The Mother Road 4/8/06 - 4/13/06

The route my brother and I drove followed most of what is considered to be Route 66. In reality Route 66 is more of a nostalgic fantasy than anything else. Aside from a few diners and a drive-in theatre the Glendora and Azusa Portion of Route 66 looks like just like any other “Main Street” in America if not more non-descript.


Flagstaff was our first stop on the trip so we left home around 8 a.m. since Flagstaff was over 400 miles away. I love Flagstaff and Northern Arizona but the drive there is extremely boring. I grew up in the desert, and I’ve never really cared for the Mojave much because it’s generally boring except for Joshua Tree National Park and Antelope Valley during wildflower season. There is a reason why some people drive 200 mph on I-15 to Vegas and it’s not for the prostitutes. Not that I’m advocating maxing out your speedometer.

The last time I went to Flagstaff was almost a year ago with my family and it was 112 in Needles with $3+/gallon gas prices. It wasn’t so bad this time, my brother and I mainly just made fun of how boring the Mojave was. When we got to Needles, my brother thought he saw a sign proclaiming Lake Havasu to be three miles from I-40 so we detoured several miles before realizing it was a bit further than that. Oh well, that’s what Girls Gone Wild videos are for…

We arrived in Flagstaff sometime in mid-afternoon and checked into our motel across the street from Northern Arizona University and two blocks from downtown. To be honest I think the best part of Route 66 is downtown Flagstaff. Bummer, would the rest of the trip be downhill from there? No way.

We ate at San Felipe’s Cantina in downtown just as we did last year. Excellent food and beautiful waitresses. Can’t get much better than that! After dinner I dropped my brother off at the room then headed up to the Arizona Snow Bowl just in time for the sunset. I thought I was going to be a little early for wildflowers in the meadow where the ski lifts are, but I didn’t realize HOW early I would be in the season. The ground was covered in snow and ice. The good thing about that is aspen trees look great in wintry conditions. The sunset was mediocre but it didn’t matter. If my pictures suck, it’s my fault not the light.


I set my alarm for 5:15 a.m., but somehow my phone was set for weekday alarm only so I missed waking up for sunrise. I wasn’t too disappointed initially until I saw how nice the clouds were outside. My original plan was to catch sunrise at Lockett Meadow, or at least try to get there in my little 2WD Corolla.

Our complimentary “continental breakfast” consisted of muffins, orange juice and a pastry. I guess I shouldn’t expect real food considering the low price of the room. We left for Albuquerque after breakfast. Our first stop was at Meteor Crater. For a $5 admission it might have been worth it, but at $15 per person it more closely resembles Enron’s stock several years ago than a good deal. Oh well, there’s a first and last for everything right? If you go, don’t say I didn’t warn you.


Next was the Painted Desert. Someday I’d like to actually see the Petrified Forest part of the National Park, but the Painted Desert is more than sufficient enough to make the stop worthwhile. Very impressive and underrated amongst National Parks.



A couple of Navajo trading posts and a lunch at Cracker Barrel later, we arrived at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The drive took longer than I had planned due to all the stops so we missed out on the gunfights in Old Town and the Museum of Nature History. The museum sounded really cool from what I read in VIA Magazine last year. Repeat after me, OH Well.

We ate dinner at a Mexican place in Old Town and then wandered around the few shops that were open on the Sunday evening. I shot a few pictures in overcast light, then packed up and decided to sit in the car to see if a sunset would break through the clouds. Luck was on my side. My brother and I sat in the car watching another photographer about 20 feet away photographing the San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church with his graduated neutral-density filters and 35mm gear. (I guess people still shoot 35mm apparently.) I probably would have driven off in the overcast conditions instead of waiting if the photographer wasn’t already out there shooting nearby. My immense ego wouldn’t allow me to leave and possibly allow another photographer to shoot light I skipped out too early on. (Half truth, half sarcasm) Old Town Albuquerque seemed to lack substance, but the architecture was fascinating. I believe the church was built in 1709. It was difficult to shoot effectively however.




