Remember that old Eagles song? “Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona…” That’s on Route 66 in Arizona. After we left the Petrified Forest National Park we went further west and made a quick stop here because Kate’s an Eagles fan and we were in the neighborhood. There’s a souvenir shop that has outdoor speakers that play ‘Take It Easy‘ over and over and over again all day long. If you’re only there for a few minutes to snap a few photographs it’s tolerable, but I can’t imagine living there and hearing that song every day. A bit much.

Saturday morning we hopped in Sofi, our trusty Subaru Outback and took Route 66 west from exit 139 off of Interstate 40 toward Seligman, Arizona. The above photograph was snapped a few miles after getting back onto Route 66, it was a beautiful day for a drive, very appropriate because this weekend was part of the Route 66 Fun Run.

The Route 66 Fun Run is where hundreds of mostly classic cars line up and drive from Seligman all the way to Toprock, Arizona along Route 66. On Saturday the cars drive from Seligman to Kingman, Arizona and then on Sunday they drive from Kingman to Toprock. We arrived in Seligman around 9:30am to witness the beginning of the lining up of the cars, it was pretty interesting. From there we quickly hopped back in the car and drove down to Kingman where there was already a crowd forming and lots and lots of classic cars were parked. For a slide show of the photographs that I took you can view them in Kate’s post about how we’re having such an amazing time on our road trip.

From Kingman we took the Oatman Highway, which is the most scenic part of Route 66 in Arizona, into Oatman, Arizona. This final photograph was taken from the side of the road over looking the Sitgreaves Pass, which is a twisty road that winds through the Black Mountains. Here we are at the top of the pass looking down on road that winds into the old gold mining town of Oatman, Arizona. Back in the 1930′s when people drove this road there were some that hired drivers to pilot their Ford Model T’s over the pass because it was that treacherous. The roads have since been paved and cleaned up quite a bit, but it’s still a bit intense. We journeyed into Oatman, which is literally a ghost town – back in 1942 the government decided that gold was not necessary for the war effort and so the demand for gold dried up over night – and so did the town. Now Oatman exists solely as a tourist trap, a fitting way for us to bring our Route 66 journey to a close. We continued on to Toprock, where Route 66 re-joins Interstate 40 at the California border.

And now the Route 66 portion of our journey officially comes to a close. It was a truly amazing trip, we saw a great many sights, enjoyed some good road food, made a few detours, and drove just over 3,000 miles. Seeing the history, kitsch, ridiculousness and energy of it all was a great deal of fun. A fitting way for us to begin our epic road trip.

Now we’re stopping here, in Toprock, Arizona at the Arizona/California border to slow our trip down and begin the next segment. What do we have in store? First stop – the Grand Canyon. What comes after that? You’ll just have to wait and see.