Travel – Page 13 – West Coast Notebook

Today we did three states in one day. Started the day in Camp Verde so we could go to the V Bar V Ranch which is the site of Hopi petroglyphs. The ranch apparently is still in use, but it is most known for its Hopi calendar. This was another place that we had been before, but Rob liked it so much, he wanted to go back. I was game because last time there were numerous bird species and I'm always looking for more. The original fireplace is all that is left of the house and the visitor station is behind that. The fellow that did the talk on the petroglyphs last time we were there wasn't going to be on until the afternoon, so we got a different perspective from Jim. They all have a different talk, so you learn something new each time. One of the neat things about these glyphs is that they show the equinoxes and when the time of planting was according to where the sun hit on the glyphs. It was their equivalent of a calendar. Jim was talking about the Hopi people who actually come now to see the site and learned that they were going to be doing a snake dance. He phones them up and asked if he could attend. "Are you Hopi?" he was asked. Upon hearing no, they said no and that was it. So Rob was telling them about when we went through the mesas a few years ago. He asked if we could attend a dance and we were invited to as long as we were respectful and didn't wear shorts and stood over there. It was a wonderful experience and Jim was envious. From the visitor station, you walk down a path through fields and I was fortunate to see a flock of western bluebirds. No good pictures, they were up fairly high. Leaving there we stopped at a day area and walked down to a creek. In this area, they have lots of groundwater and running water and I think we've seen most of it. :) Next, we headed towards Flagstaff and after that headed west towards Nevada. Well actually, our first stop was Williams as we were low on gas. Filled it up for $35. 37 so it cost us about $11 for 100 miles. Not bad. Williams was the last places that highway 40 took over from the famous or infamous Route 66. Everything was done like it was in the 50's only updated. Soda shops, cruiser cafe and old cars. It looks like at one time there was a train that went from there to the Grand Canyon. Rob had seen a sign as we went into town saying Kentucky Fried Chicken and we spend the best part of 1/2 hour driving up and down the streets looking for it. Finally found it on the way out of town (thank heavens). He wanted it and he wanted it now!! Having fulfilled the craving we decided to head down Route 66 and not go to the grand canyon but onto Seligman. Seligman is the birthplace of historic Route 66 and it was all one could imagine it to be. It was definitely in the 50's and we stopped and bought a creamy root beer. Yum. It didn't look creamy but it tasted it. From there we headed up Route 66 to Peach Springs and then down to Kingman. We were going to stay the night there but decided to head on to either Laughlin NV or Bullhead City AZ. They are right across the river from each other. First we went to Laughlin, NV and I can't find a picture that truly describes it. Think Las Vegas, Time Square and all the other glitzy places you've seen. It was like entering a different world. From nature to sky scrapers and flashing neon lights. It literally was a mini Las Vegas. We stopped at one of the hotel/casinos and the rooms were $315 per night and they were completely full. They have 1500 rooms and 170 suites. Full, everything. Went to another hotel/casino and they were booked as well so we left Nevada and went to Bullhead Arizona. Tried a hotel there and Rob called me in to have a look before we booked. I'm so glad he did. It looked like someone had partied on the floors and forgot to clean it up. The rooms... well we won't even go there and I said that one might catch something undesirable if one stayed there. Opting to travel further, as we left we saw an exterminator truck in the back of the hotel. Good call! So now we are in Needles, California staying at a Best Western. Has a restaurant, internet, sauna and a pool and we have taken advantage of all of them. Off to Lake Havasu tomorrow.

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