Day 4 - HERE IT IS!

Before I forget again (I was going to post this on yesterday's post)....the whole "off the grid" thing threw me for a loop!  We have a small zoo at home made up of (3) small dogs and (2) bengal cats.  As much as Shale wanted to bring the cats (believe it or not) on the trip with us...ALL the 4-legged residents ended up staying in Orange County.  We have a fantastic pet sitter - I swear Lindsey, you cannot ever move away!!  Lindsey loves all the animals but especially the pups and takes them with her around town, etc. whenever she is tending to the crew.  Yesterday, I got the below photo - I think they were loving this particular field trip!  Thank you Lindsey!!

L-R:  Sugar Plum, Button & Charlie

Well, it is a darn good thing that we "practiced" dumping out our trailer on Saturday because this morning pre-road hitting...we actually had to do it for real y'all!  It seems as if showering, washing dishes, brushing teeth and pouring liquid down any of the drains (besides the toilet) fills up the "grey water" tank a little quicker than we thought!  I volunteered to take a photo....a stealthy move on my part - he he!

The town of Seligman, AZ is where we ended up first today. Although we had just eaten breakfast a short time prior to our arrival....I felt the need to get a milkshake and some fries at the popular Delgadillos Snow Cap.  This colorful outdoor roadside cafe is the bomb!  The line for food was out the door and the walls and ceiling of the tiny inside area where you walk up to order food was COVERED with random photos, business cards, paper currency from all over the world and notes in an abundance in different languages!  As Cassidy and I waited in line, I looked around at this array of decor and decided to add to it, naturally!  I pulled a dollar bill out of my wallet, scribbled our blog address on it, borrowed some tape from a few of the other "decorations" and put it up on the wall!  We got to the front of the line where John greeted us from behind the counter with a big smile.  Cassidy ordered a small chocolate milkshake and well, you can see in the photo below, what she got - hahaha!  John let her sweat for a minute over whether or not that was ALL she was going to get while he made my cherry/vanilla shake and threw my fries in the hot oil.  Before we could move out of the way, a squeezy yellow mustard bottle was being squirted on us by John and we both jumped back.....to our surprise, it was a gag and nothing but a yellow string came out of the bottle!  These types of pranks were started by the original owner, Juan Delgadillo.  Juan is no longer with us but his family continues to keep the fun alive!  We walked down the street to the Route 66 Visitor center and home of Angel Delgadillo's (Juan's brother) barber shop.

We drove through a few towns (Williams - no photo, Flagstaff - photo below, no we didn't forget Winona but...we didn't take a picture either) took a photo or two and moved on.  Our plan was to get to Holbrook for the night so we chose to bypass some of the sights in order to make that happen because we really wanted to see Meteor Crater in Meteor City on the way.  Below are a few pics from our drive-bys....

Paul Bunyan stands outside of Granny's Cafe in Flagstaff, AZ.  Granny's was formerly
the Lumberjack Cafe and a much larger version of Paul stood outside in 1962..this is
a small (it's still pretty big) replica of the original.  I am laughing right now as I look at this picture because the first time (if I remember correctly) my girlfriend Susanne met Shale, it was around Christmastime and he was putting lights up on the house.  He was wearing a plaid flannel shirt and at the time had some sort of facial hair; Susanne told him he looked like Paul Bunyan.  He has remembered that moment ever since and tells me to let her know each time I see her that Paul Bunyan says, "Hi!"  Funny.

These "Twin Arrows" are right off the highway between Flagstaff and Meteor City.
There is an old Valentine Diner behind these arrows that is boarded up and abandoned.

On to Meteor City and the crater was next.  The site is about six miles south of the highway.  We weren't really sure what to expect once we got there but WOW.....now THIS (in my humble opinion) is a "must do"!  Here are the Cliff's Notes facts: This meteor hit the desert 50,000 years ago.  It is about 3/4 of a mile in diameter, two miles in circumference and 560' deep.  Of the hundreds of meteor craters that have been found on this planet, this one is the best preserved.  Again, Cliff's Notes!  You really gotta see it to appreciate it - our pictures below don't even do it justice.

www.meteorcrater.com

We blazed through Winslow just as we did the other towns earlier in the day..... 

Just about midway between Winslow and Holbrook is the Jackrabbit Trading Post.  It was all closed up by the time we got there but the enormous jackrabbit sitting outside was fun to snap a few shots of the kids on!  You have most likely seen the big, tattered, yellow jackrabbit sign before in a book, a movie, a TV show, or something.... and here it is again for ya!

I forgot to mention earlier that our tiny house air conditioner decided to stop working correctly this morning - nice!  We'll have to get that checked out tomorrow.  In the meantime, we are showering and getting some rest at the Globetrotter Hotel in Holbrook which, is coincidentally; right across the street from the last built Wigwam Motel... (there were seven originally).  

It has been a long day and I am beat - the rest of the crew is nestled in bed and now it's my turn.  Until tomorrow.....