The next morning I actually managed to wake up and barely, and I do mean barely made it to the Sandia Mountains to catch amazing alpenglow clouds at sunrise. I had never been there nor had a clear idea of what I wanted to shoot or what to expect. I saw a half scenic view partially obscured by half a mountain as the light was getting good, so I kept driving and pulled over desperately a bit further down the road at a worse location. There was no view of high country from where I stopped. I ran up the hill with my gear thinking I’d get to a clearing. I just encountered trees, so I had to adjust my thinking to shooting rocks, trees and clouds instead. I got about five pictures or so before the alpenglow disappeared. The mountains behind me were gaining in yellow light though so I drove further up to the Ski Area and finally saw the clearing I’d wanted earlier. By then the contrast was way too high for my stacked five stops of GND filters. Sometimes we win some, sometimes we lose some, and sometimes we have near misses. Oh well again! The thrill in nature photography is all about the chase right?

Breakfast at the hotel consisted of similar “food” as the previous, but it was alright. I finally began to understand the logic behind eating little for breakfast. Eating meat for breakfast makes you fat. At least it does to me anyway. Next on my checklist were some trading posts along Route 66 off I-40 on the way to Amarillo, Texas. Eric and I managed to see none of them. Chalk it up to a combination of laziness on my part, being lost and the long trip. New Mexico’s landscape along I-40 made the Mojave look interesting. Talk about boring. We passed time by scanning for radio stations. Mainly alternating between bad red-neck country music, religious stations and static. The landscape was mostly a little yellow color with a few sage bushes scattered about. Yuck. Though I’m sure a lot of other photographers find that kind of landscape that to be fascinating, I’m a big fan of trees and water.

The one interesting thing about the drive to Amarillo was lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Tucumcari, New Mexico. I have this theory that there is at least one legit Chinese restaurant in every small town in America, and Tucumcari did not fail me. That’s about as many as we have in Glendora. The restaurant employees were Asian. My brother and I left wondering how they ended up in Tucumcari which is essentially a rural truckstop in the middle of nowhere. The other diners there seemed to know each other despite sitting in separate tables which goes to show how small the town really was. Interesting social dynamics that occur in places like that. In the city and suburbs, you rarely encounter familiar faces in public unplanned. I have gone to the same barber shop and library since I was a little kid though and see familiar faces so I guess there are exceptions.



Texas was more interesting as I found the flat fields of grass to be fascinating. (Yes, I did say the Mojave’s boring and the Panhandle fascinating. No, I don’t do drugs.) Immense storm clouds made the horizon seem to go on forever. My brother claims that you can only see two miles of level horizon from normal eye level however so I guess two miles is forever to me. Boy was it windy though. We stopped outside of Amarillo at the Cadillac Ranch. It must have been at least 50 mph sustained winds with huge gusts. Some dirt got in my mouth but I had sunglasses which shielded my contact lens-aided eyes from the dirt. My brother suffered while I shot pictures. See the photo below.



After Cadillac Ranch, we checked into the Baymont Inn in Amarillo and rested up for the Big Texan Steakhouse: Home of the “free” 72 oz. steak. I opted for the 16 oz prime rib which tasted great. Very tasty, and not a lot of fat. I think Eric had his usual Country Fried Steak. The servers had very thick rural Texan accents to a point of difficulty understanding them. Fascinating. Every little bit of travel experience leads to fodder in the car to keep us awake during the long drive. For much of the trip we poked fun at how uneducated we thought people were. (In good fun of course. I find most people of my travels to be a lot friendlier than people in California.)



The next morning we stopped by the Amarillo Livestock Auction but arrived too early as nobody was there yet. We just stopped inside to shoot a few pictures then left as we had a long journey to Tulsa, Oklahoma that day. The gas pump at the station down the street was a disaster to say the least. It took about 20 minutes to fill my 8+ gallons in super windy conditions, and then to have the pump not stop. Half a gallon spilled out of my tank onto the ground before I realized it. I stopped the pump at 8.85 gallons. My tank was only half empty by the way so I should have realized when the pump kept going. I was rather disappointed with Amarillo. The Old San Jacinto District I read about wasn’t anything. I drove through it expecting to see something, anything really. I went through several streets in the area and left wondering why it was even written about in the first place. The neighborhoods look scary as well.

About an hour into the drive to Tulsa I spotted a road sign in Groom, Texas proclaiming to have the largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere. We had to check it out of curiosity. I pulled off into the dirt road to shoot photos in extremely windy, potential tornado type weather. It turned out to be pretty cool. I’m not religious but I can respect the impact such a symbol can mean to other peoples’ lives. For me it provided interesting photographic subject matter.



