April 10, 2026 • 9 mins
"If you’re keen to savour a bite-sized sampler of America’s Mother Road, Arizona’s Route 66 is a bumper section, tightly packed with time-honoured attractions and kitschy Americana curios. A century on from its launch as the nation’s first cross-continental route, the pioneering highway endures as a metaphor for the pursuit of new possibilities. Route 66 was officially decommissioned forty years ago by the multi-laned march of the I-40, but the evocative, retro-wreathed, roadside towns remain."
Read Mike's full article here.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks AB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Trevel correspondent Mike Yardley has been enjoying the Artemis live
stream as well. Mike, I mean, I know you take
us to some exotic places, but I mean that instead
of setting things to the next level, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Oh my goodness, I've been enjoying how you've been nooding
out on this as much as me. Jack. Actually, I
mentioned to Libby there was this interesting shot on the
Nassa feated about fifteen minutes ago, and it appeared to
be an aerial shot of Australasia and you could actually
see Cyclone Biano just above one seo looking at it
the largeale. Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, I mean, honestly, it has been kind of spooky
this morning, and it was all of last night as
well in Auckland at the very least, like just so still,
you know, very much the calm before the storm. But yeah,
they're already recording some significant wins around Northland and obviously
things over the next twenty four hours are expected to
get yeah serious. So yeah, we'll be watching that space,
(01:07):
but we're turning our attentions to things a little closer
to Terra Firma this morning, and that Arizona's Route six
sixty six, which turns one hundred this year.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yes, Jack, the cross country Classic between Chicago and Santa Monica.
A lot of Americans call it the main street of America,
Route sixty six, and it's amazing how many people are
lured onto that road every year. I was chatting to
a local and Arizona who said, last year we reckon.
We had twelve million internationals stop in our town because
(01:40):
of Route sixty six. So I've knocked off various sections
of the route over the years, but I still think
that the Northern Arizona section is one of the best
if you just want to give yourself a sample of
the entire route. So I went back there a couple
of weeks ago. And what's interesting Jack about Northern Arizona
(02:02):
section is that the route was officially decommissioned forty years
years ago to make way for the Interstate Highway. But
I've just got so many retro wreathed towns built around
that historic route that endure and are booming in northern
Arizona despite being bypassed by I forty nice.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
So where is a good starting point for the Arizona section.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Then, yeah, well, a lot of folk all set off
from La But to be honest, you've got that very
soulless sprawl of Death Valley in the Mahabi Desert and
it's interminably boring hour upon our, upon our, So frankly
I would skip that and launch off from Las Vegas
because you also have the spectacle of the Hoover Dam
(02:50):
just outside of Las Vegas before you hit Arizona's Route
sixty six and the section across Arizona stretches for about
three hundred k so break it up into chunks. Kingman
is the first town. It's a wash in motoring memorabilia,
lots vince debate, and it's also home to one of
I reckon, one of the best old school diners on
(03:12):
Route sixty six, Mister D's. It's been a fixture since
the nineteen fifties. You have expect the fonds to appear
as you're ordering up your waffles Jack. Lots of vintage
bowsers outside mister D's. Oprah Winfrey is a fan of
mister d. So it must be good, right, Yeah, too, right,
So what would be your what.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Would be your favorite town?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
I would say Seligman. It's a stunner and I'm a
bit of a history geek. And what I love about
Seligman is it's considered as the birthplace of historic Route
sixty six because it was this town that convinced Congress
to declear the root a National Historic Landmark. And the
(03:55):
guy responsible in Seligman was a small town barber, Angel Delgadillo.
He's now ninety nine and he's still kicking. I chatted
to his granddaughter in the gift shop a few weeks ago,
and Angel's brother actually opened up the snow Cap Driving
which is right next door. That's been going for seventy
(04:18):
years and it's the most radiantly colorful and kitchen driving.
It's got a Chevrolet on its roof. And these guys
at the drive in they hold the Guinness World Record
for offering the most milkshake flavors. I've got two twenty
six flavors on off for jackso shakeaway.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, okay. And there's William's Best.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
For accommodation, great overnight stop. Yes, And it's also the
gateway into the Grand Canyon. Stuff. You want to do
a we sidetrap at the Canyon, you can. The main
street of Williams is just bathed in the on It's
just got that retro glow of all things Route sixty
six great gift shops. I actually stayed at this really
(05:01):
little hotel called Red Garter, and it's about a century
old and back in the day was a booming brothel.
It's now ranked as one of America's most haunted hotels.
Not that I knew that before I arrived, Jim, I
can't say I saw anything, but there was very strange
noises overnight, and just as I was leaving, I was
(05:22):
flecking through the guest book, and oh my goodness, it
was littered with extraordinary accounts from disbelieving guests, just from
the previous two weeks, really sorts of so yeah, just
like just pages upon pages of stories of sightings and encounters.
