28.09. Route 66 and Arrival at Grand Canyon Accommodation

After a not-so-good night, we quickly got on our feet because we wanted to leave the place as soon as possible. We had a quick breakfast in the room, as we had become pros at transporting our groceries from place to place over the days. We even developed cooling solutions to keep everything that needed to be chilled, chilled. Shout out to Mama Steffi!

Happy to be leaving that place, we were really excited to head to the next stops. However, today the plan was first to make our way to the Grand Canyon via Route 66. We were all eager to snap a legendary photo of the road sign on Route 66. Since we would be driving about 150 km on the road, we were optimistic about spotting the famous emblem at several locations.

But before we really got going, we made a stop at Ross Dress for Less – a hot tip from our friend Laura. And lo and behold, luck was on our side with the bargains! As a reward, we treated ourselves to fast food tacos at Taco Bell, and we were surprised at how delicious those little things were.

Recharged and in a good mood, we finally set off on Route 66. Old saloons and nostalgic gas stations whizzed past us, and we were fascinated by the attention to detail that was found everywhere. We lingered longer in a little shop in Hackberry because there was so much to admire. As soon as we entered, we were overwhelmed by a wall full of hanging dollar bills, each marked with names and dates. Of course, we wanted to be part of that too! So we signed a 1-dollar bill and hung it in the highest spot.

Julia found a funny cowboy hat that caused us to burst into laughter, but the other three convinced her not to buy it due to space constraints in her luggage.

With two tin signs and two Route 66 iron-on patches, we were back on our way. But Julia mourned her hat, and Moritz could no longer stand the whining – so we turned back. We had already been 20 minutes away! The tension on the way back was visibly written on Julia's face because what if the hat wasn't there anymore? Then we would have wasted time for nothing. But thank God - it was still there.

So we continued on our search for the Route 66 emblem with the new, stylish cowboy hat. Twilight was slowly setting in, and we had been driving longer than planned. Unfortunately, we still hadn't found an emblem yet. Google Maps led us down the craziest routes, and the many newly paved streets didn't make the search any easier.

But then, as we drove through the back roads of Ash Fork, we finally spotted the long-sought emblem just before sunset! It wasn't quite the emblem we had hoped for, but we were still incredibly excited! A few photos were taken quickly, and then we zoomed off to Williams to do a little shopping. In the car, we joked: “Now we’re driving into town to find the Route 66 emblem!” And what can we say? That's exactly what happened! Just that it was now dark, and we simply drove past it.

At the supermarket, we were glad to be at our new accommodation at the Grand Canyon in the next 30 minutes. There awaited us a small caravan right by the roadside. It smelled a bit musty and was full of huge moths and spiders, but the interior was really nice and offered everything we needed. With a collective effort, we sent the pests fleeing. Finally, we unpacked our groceries, made the beds, and left the exciting day behind us – ready for new adventures at the Grand Canyon.