Route 66 & Tombstone
Photo Album

If we were to describe this year's trip, it would be "Fill in the Gaps".

We tossed around several destinations. Two days before we left, we still hadn't decided. East was experiencing the worst floods of the century - scrap that idea. I had driven down the west coast through Los Angeles and really didn't want to do it again. My preference is to avoid large cities while on holidays. Regardless, the west coast was experiencing torrential downpours and wildfires, so scrap that idea too. We were having a terrible spring in Calgary and "wet" wasn't what we were looking for. The only place not snowing, flooding or pouring cats and dogs was "South".

OK, so South it was. But where and how far ?? The night before we were to leave, we'd agreed to take I15 to Salt Lake City as fast as possible, just to get out of the crappy weather and then we'd plan from there. We discussed different locations and sites of interest but nothing concrete. Several times we've tried to get to Tombstone but time usually got in the way. We've also wanted to work Route 66 into our itinerary. Every year there has been somewhere, where we say "this is an area we should come back to" - like the ghost towns of Utah and Nevada, historic Ely, Boulder Hwy 12 and our favourite cabin, at the Chuckwagon Motel in Torrey to name a few.

As the navigator, I was compelled to go online and search out the wildest, wiggliest roads which would connect to all these places and keep us off the interstates. The roads that scare the hell out of us seem to be the criteria of a great trip. It is amazing how quickly it all came together when I typed in "switchback roads in America". Coincidentally, while I was hunting for new roads, Doreen was at her house researching historical info on Route 66 and Tombstone, so by morning, we "almost" had a plan.

• Abandoned Homestead
• Apache National Forest, AZ
• Bisbee, AZ
• Bluff, UT
• Boot Hill
• Boynton Overlook, UT
• Bristol Wells, NV
• Burr Trail, UT
• Cactus and Flowers
• Capitol Reef NP
• Carway-Piegan Border
• Church Rock, UT
• Clay Hill Pass, UT
• Clifton, AZ
• Connors Pass, NV
• Cool Springs, AZ
• Coronado Trail
• Eager, AZ
• Ely, NV
• Fairbank, AZ
• Frisco, UT
• Fruita, UT
• Galena Summit, ID

• Glacier NP
• Glen Canyon, UT
• Goosenecks Point UT
• Goosenecks State Park, UT
• Goulding's Lodge
• Grand Staircase- Escalante
• Helldorado
• Hogback - Route 12
• Hole in the Rock, UT
• Homeward Bound
• Hwy 12, UT
• Hwy 75, Idaho
• Hwy 153, UT
• Hwy 191, AZ
• Hwy 261, UT
• Lake Havasu, AZ
• Lake Mead, NV
• Lake Powell, UT
• Laughlin, NV
• Lower St. Mary Lake, MT
• Manti-La Sal Forest
• Mexican Hat, UT
• Mexico

• Madonna of the Trail
• Montana
• Monument Valley
• Morenci Mine, AZ
• Morman Lake, AZ
• Natural Bridges Monument
• Needles, CA
• Needles Overlook, UT
• Newspaper Rock, UT
• Oatman, AZ
• OK Corral
• Painted Desert
• Petrified Forest NP
• Pioche, NV
• Pioneer Cemetery, AZ
• Route 66
• Salmon River Scenic ByWay
• Scenic Route 12, UT
• Seligman, AZ
• Tooele, UT
• Tombstone, AZ
• Torrey, UT
• Valley of the Gods, UT