Touring America's Parks with Shayne

This is a block away from Route 66.  This used to be Motel Sierra Vista.  Salvador Esparza was a carpenter who used sandstone and fieldstone to construct his Motel Sierra Vista, which opened on May 19, 1948, at 9 East Phoenix Avenue.  There were 21 units decorated in Spanish Colonial style.  The large neon sign a top Sierra Vista remained in place until new roof was added around 2007-2008.  

  When my dad and I were going out to dinner this was a motel that we passed by on Route 66. The Saga Motel, at 820 West Highway 66 opened in August of 1961 and was operated by Barabara and Ray Larkey.  The 29-unit motel was later owned by Edward J. Canepa, a Flagstaff civic leader who died in 1973.  It is now the Saga Budge Host Inn, and the beautiful blinking blue neon name on the facade remains.