Day 15 - Side trip to Sedona, Arizona

So, the hotel we had booked for tonight at the Grand Canyon, the El Tovar, is temporarily closed, somewhat ironically given the weather yesterday, through lack of water.

The weather forecast for today was for heavy rain and thunderstorms (no tornadoes!) so we decided to abandon our plan for a return visit to the Grand Canyon and instead to do a 180 mile side trip around a (small) part of Arizona previously undiscovered (by us). We were partly inspired by a guy we met in the laundry room back in Tucumcari who recommended a trip to Sedona ........

..... and so 20 miles west to Ash Fork, an old town on Historic Route 66 and, sadly, yet another example of boom leading to bust. We were especially drawn to the little local museum run entirely by volunteers.

In short, Ash Fork was originally established as a railway town as it was at an important intersection of the Santa Fe railroad. It thrived still further with the opening of Route 66 in 1926 and even boasted a large Fred Harvey House Hotel (like the one we are currently staying in). In 1951 the Fred Harvey House Hotel closed (presumably they could see the writing on the wall), in 1953 the town was bypassed and 10 years later the main railway line moved to one 10 miles to the north. And that was how Ash Fork became little more than a shadow of its former glory. Swept aside by the march of progress.

Amazingly, the town imported all its water, by rail, until 1975 when, at long last, a well was sunk!

The roadside historical marker tells the story:

We left Ash Fork and Route 66 to head south down Highway 89 through the Prescott National Park and Chino Valley (very prosperous looking town) to the junction with Highway 89A where we crossed the Prescott Valley and then climbed through the Mingus Mountains boasting spectacular views to the towns of Jerome (old copper mining town clinging to the steep mountain slopes), Clarkdale and Cottonwood.

On then through the Red Rock National Park to the beautiful town of Sedona. All red rocks, vertiginous cliffs and hoodoos, very reminiscent of parks visited a couple of years ago on The Grand Tour.

Again, pictures just don't do it justice and, unfortunately, the greying skies (we had been driving in warm sunshine most of the way) dulled the gorgeous colours. Thank you friend from Tucumcari, you were right!

Onwards to Flagstaff and back west on I40 to Williams where we drove through the mother of all rain storms.

Pete's little Route 66 Garage Museum was open when we arrived back in Williams so we dropped by to see what we missed yesterday:

A day we certainly hadn't planned before we left the UK but nonetheless another gem (and a saving of $250 as we didn't have to buy an "America The Beautiful" card to gain admission to the Grand Canyon! Previously $80 - thank you, Mr President .... not entirely sure how that encourages overseas visitors!!).

As a side note, Williams was the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by Interstate 40 and, clearly, huge efforts have been made to try and preserve Main Street, helped, of course, by the railway terminus for the Grand Canyon Railway. Unlike many other small towns it appears to have both survived and thrived.

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