This Summer we didn't have a long time to have a vacation, so we looked up places that we could go that weren't too far away and booked some KOA's in Arizona and went on our way.
I have always been curious about Route 66 and have wanted to ride the whole road (well, what's left of it) all the way to Chicago. I know that isn't going to happen, so over the course of the years I've tried to get on what ever piece of the route I can. I think so far, we have covered about 65% of Route 66. This trip included some touristy stops and was just a nice road trip.
First stop, Blythe, CA. Cool murals. Cool Hotels. Cool old buildings.
Ryan wanted to try a Chinese restaurant inside of a what looked like, an old diner. Maybe a Denny's? It took a while and the kids already were over sitting for a long period of time so it wasn't very dreamy. But Kate sitting in front of this painting was dreamy.
We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Kingston, AZ and in the morning, we drove through the town, checking out all of the Route 66 sights. So many things to see. I would go back here and spend a day.
We made it to Williams, AZ, the furthest East we would go. Williams really stood out, it is such a cute town with so much to check out.
We checked in to our KOA and then went to check out Bedrock. A probably once thriving Flintstone's themed RV park. It was recently sold and the new owners were going to turn it into a birds of prey themed situation but they kept it open for one last Summer. I am so glad that we were able to see it. It was so amazing and I'm so sad that it will be no more. I heard that there is one in North or South Dakota too, I would definitely go and check it out. Enjoy the next few pictures of this truly awesome roadside attraction.
Back to the KOA in Williams. This was a fun and very family friendly KOA. It had a barrel train and a race car track, among other things.
You know we have to stay in a teepee at lease once on a road trip.
This one was a step up with it's own bedding.
In the morning we headed to the grand canyon. We went to the Desert View Watch Tower. There were the coolest paintings on the walls and a beautiful view out the windows on every single level. A storm rolled in so we didn't stay as long as we hoped, but it was still an experience.
That night we stayed in Seligman, AZ. We ate at a pizza place and signed a dollar bill that they taped to the ceiling, it says Stephens Family on it in blue ink. Just in case you go there. Haha. It was definitely a smaller town than Williams and the KOA was how KOA's were when I was little, just a nice place to hitch your wagon. No frills. It was rainy and muddy, so we couldn't go swimming or have a very successful fire but in the morning the loud ones and I took a walk around the whole campground and I kind of fell in love with it's simple charms.
One cool thing that this KOA offers which they should mention it more, is that you can sleep above the main office. I saw that it was available but I thought it was just an A-Frame. If I would have put it together, we would have totally stayed up there. Those A-frame building are iconic and I think people would really get a kick out of staying in one. Anyway, I haven't gotten around to writing a review, to point that out. But I will...
The town of Seligman is old and touristy and if Ben was a little older we could have stayed longer. Just get out of your car and walk around. That's the best way to experience it.
Later that day we drove back to Williams, which we should have spent two nights there but we didn't know. We heard great things about Bearizona, so we went to check it out and we also drove down Williams Main St to check out all of the signs and history.
Two roadside signs that were just out there alone. See up and below.
We came across a cool souvenir store that had just closed. It had a great tiki head and neighbors with a long line of mailboxes.
We decided to stay in Lake Havasu that night. The next day before we left, I jumped out of the car to take some pictures of the London Bridge. It was hot and we needed to keep on moving.
It was short and sweet but it always fun to see what is out there. I would go back to each one of our stops again. I would say there were more winners than losers with each destination. It was a nice way to close up the Summer.
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