Doesn't this look like Luigi's tire shop? Just below we have a diner, below that is a real manuscript page by Charles Dickens. This was on the train for "A Christmas Carol" . Finally, Nathaniel is a fan of old gas stations and Hannah, Mark and Micah pose in front of a Williams shop built in the 1800's.
Well, after not getting off on Thursday until 3:30 in the afternoon, we thought we were off to a rocky start. We arrived at our first destination in Needles, CA at 11:30 pm and didn't get tucked in until close to 1:30 am!
The kids weren't sure what to expect in this dessert town. They couldn't see anything when we pulled in. But I have to say, when I was walking Lilly at 6 am the next morning and it was already well into the 90's I figured I should go back and wake everyone to get out while we still could!
I restrained myself. Everyone was so tired and we didn't have far to go that day. So we all took a swim to cool off and before leaving town ate breakfast at a route 66 diner. The kids enjoyed the Route 66 memorabilia and were beginning to feel like the town was a little familiar. As a matter of fact, some of the signs and buildings looked very much like the drawings in the movie, "Cars".
When we left at noon, the temp had reached 107 degrees! In May! The people are pretty friendly, but I don't think I would go back unless it was winter.
Within two hours of leaving Needles, the landscape changed drastically. We went from dry, barren, cactus ridden territory to lush green meadows and scrub pines. In another hour, we were in the town of Williams, surrounded by tall ponderosa pines, pinyon pines and green, green grass everywhere. The temperature had dropped to 70 as we gained over 6000 feet in elevation.
We spent the rest of that day and the next just relaxing and exploring Williams, AZ. Riding bikes, taking long walks and playing tourist was as exciting as we wanted to get. On Saturday afternoon we decided to tour the historic Route 66 town. It is filled with buildings that are over 100 years old. It is a mix of Old West and 1950's era shops and attractions. We shopped and talked and bargain hunted. Our first real stop on this cross country trip and Hannah already had her moccasins, and the boys had their wooden rubber band guns they were hoping to find.
We were also able to tour the Grand Canyon rail station, with a special train promoting the Disney movie "A Christmas Carol". We saw great graphics, beautiful Dickens era art and real manuscript pages written by Charles Dickens.
And we thought Needles had scenes from the movie cars! We saw an actual tire shop that looked like a drawing of Luigi's tire shop. Another building looked like Doc hudson's garage. I think we know where the animators did their traveling for inspiration.
We topped the day off with a trip to a real old fashioned soda fountain. The kids actually tried real ice cream sodas. (I never really knew what they were) We were rested and ready for our adventure at the Grand Canyon...
No comments:
Post a Comment