The camp host suggested we take a section of Route 66 instead of Route 40 due to the condition of Route 40 in this section. I don’t think either of us are interested in Route 66 but we took his suggestion and drove the next day for this short portion.
At the intersection of Route 66 and Route 40 in Seligman, AZ, we came to Snow Cap Drive-in. It was a good time to take a break so we stopped. Here’s a little info on the place:
Delgadillo's
Snow Cap Drive-In is
a historic eatery and roadside attraction located along former Route 66 in Seligman, Arizona USA.[1] The drive-in was built in 1953 by local resident Juan Delgadillo (May
17, 1916 - June 2, 2004). Delgadillo was working on an extremely limited
budget, so he built the restaurant mostly from scrap lumber obtained from the
nearby Santa Fe Railroad yard.[2]
To bring
attention to the restaurant, Delgadillo sliced the roof off of a 1936 Chevrolet hardtop, adorned the automobile with
paint, horns and various automotive emblems and even an artificial Christmas tree in the rear of the car.[3]
Delgadillo's
flair for showmanship extended to his menu, which still features such choices
as a "cheeseburger with cheese" and "dead chicken." His
sense of humor is evident in "Juan's Garden" at the rear of the
property with its collection of old automobiles and kitsch in general; the humorous approach extends to the building
itself.[4] Hand-painted signs in the parking area
warn drivers that they are parking at their own risk. A neon sign in the window informs patrons,
"Sorry, we're open." The door which leads to the counter has two
knobs, one on the right and one on the left. The knob on the right is a dummy;
the one on the left actually opens the door.[5] Delgadillo would continue his humorous
approach by bantering with his patrons over their choices of food, asking, for
example, if they wanted cheese on their cheeseburgers.[6]
While
researching the history of Route 66 for the 2006 Pixar motion picture Cars, John Lasseter met Delgadillo's brother, Seligman
barber and Route 66 historian, Angel Delgadillo, who told him how traffic through the town
virtually disappeared on the day that nearby Interstate 40opened.[7] Both brothers are acknowledged in the
film's credits.
The
restaurant is located within the Seligman
Commercial Historic District, and is cited as one of the town's flamboyant examples of
roadside architecture.[8]
Since
Juan Delgadillo's death in 2004, the Snow Cap has been run by his daughter
Cecilia and son John, all whom work the counter in the same playful manner. The
walls around the counter area itself are covered with business cards from all
over the world.
It was a funny place and I got fooled by the two door
knobs. Inside, we placed our order with
John, the son of the original owner. He had some funny pranks for us which made us laugh.
It was a fun place for a stop and we enjoyed the silliness
of the place.
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| Check out the restrooms! |
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| I loved the smiley face French fry! |
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| Juan Delgadillo (May 17, 1916 - June 2, 2004) |
Our next stop was Holbrook, AZ for one night. There was not much happening in Holbrook so we moved on east the next day.
Then it was on to Albuquerque, New Mexico on Route 40. This was my first time in NM besides putting my foot or hand in NM at four corners. We got set up at Coronado State Park in Bernalillo, just north of Albuquerque.
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| Sandia Mountain (Looks like a watermelon when the sun hits it just right). This is the location of the Sandia Indian Reservation. |
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| Working on the blog |
Al heard a commercial on the radio that the New Mexico State Fair which was going on. We enjoy state and county fairs and especially if they are part of our travels. The NM state fair had some very different things to enjoy.
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| Car show |
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| Our junk food indulgence! |
We saw on the program that there was an all day pow wow going on so we went to check it out. The fair had a separate area for the Native American Indians and we got to watch their dance competitions. There were so many different categories and we ended up staying there over 5 hours. The traditional costumes were very intricate and contained feathers and lots of bead work.
There were about 7 or 8 different men's drum groups also competing. Each group took a turn playing a song for the different dance categories.
The dancers danced in a circle moving clockwise around the big pole.
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| Ladies with scarves |
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| This guy had an interesting headpiece |
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| Waiting to hear the judges results |
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| An elder lady in her traditional ceremonial clothes |
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| Elder men |
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| The back of their outfits |
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| Ladies waiting to hear the judges results for the bell dance |
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| I wouldn't want to mess with this Indian! |
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| The back pieces were beautiful |
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| This little guy was a great dancer! |
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| The little guy had a dance off with an elder. The crowd judged and chose the elder over the young man. The kid seemed to know his place and respected his elder. |
If you're interested in seeing some video of the event, check out these links:
https://youtu.be/WsO1DqxyFcc (38 seconds)
https://youtu.be/WsO1DqxyFcc (39 seconds)
In this video, you can see the drummers and the boy dancer. You'll also see people bringing money for his dancing. https://youtu.be/NrqpJxt1e78 (1 minute 30 seconds)
This video is slow motion of the girls doing the scarf dance: https://youtu.be/mZBTbdqAb9Q (9 minutes 45 seconds)
There was also a huge Mexican area with music and food but after spending so much time watching the American Indians, we didn't spend much time there. Plus, we just spent 2 weeks in Mexico City in July.
Another day we went to the International Albuquerque Balloon Museum. It's free on Sundays so guess which day we went?
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| This was a fun interactive video game to simulate flying a balloon. Do you think I crashed? |
Samples of balloons and information about their journeys and crews.
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Old Town Albuquerque - not much happening the day we were there.
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