Arizona
is a big place: 113,998 square miles (295,254 square km), so maybe
it's no big surprise that there are many places in AZ I've never
visited. The difficulty of the situation is compounded by the fact
that this big place is very mountainous, and there's a giant, canyon
stretching across the top NW corner of it. The interstate
highways transect the top third (I-40) and the bottom half (I-10),
and those two highways are connected in the middle by I-17. But that
still leaves a big part of the state that must be explored by old
highways and unpaved roads. And gas is currently running between
$3.50 and $4.10 a gallon, here. Before you wince at how cheap that
is compared to what you're currently paying, remember: 113,998 square
miles.
This
became a particular problem for me when I was trying to set a scene
in my new novel in a part of Arizona I'd never visited. I thought I
could simply google the place and look up its particulars. I found
out that some places are more obscure than others. In this case, the
place was the territory through which Indian Road 18 passes, near the
southern the edge of the Grand Canyon. I couldn't find photos or
maps that gave me enough information to write a convincing scene. So
Ernie and I took a 24-hour road trip. We got the information we
needed on that trip, but we got more. We found a wonderful spot we
never would have visited if it hadn't been for my mission. That
place is the Route 66 Roadrunner Cafe, in Seligman.
Seligman
is an old Route 66 town, one of the places that almost died when I-40
was built to pass it by. (One of the biggest mistakes America ever
made was to deal that fate to our small towns.) Seligman
enjoys some attention these days from foreign travelers who are
enchanted with the old Route 66 mystique. It's a cute little place,
population 456 (give or take), with buildings and signs that were
constructed in the mid-20th Century. Route 66 is the main
drag, so you see lots of signs inviting you to stop, eat, drink ice
cold pop (or beer), and buy lots of souvenirs. Ernie and I arrived
there at around 9:00 a.m., so what we had on our minds was coffee.
Not just any coffee, either – we wanted the fancy stuff. The
Roadrunner was the first place with “coffee drinks” in its signs,
so we pulled over and went in to investigate.
We
ended up with a couple of “Fast And Furious” iced coffees, which
come fully loaded with 3 shots of espresso. We snagged a couple of
muffins too, and scarfed those with a speed and enthusiasm that might
have horrified any onlookers, had they been too close. The drinks
and the muffins get 5 stars from us, so check the place out if you're
passing through. They've got a full menu for lunch and breakfast, as
well as plenty of Route 66 souvenirs too, including t-shirts and
reproductions of vintage signs. They've even got a bar. The owner
let us take some photos, and he's the one who snapped the shot of
us at the top of this page, in case you've ever wondered what I and my intrepid partner look
like when we're happy.
From
Seligman, Indian Road 18 is about another half hour's drive on Route
66. The roadcuts on the way reveal some of the most interesting and
colorful deposits of volcanic ash and lava I've seen in Arizona.
Once you've turned onto 18, which winds through part of the Hualapai
Indian Reservation, you climb onto the Coconino Plateau, which is
anything but flat on top. It is complicated by its own mountains,
hills, arroyos, and valleys. The road is paved, but not fancy or
new, and the speed limit varies as you go along. You have to watch
for cows, too. It's 60 miles long, and on the map it just seems to
end for no particular reason, not far from the south rim of the Grand
Canyon. But there's a very good reason for it to end. It's actually
right at the edge of the
canyon, on a little piece of land that belongs to the Havasupai
Indians. They use it to transport supplies in and out of the canyon
(via a small helicopter) and also lead horse- and mule-tours into the
canyon itself.
A
small tributary canyon runs along the west side of the final mile of
Indian Road 18. There's a spot at its head where you can tell a
waterfall forms when it rains. The part of the Grand Canyon this
little tributary leads into isn't the grandest part – the walls
aren't as high or the canyon nearly as wide as you'll find it in the
national park (the eastern end), but it's beautiful, displaying
uniquely eroded areas of the Kaibab limestone, the cross-bedded
Toroweap and Coconino sandstones, the Hermit shale, and maybe even a
bit of the Supai layer, at the bottom. It was a part of the Grand
Canyon I'd never seen, and the journey up that road helped me
immensely as I tried to envisage the scene I wanted to write.
That
expedition was the sole reason for our trip, so we had to head back
to Phoenix once I'd snapped some photos. On the way, however, we had
to make one last stop – at the Roadrunner Cafe for two more “Fast
and Furious” coffee drinks. The car needed gas, and so did we . .
.
HWY
89 took us back through the Bradshaw Mountains (with a quick stop in
Prescott for supper), to Route 93, past Wickenburg and back to
Phoenix. It was a beautiful trip, and possibly the only one we'll be
able to afford this year. But we made it count. If you're passing
that way, I hope you do too.