So if you do like a hotel that extends its
(05:44):
range of amenities to ghosts, you have come to the
right place.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And here's a history by the sounds of things. Yeah right.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Indeed, so heating.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Further east tell us about Flagstaff and Winslow.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Yeah, they're both really good, sturdy towns, lots of classic
stone buildings. There's a real western feel real cowboy feel
to flagstaff for example. And then just out of Winslow
a must do is the meteor crater. So this is
the meteorite that crashed to Earth fifty thousand years ago
that caused this crater. The size of it, it's hard
(06:18):
to describe, Jack, but in terms of metrics, it's twenty
rugby fields wide. It's as deep as a sixty story building.
So it is just this giant puncture in the Earth's surface.
It's like this massive amphitheater. In fact, if it was
a stadium, it could seat two million people. And with
(06:41):
all eyes currently on ittomis interesting. Little side note. NASA's
previous Moon missions actually used Meteor Crater as a training
site for Apollo based Onwards because its surface is so lunar,
like yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Wow, okay, yeah, that's amazing, isn't it. Do you know
how big the meteor was that made Meteor Crater?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Oh? I did see a figure somewhere. It is available
on the internet.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
They reckon it was only about fifty meters across. Really
yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Oh my good.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
I mean I say you think about you think about
like half a rugby pitch, right, yeah, half a rugby
pitch lying to the earth that you know, crashing into
the Earth at five thousand kilometers an hour or whatever
it was, you know, like absolutely crazy. You can you
can understand how it made a credit, but then extrapolate
from that how big the meteor must have been and
(07:39):
how big the crater would have been before it was
filled in that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Right totally, which was on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah, that's right, that's right. Yeah, but it's now kind
of filled in, so you can't you don't, you can't
see it like you can see the meteor crater in Arizona.
But yeah, it's it's crazy because it is enormous. So
what other natural attractions are in the neighborhoods.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Well, that's just the cool thing about the Arizona section
of brough sixty six. Check. It's not all that retro
kitchy stuff. It is nature. So they've got the only
national park on Route sixty six in northern Arizona. It's
the Petrified Forest. Yeah, and it really is quite something.
So this is like a fossilized forest buried by vulcanic
(08:22):
cash millions of years ago. So what you see today
when you rock up to it. It's this very strange
mashup of millions of sparkly courts logs just lying across
the landscape. And that park is also home to the
Painted Desert, which is just a blaze with all of
this multi colored rock bands of red and violet and green.
(08:45):
It is another dazzler in the bag of tricks on
Route sixty six.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Oh that sounds so good. Thank you, Mike. We make
sure all of Mike's tastes for exploring Arizona's Root sixty
six are up on the news Talks He'd be website.
Enjoy that Artemis live stream, Mike, and we will catch
you again very.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Soon for more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen
live to News toal ed B from nine am Saturday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks AB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Trevel correspondent Mike Yardley has been enjoying the Artemis live
stream as well. Mike, I mean, I know you take
us to some exotic places, but I mean that instead
of setting things to the next level, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Oh my goodness, I've been enjoying how you've been nooding
out on this as much as me. Jack. Actually, I
mentioned to Libby there was this interesting shot on the
Nassa feated about fifteen minutes ago, and it appeared to
be an aerial shot of Australasia and you could actually
see Cyclone Biano just above one seo looking at it
the largeale. Yes.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, I mean, honestly, it has been kind of spooky
this morning, and it was all of last night as
well in Auckland at the very least, like just so still,
you know, very much the calm before the storm. But yeah,
they're already recording some significant wins around Northland and obviously
things over the next twenty four hours are expected to
get yeah serious. So yeah, we'll be watching that space,
(01:07):
but we're turning our attentions to things a little closer
to Terra Firma this morning, and that Arizona's Route six
sixty six, which turns one hundred this year.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yes, Jack, the cross country Classic between Chicago and Santa Monica.
A lot of Americans call it the main street of America,
Route sixty six, and it's amazing how many people are
lured onto that road every year. I was chatting to
a local and Arizona who said, last year we reckon.
We had twelve million internationals stop in our town because
(01:40):
of Route sixty six. So I've knocked off various sections
of the route over the years, but I still think
that the Northern Arizona section is one of the best
if you just want to give yourself a sample of
the entire route. So I went back there a couple
of weeks ago. And what's interesting Jack about Northern Arizona
(02:02):
section is that the route was officially decommissioned forty years
years ago to make way for the Interstate Highway. But
I've just got so many retro wreathed towns built around
that historic route that endure and are booming in northern
Arizona despite being bypassed by I forty nice.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
So where is a good starting point for the Arizona section.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Then, yeah, well, a lot of folk all set off
from La But to be honest, you've got that very
soulless sprawl of Death Valley in the Mahabi Desert and
it's interminably boring hour upon our, upon our, So frankly
I would skip that and launch off from Las Vegas
because you also have the spectacle of the Hoover Dam
(02:50):
just outside of Las Vegas before you hit Arizona's Route
sixty six and the section across Arizona stretches for about
three hundred k so break it up into chunks. Kingman
is the first town. It's a wash in motoring memorabilia,
lots vince debate, and it's also home to one of
I reckon, one of the best old school diners on
(03:12):
Route sixty six, Mister D's. It's been a fixture since
the nineteen fifties. You have expect the fonds to appear
as you're ordering up your waffles Jack. Lots of vintage
bowsers outside mister D's. Oprah Winfrey is a fan of
mister d. So it must be good, right, Yeah, too, right,
So what would be your what.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Would be your favorite town?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
I would say Seligman. It's a stunner and I'm a
bit of a history geek. And what I love about
Seligman is it's considered as the birthplace of historic Route
sixty six because it was this town that convinced Congress
to declear the root a National Historic Landmark. And the
(03:55):
guy responsible in Seligman was a small town barber, Angel Delgadillo.
