Happy New Year! Let’s hope that 2022 is filled with health, happiness and road trips for us all.
Welcome to the newsletter of the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona. I’m Roger Naylor, Arizona author and travel writer, and it’s my privilege to pen these quarterly newsletters that we hope will inform and entertain.
Fun Run is back, baby
It’s time to make your plans for the most eye-catching, nostalgia-filled event on the Mother Road! After a two-year hiatus, there is a lot of pent up yearning for Route 66 Fun Run. This spring marks the return of the beloved event. Fun Run is a rolling party of more than 800 classic cars, hot rods, street rods, jalopies, pickups, and motorcycles. It takes place from April 29 through May 1, 2022. The colorful caravan pulls out of Seligman and travels the longest intact stretch of Route 66, with festivities at every stop. All are welcome to ride along but for those that want to register for the car show, you can do so on the Association website. It’s only $55. Remember, this is a fundraising event with the proceeds going back into the Route 66 community. Sign up today. You’ll never have more fun spending $55 than on Fun Run!
https://www.historic66az.com/33-fun-run.html
Grand Canyon in winter
Imagine walking along the edge of the Grand Canyon without seeing another soul. Imagine skies so clear and sharp that mountains 100 miles away are visible. Imagine a blanket of snow in the forest and frosting the red rocks of the canyon walls. Now stop walking and just listen. Hear that hushed stillness? For a minute, the world is suspended. All that exists is you and the Earth’s most distinctive scar. It’s bewitching and luscious in the low angled light.
Welcome to the wintertime version of Grand Canyon.
One thing that separates the Arizona portion of Route 66 from our neighboring states is that we have side trips unlike anywhere else. One quick turn from the Mother Road brings you to the edge of one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Only Arizona can make that claim. And seeing it in winter is a special treat indeed. Attendance drops off dramatically in January and February. There’s less traffic on the roads and the trails are emptier. The lack of crowds translates to a soothing tranquility and solitude that is rarely experienced in the summer. And if you do happen to be at the canyon during a winter storm, congratulations. You’re about to witness something miraculous. Now that’s a snow day you’ll never forget. 928-638-7888, www.nps.gov/grca.
Tesla power flows at the Powerhouse
Kingman’s iconic Powerhouse continues to evolve while staying firmly connected to its own past. Completed in 1909, the hulking concrete structure was built to supply electricity to Kingman residents. Now it’s doing the same thing for travelers.
Fourteen Tesla superchargers are being built on the north side of the Powerhouse. When the project is completed (around the end of January), it will be one of the largest Tesla charging stations on Route 66. For owners of the electric cars, the Powerhouse makes a perfect place to pause. It will give them time to explore the Kingman Visitor Center, the Route 66 Museum, and the Association’s gift shop. They will also have a chance to examine the history of their preferred mode of transportation. The Electric Vehicle Museum in the Powerhouse houses an amazing collection of rare and vintage vehicles dating all the way back to 1909.
Speaking of electric vehicles
In October 2021, the City of Kingman acquired a 20,000-square-foot building in Historic Downtown that will eventually become the new home of the Electric Vehicle Museum. Design plans are still being submitted but work should begin in 2022. The new facility will be a huge feather in Kingman’s cap. The current location, 3,600-square-feet at the Powerhouse, has generated tremendous interest in the history of electric vehicles. But it allows only a small portion of the collection to be displayed. When the world’s very first Electric Vehicle Museum does make the short commute from the Powerhouse to its new downtown location, that will be a huge story and we will trumpet it loudly in this newsletter as another Route 66 triumph.
Keepers of the Wild to the rescue
The pandemic hit many businesses hard all over the world. One of those is the Zoo Lujan in Buenos Aires. Under financial distress, the zoo in Argentina needed to relocate 57 big cats. That’s when our own Keepers of the Wild stepped up. The non-profit sanctuary is founded on this very principle, to provide homes for unwanted, neglected, and abused animals. Keepers reached a legal agreement with the Zoo Lujan to work exclusively with them to take in all the cats. The first 10 lions arrived in December.
This is the largest rescue operation ever undertaken by Keepers of the Wild. Additional staff will need to be hired, always welcome news in a small town economy. The animals will find roomy habitats spread across the boulder-strewn hillsides in Valentine, and cats and a level of care that they’ve never experienced before. Seeing these beautiful new arrivals at the sanctuary will thrill visitors for years to come.
If you’d like to help with this enormous project, donations are most welcome. For more information, visit www.keepersofthewild.org.
Wishes granted
Money has been flowing to some deserving organizations in recent years and 2022 will be no exception. The Association partnered with the Arizona Community Foundation to award grants to non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and local, state, and tribal government agencies. The Route 66 Arizona grant seeks applicants who support our mission to preserve, promote, or protect the Mother Road across the state. They will also consider projects that focus on planning, education and research.
The Association receives revenue from the Arizona Route 66 license plate they launched in December 2016. They want those funds to go right back into the Route 66 community. A few previous recipients include Mohave County Historical Society, Standing on the Corner Foundation, Aztec Motel and Creative Space, and the City of Williams.
Applications will be accepted from January 17 – February 21, 2022. To view the grant application, visit www.historic66az.com/grants.
Business Spotlight: Jackrabbit Trading Post
Jackrabbit Trading Post originally was a Santa Fe Railroad building. Jack Taylor bought it in 1949, opened Jack Rabbit Trading Post, and launched a brilliant marketing campaign. Eye-grabbing yellow billboards adorned with a mysterious, black, swoop-eared rabbit in profile and a mileage number once stood in every state along Route 66 and as far away as New York. The closer you got, the mileage got lower and the rabbit got larger, fostering a carload of suspense. By the time travelers arrived in Joe City and saw a rabbit-adorned billboard trumpeting "Here It Is," not stopping was out of the question.
In 1961, Taylor leased the store to James Glenn Blansett, an Arizona state senator, who bought it a few years later. It has stayed in the family and is operated by Blansett's granddaughter, Cindy Jacquez, and her husband, Tony. They offer a terrific collection of Route 66 souvenirs and Native American crafts. They also maintain a small back-room museum filled with memorabilia.
A giant saddled fiberglass rabbit outside provides a memorable photo op for travelers who stop to mount up. The rabbit sits in a concrete alcove and wears a hint of a smile. He's the Mona Lisa of overgrown jacks. The trading post is located 17 miles east of Winslow. 928-288-3230, www.jackrabbit-tradingpost.com.
Hope to see you soon
Well, that’s it for now. Make sure that 2022 is full of Route 66 and Arizona adventures. Look for the next newsletter to arrive in you inbox in April.
If you have items of interest you’d like to share in an upcoming newsletter, you can email them to me, Roger Naylor, at [email protected], or to Nikki Seegers, Director of Operations at Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona at [email protected].
Thanks for being part of the Route 66 family. Happy motoring!