Ben and Sue Day 51

Day 51, Saturday, October 27, 2007

. . . Drove today from Flagstaff to Seligman Arizona.  Ben has wanted very much to be able to drive along historic old Route 66 for a long time now.  Today we discovered that we were actually very close  to Route 66 -- so we asked some questions and were actually able to drive  thru one town on this Route, then continue on to Williams Arizona.  The entire tiny town looks similar to Radiator City in the movie Cars -- which inspired us in the first place to begin looking for Route 66.  The town was just about one main street filled with tourist shops and restaurants/garages to have your car fixed -- shops to buy new tires.  We did a  lot of shopping there because we kept seeing things for sale that we have not seen anywhere else on our trip -- lots of 50's and 60's memorabilia -- old replicas of cars -- Edsels -- I Love Lucy stuff -- candy from the  60's -- really brought us back in time.  Was fun.

. . . Ben found a gun shop but it actually turned out to be closed today.  The gun shop actually was an addition to a bigger main store which was open -- only  the gun shop part was closed.  So we went in and Ben asked lots of questins.  He was told that here in Arizona one does not need a permit at all to carry a weapon as long as it is in a holster and clearly visible.  Very liberal law compared to the rest of the country where many states are severely restricting gun use/carrying a gun.

So. . . weather was beautiful again today -- reached a high of 75 degrees.  I took some of the most beautiful pictures of our trip this evening at sunset.  Gorgeous cirrus clouds like quiet wispers of the day as it  was coming to an end.

. . . Found a Harold Bell Wright book -- written in 1916.  I think I have 6 of the 7 books he wrote now -- only missing one.  The one I bought "When A Man's a Man" was only $15.  I've been looking for it for many years.  So happy to have found it at an affordable price.  I'm sure Ben cringed when I suggested we go into the used book store "for just a few minutes" and actually my ploy was "Ben, maybe  they have some Route 66 books in here." 

Oh it was hard to spend 15 minutes in an old used book store.  There have been occasions when we have gone on a trip -- not this time but in years past -- when Ben has been willing  to drop me off at the used book store in town -- he has gone off to explore the whole rest of the town by himself -- and picked me up later.  Oh the joy of old book stores -- the smell, the old books, the atmosphere, the conversations with the shop keeper, the hope of finding that unique rare book ---mmmmm!

We left Williams and drove all the way to Seligman today -- 17 miles -- along Route 66.  Saw lots of Berma Shave signs.  Some day I'll discover why those signs have such a funny name.  One read:  Sign 1 :  If daisies are  2.  Your favorite flower  3.  Keep pushing up  4.  Those miles per hour.  Another funny  one was :  Sign 1:  Cattle crossing  2.  Means go slow  3.  That old cow  4.  is some bull's beau.  Kind of fun to read as we drove along.

. . . Tomorrow we are hoping to continue on Route 66 to Kingsman Arizona then 95 north to Las Vegas and finally west to California.  Hoping to make one final stop at the California Redwoods.  We are on the home stretch now -- miss everyone so much!

Sue