Road Trip Studios: Family-Friendly Adventures on Route 66 and Beyond in the Great Southwest

The La Posada Hotel on Route 66 in Winslow feels like an unexpected rustic lodge and oasis in Arizona's plateau highlands. The gardens are lush and the interior is strikingly beautiful. Though you're not at the Grand Canyon or Yosemite, it's no wonder you feel as though you might be; the hotel was designed by premier turn-of-the century female architect, Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter. Famous for her landmark buildings along the South Rim, Colter worked with the Santa Fe Railroad and Fred Harvey Company from 1905 to 1950. The Harvey family turned to her in the 1920s to design La Posada, last of the "Harvey Hotels" along the Santa Fe Railway line, which opened in 1930. The Harvey Hotels were famous for their exemplary food and service along the Santa Fe. After a fist fight broke out among all-male wait staff, Fred Harvey revolutionized waitressing by replacing them with a highly-trained, diligent and well-paid staff of young women who wore conse

Hailed by National Geographic as one of the best drives in the world, US Highway 89, the National Park Highway, spanned from Mexico to Canada, until 1992 when it was decommissioned south of Flagstaff.  Connecting 6 National Parks (7, if you start at Saguaro National Park in Tucson) Highway 89 begins its epic geologic journey amidst the volcanic cinders and red clay ruins of Sunset Crater and Wutpatki National Monuments near Flagstaff. As it cuts through the solitude of Northeastern Arizona and the Navajo Nation, it passes the historic Cameron Trading Post and offers sublime rose-colored vistas of the Vermilion Cliffs.  Today's Highway 89, since the 1960s, continues up to Page, past the Emerald Green spectacle of Horseshoe Bend and on to the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. Along the roadside you can buy handcrafted jewelry from individual vendors. The original route, 89A, makes a less traveled trek to the scenic Navajo Bri

Westward Motel, Salome, AZ There’s a beautiful nostalgia for old things. Part of the wonder of ghost towns and historic places is marveling at how the sights before you have been preserved all this time, while times changed and towns grew and travelers changed course, this has stood untouched. Though we may take the contemporary and familiar for granted, the past is unfamiliar and ripe for rediscovery. In the case of Salome, Arizona, off-the-beaten-path on US 60 heading towards LA, few may realize that this desert town was once a prequel to Las Vegas, alive in the 1930’s with gambling, eager lovebirds and illicit prostitution long before “Sin City” came into being. Sheffler's Motel, Salome, AZ The so-called “Arizona Outback” along US 60 from Wickenburg to I-10, 17 miles from Quartzsite, was once the main thoroughfare from Phoenix to Los Angeles. Overshadowed in the 70’s by the Interstate, today it is relatively seldom traveled and to some, even undesirable.

Few places are as good for pondering Arizona's past as Prescott and its surrounding areas. Owing to the region's rich mining history, many artifacts of the past are hiding in plain sight, from pioneer graveyards to a century old stone kiln constructed without masonry, to railroad service cars on the old Prescott East Railroad line (today's Iron King Trail), which served the Iron King Mine.  Once a town of as many as 3,000, Walker is now a quiet community of summer homes in the pines just outside of Prescott. Yet, well over a century later, the Walker Kiln sits quietly, each well-placed stone in tact, at the end of a decorated trail. The kiln was built without masonry and used to produce charcoal that would burn hot enough to release silver from ore.   Cherry lies in the foothills of Mingus Mountain, about 30 minutes outside of Prescott Valley, on a winding scenic route through beautiful pines, boulders

Route 66 is kicking in Kingman with historic motor courts, eateries and museums, including the Arizona Route 66 Museum. The route winds through Kingman's high desert with a rustic authenticity, past bustling trains, desert buttes and vistas of the the Hualapai Mountains. Eye-catching landmarks on the route include the El Trovatore Motel, a tourist court pre-dating World War II boasting a 100' tower like a desert oil rig, and the Kingman Visitor Center with its 30' mid-century modern sign. Nearby, you'll find Loco Motive Park (home to Santa Fe passenger stream engine #3759) and Mr. D'z Route 66 Diner. The variety of the Kingman area is extraordinary, with the forested Hualapai Mountains, historic Route 66 adventures in Oatman, the clear aquamarine waters of Lake Havasu and historic mining town of Chloride, all within an hour's drive. Also nearby is the scenic Joshua Tree forest en route to Meadview and Pearce Ferry.