Next Stop - Poozeum

Weather is still beautiful as we leave Route 66 behind and move on down the road.

I didn't tell Pat and Marilyn why I wanted to stop in Williams. It was a big surprise. Have you heard about the Poozeum? It is the only museum in the world dedicated to the preservation, exhibition, and education of coprolites. 

And what are Coprolites, you ask. Coprolites are fossilized feces. The picture probably gives you more info then you would ever want, but it is quite interesting.

I'm not sure the girls were ready for dinosaur poop but they are good sports and ended up having a great time. 

Enjoy pictures of dino poop.

This next picture is a challenge - how many pieces of coprolites do you think are in this jar.

I'll post the answer near the end.

The answer is 6195 pieces of coprolites.

 I asked the guy who owns the shop, why?  He had to have a reason to open a poop museum. He told me that he got fed up with the corporate rat race and wanted to do something interesting and fun. So he came up with Poozeum.

This guy greats you as you enter the Poozeum.

We didn't spend much time in Williams because we had a date for dinner in Flagstaff. We got checked into our rooms and rested for an hour. Then we headed to La Fonda Mexican Restaurant to meet up with Pat's granddaughter Abbygale. She is going to college at Northern Arizona University. A very impressive, very smart, and very hard working woman. We really enjoyed getting to know here a little bit.

We ate a leisurely breakfast Thursday morning before making the drive down the Mountain to the Valley and home. The end of another fun adventure. 

We're On Our Way - Route 66

More beautiful weather 

We were excited to get going in the morning. The drive from Kingman to Seligman is 88 miles and there are some stops you definitely want to make on your way. 

Our first stop was Antares. It was really hard to miss this stop because it is the home of the Giganticus Headicus. 

Giganticus is a 14 foot tall Tiki head created by Gregg Arnold. Some say it is a tribute to the statues of Easter Island. It is made of cement, chicken wire, and styrofoam and has been painted different colors over the years. 

Antares is also home to the Guardian of Route 66. She was also created by Greg Arnold.

 

So much to love.

 

 

(I hit a wrong button because the blog is now being centered. I have no idea how to undo it.)

 

The store at Giganticus was closed so we were able to leave our money in our purses.

 

Our next stop was in Valentine, AZ. Valentine has only 39 residents. But we noticed this abandoned building and decided to check it out. The building was built in 1903 and is located on the Hualapai Reservation. It was a schoolhouse called the Schoolhouse at Truxton Canyon Training School. It is known for its role in educating predominantly Hualapai but also Apache, Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo. It was also used during the Assimilation Policy era when the federal government wanted to separate a child from his or her family and culture and to provide basic skills for earning a living away from the reservation. 

We were ready for getting more kicks on Route 66 and our next stop is Hackberry General Store which was originally a gas station but now it is a museum and gift shop. The building itself seems to be held together by old metal signs and license plates. If you want a souvenir of Route 66, this is the place to find it.

We next traveled on to Seligman. It's the largest town on this portion of Route 66. Which means it was overrun with tourists. Not sure where they all came from. Many motorcycles and even regular bicycles. Thought we might pick up an ice cream from The Snow Cap diner but the line was out the door and down the street. So we moved on. We are now back on I-40 and I have one more blog post to share. That stop was really interesting.

El Trovatore

 Still in Kingman - Weather is great. Look at that beautiful sky.

Our motel deserves it's own post. We wanted another unique experience and we definitely got one.  

EL TROVATORE

 

El Trovatore is located on Andy Devine Avenue which is part of the old Route 66. It is one of the few pre-World War II tourist courts left in Kingman. It started in 1937 as a service station and the tourist court was added later in 1939.  It would cost you $3.00 per night and was the first air-conditioned motel in Kingman. 

 

 Being air conditioned, many celebrities such as Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and James Dean stayed here. A lot of the icons such as Bob Hope, The Three Stooges and Kay Kaiser and his orchestra,  were here to entertain the Army Air Force training troops.  

The motel has several murals covering the outside. Pat and Marilyn wanted the Porky Pig?? room so I got the Horse's Butt. I had a lot of trouble getting my key to work, so a very nice guy showed me how to jiggle it around to make it work.

The rooms have been decorated to honor some of the stars of the 50s and 60s. I had the Marilyn Monroe Room. Pat and Marilyn had the Godfather.

This is an old motel but we slept quite well and enjoyed the ambience. Tomorrow we drive the Route 66 loop.

Look Out Here We Go Again

 Beautiful weather on our adventure

Picked up the "girls" Tuesday morning and we headed towards Kingman, AZ. We are off to relive our past on Route 66.

First stop - the Route 66 Museum in Kingman.  I think this museum is really well done. The building the museum is in was originally the Powerhouse. It was built in two phases between 1907 and 1911. This Powerhouse not only provided power for Kingman and the mines around Kingman, but also for the construction of Hoover Dam.  Lots to see but a great variety of exhibitions. The museum is on the second floor and there is an elevator - you just have to find it first.

If you will notice the sign above their heads, they are standing at 3,333 feet above sea level.

If only that phone booth was larger, they might have found Superman. For some reason their calls did not go through.

We spent quite a bit of time wandering through the museum, reading about the depression and the creation of Route 66. Lots of historical information about Kingman and Arizona.

Waiting for our milkshake order from the Chat and Chew. We would have had a long time to wait, so we gave up and moved on.

We headed downstairs to the Electric Vehicle Museum. The idea of an EV started much earlier than I thought it did. This museum contains a 1909 Ellwell-Parker baggage tug as well as EVs from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. They are looking for a larger space because they cannot show all their cars in this small space.

We finally found ourselves leaving the museum into their really nice gift shop. Of course, we had to check it out. I think Pat is the only one who left with a bag.

Out in the parking lot they have this great Route 66 sign that you can drive through and stop to have a photo op. A really nice guy took our picture for us. We lucked out because there was nobody in line in front of us and we were done when another car pulled in behind us.

It was time for us to check into our hotel and get some dinner. See ya in the next post.