The Gateway Arch was recently designated as a national park. Most National Parks are in a natural and recreational setting, not in the middle of a busy city. This is the only park where we were surrounded by homeless people as soon as we parked our rig. The arch is an important monument, but we have a hard time agreeing that it qualifies as a national park. Nonetheless, we battled the soggy weather, navigated the gauntlet of homeless people, and checked it out.
The rain brought flooding so severe, that many of the parks were either fully or partially closed due to it. We saw water levels so high, it was within inches of the top of soccer goals. We decided to jump back on route 66 to find more roadside attractions, and while the weather wasn’t always on our side, it was a fabulous journey. Here are some highlights:
The world’s Largest Cement Totem Pole is pretty cool, though not what we expected. This art deco concrete pole has a circumference of 30 feet, and is sixty feet tall. It was completed in 1948, and is something you ‘gotta see’ when traveling route 66.
The Blue Whale was a fun stop. It was built by a man as a surprise wedding anniversary gift for his wife. Originally, this 80 foot whale on the edge of a pond was meant to be enjoyed by just the family, but eventually it became the focal point of an attraction they built, which included other figures and a replica ark that housed their Animal Reptile Kingdom. Sadly, the ark has been deteriorating, but it was still interesting to see what was left of it.
We stopped for lunch at the Rock Café, which was the inspiration for the creation of the movie Cars. The café has gifts and items left by the crew of the movie. It originally opened in 1939, was restored in 2003, and was both a café and a greyhound bus stop during WWII. Lunch was yummy and we were ready for more of what 66 had to offer.
The Round Barn was built in 1898 by a local farmer, who it seems built his barn round because he could, and because his neighbors said it couldn’t be done. The barn has a second floor that was used as a community hall, and can still be rented out for events. It rose in popularity when route 66 came through town, right next to the barn.
The Tower Café and station was built in 1936 and has probably had the best restoration of any of the stops we saw on 66. There is a cute little museum and gift shop inside, and the café still offers a few goodies, though most of it is also like a museum.
VW Slug Bug Ranch in Texas, not as well known as the other graffitied vehicle ranch, but easier to get to, and pretty interesting. There were some nasty looking clouds rolling our way, so we decided to keep going, and hoped to outrun the weather.
In between storms, we stopped at the Cadillac Ranch, right before we had to take cover under the overpass for a thunderstorm that dumped golf ball sized hail, and another tornado warning.
Standing on the corner of Winslow Arizona. Cuz you gotta. Especially awesome that we were back in the sunshine.
The best part of being silly tourists on route 66 is no one cares that you are being silly and goofy. Here we are demonstrating this at the famous Jack Rabbit Trading Post.
We loved the Wigwam Motel, which not only had some fabulous vintage vehicles parked everywhere, but also rooms decorated as they originally were back in their heyday.
At the end of this section of route 66, we explored another old gas station/gift shop. This one offered words of encouragement for travelers, which we all appreciated.
Traveling Team Fischer 