highlighting what we did for each day of our road trip/vacation.
Here we go with Day 3!
{Location: Flagstaff, AZ}
It was our last day in Arizona, and we decided to check out Flagstaff before road tripping it out to Las Vegas.
[Buffalo Park]
{Side Note} Too bad we didn't see any real buffalos though...
[Heritage Square in Downtown Flagstaff]
After Buffalo Park, we cruised on down to Heritage Square- the
center of downtown Flagstaff. This place was great. It's a perfect place
for local arts, shops and entertainment. That day, there was a music festival
going on. So as we were walking down the streets, we were listening to this
wonderful music! Such a joy to just relax and take a stroll...and all the people were just oh so friendly :)
We got a quick pick me up at the Rendezvous Coffee House and just people watched for a bit before hitting the road.
Farewell Flagstaff!
We thoroughly enjoyed Flagstaff and its people! I was expecting to see more of a desert surrounding here, but nope! Flagstaff was more on the woodsy side. Trees upon trees as we drove through. The area
was lush and clean, the weather was perfect and most of all...the people were
SUPER friendly and laid back. Everyone (and I mean everyone) greeted us with
smiles and a nice hello. I was a little sad leaving this place....but all good
things have an end. With that being said, on to more good things! Road trip out
to Las Vegas by way of old Route 66!
{Location: Route 66 West through Arizona}
[Seligman]
Walking around this delightful little town
was like taking a trip back into time...and not to mention a mecca of Route 66
memorabilia shops lining the streets. There was so much to see here. We stopped at Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In for lunch.
{Side Note}
I researched Route 66 a bit before we went on our trip. I read about Snow Cap from other bloggers who have been here...and they were all good things!
{Love} Everything was decked out in Cars gear!
How awesome is this?!? The entrance into the Drive-In was plastered with old pictures,
pictures of tourists that visited, receipts, miscellaneous notes, etc...love
it!
{Love}
The current owners/workers at Snow Cap Drive-In. One worker in particular was hilarious! He's the one pictured above taking Enrique's order. This guy...gag jokes galore! But he was actually really FUNNY and quite endearing!
{Love} We sure are!!!
We checked out the quaint little shops afterwards (I got myself a route 66 top, you know supporting their local business). Then we headed out to the next town on Route 66.
Oh yeah...and we HAD to take our snapshots!
{Love}
Long stretches of open road with barely any vehicles on them,
haha...look at us cuh-razy road trippers!
[Peach Springs]
I HAD to make a stop at the Grand Canyon Caverns. I researched this place beforehand, and was completely
intrigued by it. Total tourist spot! Come on...how could I say no to that T-rex
out in the front???
{Tidbit Fact + Side Note}
This place had a natural limestone cave on site, where visitors
could be lowered into by modern elevators (they used to lower visitors by
rope...hmm, a bit sketchy but I'm glad they changed that). We arrived here with
the intention of going on the cave site attraction...but we just missed the
last tour of the day! Darn it! That's okay...I had my fun with the dinosaur.
Onward West we go!!!
[Somewhere Along Old Route 66 West]
As we continued driving west, we saw plenty of old abandoned structures
and farms. We couldn't resist stopping and taking pictures along the way :)
[Hackberry]
Our last stop on Route 66 was the town of Hackberry. This is the infamous Hackberry general store :)
{Side Note}
I thought this car was just for display...like part of the props. As we were leaving the store, the owner was also closing shop. We saw him get into this car and drive off with it around the corner to his house (which was totally hidden behind the store & tall trees/brushes). Pretty nice car mister :)
{Love} The store owner's loyal friend here on the couch. Awww...he looks
so comfy.
{Love} The last couple of wigwams along Route 66.
We headed up north towards Nevada for Las Vegas after the town of Kingman. Route 66 was super fun, definitely quirky and such a unique experience!
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