Known for its beautiful Painted Desert, as well as stunning petrified logs of crystallized quartz, the famed Petrified Forest never ceases to amaze.  You get to look out over and hike through areas that were once lush swampland – imagine Arizona looking like Louisiana today! It’s full of wide open spaces and massive amounts of fossils, including Old Faithful, a petrified tree from roughly 225 million years ago.

The Petrified Forest National Park is one of only two places where Route 66 ran through a National Park, the other being the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Park Ranger Alex Verde showed me some of the park highlights and why Route 66 is still a big part of the National Park.

While driving along Route 66, you’ll come across many different roadside attractions and stores, but when you see the signs for the Jack Rabbit Trading Post, you know you’re in for a treat! When you walk in the door, you will most likely be greeted by owner Cindy Jacquez who is always good for some great Route 66 history, as well spreading the camaraderie amongst the other business owners along Route 66.

You’re going to have to spend the night somewhere so why not make it an iconic stop. La Posada Hotel is a historic landmark and former Harvey House hotel built in 1930 for arriving train passengers. Independent hoteliers Allan Affeldt and Tina Mion have done so much to preserve and restore this historic landmark. They’ve also done an amazing job filling the hotel’s many rooms with Tina’s phenomenal artwork.  

La Posada Hotel was built by female architect Mary Jane Colter, one of the very few female architects working in America at that time – a profession that was overwhelmingly male-dominated and where women faced significant barriers to education, licensure, and professional recognition. Allan and Tina have been running La Posada for more than 25 years and guests can still arrive by train!

Walnut Canyon National Monument located outside Flagstaff, Arizona is home to ancient cliff dwellings built by the Sinagua people hundreds of years ago. Park Ranger Jennifer Johns gave me a tour on the Island Trail, and while all those stairs had me a little sore the next day, the trail did not disappoint! There are plenty of different cliff dwellings to explore, showing what life was like for Native Americans so long ago. Johns even let me take a prehistoric home tour, and you can too if you visit! Be sure to check out the soot that is still on the ceilings.

If you look up just the right hill as you enter Flagstaff, you’ll see what some might feel is a roadside oddity – but don’t judge too quickly! What you’re looking at is the Historic Clark Dome of the Lowell Observatory, visible from Route 66. Here, you can look through the very scope observatory founder Percival Lowell used in his search for life on Mars. Or, even better, you can check out my personal favorite, the Pluto Discovery Telescope.

As the name would imply, this telescope helped discover the planet Pluto in 1930. I spoke with Dr. Will Grundy, a planetary scientist at the observatory, who assured me that Pluto, though now downgraded to a dwarf planet, is still a planet! 

Yes, you read that right! Route 66 brought me to one of the quirkiest, but most informative, stops of my trip – the Poozeum. Owner George Frandsen has dedicated his time to showcasing the importance of #2. While many museums do not display coprolites – the fossilized feces of an animal – Frandsen knows the significance that can be found when we study what dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals ate.

He holds the Guinness World Records titles for the largest collection of coprolites and for the largest coprolite from a carnivorous animal – a poop so big, it has a name: Barnum. And trust me when I say the gift shop cannot be missed!

There is no one more integral to the preservation of the Mother Road than former barbershop owner, Angel Delgadillo. Born in 1927, Angel grew up and worked along Route 66 his entire life. He knew that the superhighways being built across the United States would end up bypassing these small towns along Route 66, leaving them in the dark.

So he formed the very first Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona to help fight the government and have this stretch of the Mother Road designated as historic – an important step, as Arizona has the longest continuous stretch of Route 66 with 159 original miles. I got a chance to talk to this legend at his gift shop, and former barbershop, appropriately named Angel and Vilma’s Original Route 66 Gift Shop.

With all the iconic stops along Route 66, you don’t want to miss the chance to grab a burger at the Snow Cap Cafe. Owner Juan Delgadillo keeps the food delicious and the fun coming for everyone who stops by the café to get something to eat. I found his motto – “You leave in a good mood” – to be spot on!

There are numerous places to stop and learn about the history of Route 66, but the Arizona Route 66 Museum in Kingman helps give a big picture understanding of how different groups throughout history have used Route 66. From an indigenous trading route to fleeing the 1930’s environmental catastrophe known as the Dust Bowl, it’s places like these that remind us the importance of telling these stories.

The museum has many artifacts from Route 66 over the decades, including an example of an old truck that would have been used by a family fleeing in the hopes of a better life. Our country’s history reflects resilience and the struggle to endure far more than triumphant victories. I spoke with Leah Staff, Executive Director of the museum and the Mohave County Historical Society, about the different roles Route 66 has played in American history.