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msartThree days on the road and now we are in Flagstaff. We arrived here Wednesday evening and saw the forest fires that the local fire department is trying to fight. The fire was already moving away from the city, but last Sunday the situation was much more dire and the population was really scared for their homes. Now the actual danger has passed and the only effect the fire will have on our trip was the amazing sunset we saw through the thick smoke in the horizon, when we were approaching the area.
Like you see from the pics, we've been following Route 66. And driving it is actually impossible, if you don't know exactly where to look for it. Why? One of the big reasons is that it really is a historic route, so other roads are taking over and their signs are more important and more visible. The other reason is that the few sign that are left keep getting stolen to be used as souvenirs. (I get it, that it looks cool on your wall, but it really is an asshole move to make the trip even more difficult for other travelers.) But we bought a really good guidebook from the Barbed Wire Museum (which also doubled as one of the many, many Route 66 museums) and with it we've been able to follow the route pretty religiously, only getting lost once or twice a day. And since we haven't been in any hurry, even the dead ends and U-turns have become part of the adventure.
We've been driving through some amazing little towns that are just a whisker away from becoming ghost towns and slept in some really cute/weird/cool roadside motels. In Grants, New Mexico, we went to a bar for a beer, just to see a really small town's typical watering hole and surprise! It was karaoke night! And of course, as Finns, we couldn't escape the call and sang a few tunes ourselves. We were the only white people to sing, but the local latino population graciously applauded to even our musical efforts.
We also visited the fucking huge cross you can see in the pictures. Surrounding it were statues depicting the event's around Jesus's crusifixion. It was a beautiful, fun and weird sight. And the gift shop, which otherwise was very kitch, had the nicest bathrooms in the whole trip.
We've been eating a lot of fast food on the road. For a vegetarian it really is the easiest choice, because the big franchises always have one or two vegetarian items on their menu. But we've also stopped in many small diners and restaurants. And while the food has been tasty, it always really heavy and full of fat and sugar and cheese. And even the small restaurants use a lot of plastic mugs and other stuff that just go straigth to trash after we've finished, so that after every meal you feel like you've just pissed on a baby seal. So on Thursday we went and bought a big pile of fresh vegetables and some pasta and nice bottle of wine and, after checking into The Grand Canyon International Hostel here in Flagstaff, we cooked ourselves a really nice meal with real fresh ingredients and eat it from real plates and drank from real glasses. It was awesome. In Finland it so easy to eat fresh vegetables and fruits, because they are in every store. Here, you really have to go looking for them. Home cooked meals are the best. I hope we have time to do it again here. But I miss my kitchen.
We also visited Grand Canyon yesterday. It was mind blowing. That's all I can say about it for now.
Like you see from the pics, we've been following Route 66. And driving it is actually impossible, if you don't know exactly where to look for it. Why? One of the big reasons is that it really is a historic route, so other roads are taking over and their signs are more important and more visible. The other reason is that the few sign that are left keep getting stolen to be used as souvenirs. (I get it, that it looks cool on your wall, but it really is an asshole move to make the trip even more difficult for other travelers.) But we bought a really good guidebook from the Barbed Wire Museum (which also doubled as one of the many, many Route 66 museums) and with it we've been able to follow the route pretty religiously, only getting lost once or twice a day. And since we haven't been in any hurry, even the dead ends and U-turns have become part of the adventure.
We've been driving through some amazing little towns that are just a whisker away from becoming ghost towns and slept in some really cute/weird/cool roadside motels. In Grants, New Mexico, we went to a bar for a beer, just to see a really small town's typical watering hole and surprise! It was karaoke night! And of course, as Finns, we couldn't escape the call and sang a few tunes ourselves. We were the only white people to sing, but the local latino population graciously applauded to even our musical efforts.
We also visited the fucking huge cross you can see in the pictures. Surrounding it were statues depicting the event's around Jesus's crusifixion. It was a beautiful, fun and weird sight. And the gift shop, which otherwise was very kitch, had the nicest bathrooms in the whole trip.
We've been eating a lot of fast food on the road. For a vegetarian it really is the easiest choice, because the big franchises always have one or two vegetarian items on their menu. But we've also stopped in many small diners and restaurants. And while the food has been tasty, it always really heavy and full of fat and sugar and cheese. And even the small restaurants use a lot of plastic mugs and other stuff that just go straigth to trash after we've finished, so that after every meal you feel like you've just pissed on a baby seal. So on Thursday we went and bought a big pile of fresh vegetables and some pasta and nice bottle of wine and, after checking into The Grand Canyon International Hostel here in Flagstaff, we cooked ourselves a really nice meal with real fresh ingredients and eat it from real plates and drank from real glasses. It was awesome. In Finland it so easy to eat fresh vegetables and fruits, because they are in every store. Here, you really have to go looking for them. Home cooked meals are the best. I hope we have time to do it again here. But I miss my kitchen.
We also visited Grand Canyon yesterday. It was mind blowing. That's all I can say about it for now.
