Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wild West Trip: Day 5 - Route 66 Haunts
Today
was another jam packed today of seeing the sights. First, we spent a few
hours scouring over the ruins at Two Guns along Route 66 just down the
road from Meteor Crater. Two Guns was the perfect tourist trap, complete
with shops, gas station, lunchroom and zoo which included coyotes and
mountain lions. What could be more fun than that? Cages were located
throughout the property, some over deep caves or next to the canyon
cliff. The property used to be fenced off but had a gate down so we
proceeded. Keep in mind that this is private property.
Note
the rickety wooden bridge, below it is a deep cave. An original Route 66
bridge is in the distance that we walked over and found to be still in
good shape.
The 1946 Guide Book to Highway 66 describes Two Guns
as follows:
One establishment, offering gas, lunchroom, and curios.
At the rear of the building is a small zoo exhibiting western animals.
In previous years, US 66 ran behind this building, and some old Apache
Caves in a canyon there were great showpoints. They can still be visited
if you care to walk a few hundred yards back." 
The
campground in the distance has seen better days. From the highway can
still be seen the sign beckoning all to see "Mountain Lions." Maybe
someday someone can fix up the property to what it used to be for so
many years along old Route 66.
Coming up, we venture onward later
in the day to explore the cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon National
Monument, Flagstaff, and see Jupiter up close!