We hadn’t heard anything of interest on the radio since Arizona besides Kelly Clarkson’s Because of You. Fittingly enough when we were driving in Oklahoma, Carrie Underwood made an appearance on the radio waves. Great voice, very pretty girl. Miss American Idol broke up some of the monotony of the bland country music that had been assaulting our eardrums for days.

Our next stop was the Route 66 Museum in Elk City, Oklahoma. I enjoyed the place and I think my brother probably did too. There were actually three museums in the complex. The Route 66 Museum which was actually the smallest part, the Old Town Museum and the Farm and Ranch Museum. I like to shoot those sorts of nostalgic era-long-gone type of still life and historical subjects but it’s very difficult. I’m not very good at that type of photography so I enjoy the challenge when the opportunity presents itself. This is one of the must stops along Route 66 in my opinion. For $4, it’s well worth it. And the Meteor Crater costs $15!!!



Our plans were to stop by the Oklahoma City Stockyards Livestock Auction so I could spend some time photographing the daily spectacle, and to make a stop at Bricktown in the OKC as well but things didn’t work out as planned. Oh well. Both the Amarillo and OKC livestock auctions were to be the highlights of my photography on the trip but neither one panned out for me. We didn’t wait for Amarillo’s Livestock Auction to begin because I figured I’d get more time in Oklahoma City if we didn’t stick around, but we didn’t know the freeway system in town there so we ended up driving around downtown by catching the I-44 instead of staying on I-40 and catching I-44 after passing through downtown so we missed downtown entirely. Just like water in the Sahara; downtown Oklahoma City was only a mirage on the horizon. We stopped at the State Capitol though because I happened to see the sign for it off I-44. It was very windy and overcast so my pictures were mediocre. Not that I put any effort into my photography there either.

Tulsa was almost as windy as Amarillo but a lot nicer looking city. The houses were beautiful, and Tulsa looked civilized from what I could tell. I was impressed with driving Oklahoma because it was surprisingly beautiful. We saw lots of trees, redbud, rivers and hills. Who knew Oklahoma was beautiful? That same water brought us Carrie Underwood so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.

As soon as we left Oklahoma and crossed into Missouri the radio scanner stopped on 104.1 which was being hosted by a fellow named Neal Boortz. To put it lightly, the guy came across as a racist. He really put a harsh tongue lashing to the Mexicans protesting the whole illegal immigration issue. I’ll omit the details and get back to the road trip. We were equally offended and amused by Mr. Boortz’s attitude. It kept us awake behind the wheel at least! St. Louis here we come!

We stayed at the Millenium Hotel across the street from the Jefferson Expansion National Monument aka. the Gateway Arch. Eric was too chicken to ride up the shaft, so we opted for the Lewis and Clark expedition video. (He rides roller coasters and I don’t.??) It was a great video. The Westward Expansion Museum is excellent as well. Free too. Yes there are still free things in our consumption-obsessed society. The Meteor Crater was $15 per person.



By the way, Charles at the 4th Street Grill should get better hours so he can earn a decent living. He’s a great waiter, and very friendly. Better yet, why not allow him to work the Top of the Mark? He’s cool. There was no business despite him working the hours before the Cardinals game which was happening across the street. Missouri supposedly de-segregated years ago so c’mon lets get the ball rolling already.

The next morning I woke up before dawn to shoot the Old Courthouse and the Arch. The light was again mediocre but I was inspired this time at least so I’m reasonably pleased with the photos I came away with there. We had a free continental breakfast coupon for the 4th Street Grill so we had a quality breakfast before leaving for Louisville, Kentucky. Within minutes of leaving St. Louis we were in Illinois after crossing the Mississippi River. Previously I’d gambled $2 at the riverboat but since Eric wasn’t to turn 21 yet until a few weeks we pressed on. Southern Indiana was rather interesting. I saw a lot of forests and heard even heavier country accents at a small town gas station along I-64. I thought I might see the next “Hick from French Lick” (Larry Bird) playing on a dirt backyard basketball court. We passed many rolling hills full of country side and barns. Classic Americana. Someday hopefully I’ll have an opportunity to photograph rural scenes in the region.