We headed out of Holbrook, it was well explored in 2012. I-40 had replaced Route 66 west of town for a good stretch letting us cover some distance quick. We got to Winona late in the morning and Lorna found an old bridge listed on a dirt segment of 66. We were doing well on time and decided to explore. We were a good 5 miles down a progressively deteriorating dirt road and we had to guess about a few decisions at forks in the road. I actually spotted it on the GPs screen at one point but could not repeat it to see the route and Google maps wasn't helping. We had plans for the afternoon so we cut our losses and headed back.
Coming into Flagstaff the back way we spotted the Horsemen Lodge and decided to top there for lunch. I indulged in the Horsemen Burger: Creek Stone patty topped with pork belly, tobacco rings, covered in BBQ sauce and melted cheddar cheese. It was good, I stopped short of finishing it because enough was enough.
In 2012 we breezed through downtown Flagstaff around 5:00 PM on a Saturday and it seemed like a happening place. We wanted to spend some time there so we parked on a back street and proceeded to wander. If I had to coin a term it would be urban western. Lots of 2 and 3 story stone buildings, hotels, banks, fraternal buildings and civic institutions. There were a number of roof top and pole top signs for old school in-town hotels like the Monte Vista and Downtowner (now apartments). There are ranch and outdoor sporting outfitters, quaint shops, inviting restaurants, wall murals and lots of people wandering around taking it all in. The train station is served by Amtrak and I sense this lets it be an easy get-away for places like California. It would have been a good place to spend an overnight.
We were off to Williams where we booked a two night stay and train trip to the Grand Canyon. We got there late in the afternoon, checked in and dropped our stuff in the room. In 2012 we drove through at dusk and it was a happening place, motorcycle weekend as I recall. We took some time to walk the streets, take a horse drawn carriage ride and patronize a gift shop with decent T Shirts and other valuable trinkets.
Back at the inn, our package included dinner which turned out to be a buffet I'll kindly call mediocre. We had things to do and a busy next day so we headed to our room to chill.