He's now ninety nine and he's still kicking. I chatted
to his granddaughter in the gift shop a few weeks ago,
and Angel's brother actually opened up the snow Cap Driving
which is right next door. That's been going for seventy
(04:18):
years and it's the most radiantly colorful and kitchen driving.
It's got a Chevrolet on its roof. And these guys
at the drive in they hold the Guinness World Record
for offering the most milkshake flavors. I've got two twenty
six flavors on off for jackso shakeaway.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, okay. And there's William's Best.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
For accommodation, great overnight stop. Yes, And it's also the
gateway into the Grand Canyon. Stuff. You want to do
a we sidetrap at the Canyon, you can. The main
street of Williams is just bathed in the on It's
just got that retro glow of all things Route sixty
six great gift shops. I actually stayed at this really
(05:01):
little hotel called Red Garter, and it's about a century
old and back in the day was a booming brothel.
It's now ranked as one of America's most haunted hotels.
Not that I knew that before I arrived, Jim, I
can't say I saw anything, but there was very strange
noises overnight, and just as I was leaving, I was
(05:22):
flecking through the guest book, and oh my goodness, it
was littered with extraordinary accounts from disbelieving guests, just from
the previous two weeks, really sorts of so yeah, just
like just pages upon pages of stories of sightings and encounters.
So if you do like a hotel that extends its
(05:44):
range of amenities to ghosts, you have come to the
right place.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And here's a history by the sounds of things. Yeah right.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Indeed, so heating.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Further east tell us about Flagstaff and Winslow.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Yeah, they're both really good, sturdy towns, lots of classic
stone buildings. There's a real western feel real cowboy feel
to flagstaff for example. And then just out of Winslow
a must do is the meteor crater. So this is
the meteorite that crashed to Earth fifty thousand years ago
that caused this crater. The size of it, it's hard
(06:18):
to describe, Jack, but in terms of metrics, it's twenty
rugby fields wide. It's as deep as a sixty story building.
So it is just this giant puncture in the Earth's surface.
It's like this massive amphitheater. In fact, if it was
a stadium, it could seat two million people. And with
(06:41):
all eyes currently on ittomis interesting. Little side note. NASA's
previous Moon missions actually used Meteor Crater as a training
site for Apollo based Onwards because its surface is so lunar,
like yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Wow, okay, yeah, that's amazing, isn't it. Do you know
how big the meteor was that made Meteor Crater?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Oh? I did see a figure somewhere. It is available
on the internet.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
They reckon it was only about fifty meters across. Really
yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Oh my good.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
I mean I say you think about you think about
like half a rugby pitch, right, yeah, half a rugby
pitch lying to the earth that you know, crashing into
the Earth at five thousand kilometers an hour or whatever
it was, you know, like absolutely crazy. You can you
can understand how it made a credit, but then extrapolate
from that how big the meteor must have been and
(07:39):
how big the crater would have been before it was
filled in that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Right totally, which was on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah, that's right, that's right. Yeah, but it's now kind
of filled in, so you can't you don't, you can't
see it like you can see the meteor crater in Arizona.
But yeah, it's it's crazy because it is enormous. So
what other natural attractions are in the neighborhoods.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Well, that's just the cool thing about the Arizona section
of brough sixty six. Check. It's not all that retro
kitchy stuff. It is nature. So they've got the only
national park on Route sixty six in northern Arizona. It's
the Petrified Forest. Yeah, and it really is quite something.
So this is like a fossilized forest buried by vulcanic
(08:22):
cash millions of years ago. So what you see today
when you rock up to it. It's this very strange
mashup of millions of sparkly courts logs just lying across
the landscape. And that park is also home to the
Painted Desert, which is just a blaze with all of
this multi colored rock bands of red and violet and green.
(08:45):
It is another dazzler in the bag of tricks on
Route sixty six.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Oh that sounds so good. Thank you, Mike. We make
sure all of Mike's tastes for exploring Arizona's Root sixty
six are up on the news Talks He'd be website.
Enjoy that Artemis live stream, Mike, and we will catch
you again very.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Soon for more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen
live to News toal ed B from nine am Saturday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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