4/18/2026 - Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area - Southern Arizona Heritage & Visitor Center

 

On 4/18/2026, My mom and I went downtown Tucson to look for National Park stamps.  This stamp is for the Santa Cruz Valley NHA located only in Arizona.  We got this stamp at the Old Courthouse that turn into a visitor center for Tucson.  There are also some other things there to see.

Home - Southern Arizona Heritage and Visitor Center 1-800-638-8350

3/23/2026 - Route 66 Motel (Route 66)

 This motel is located right next to Carty's Camp.  It was built in the 1940's during WWII.

It is typical one store motel with a rectangular plan: a central office surrounded by six units.  Since the 1990's it has been used for single room apartments. 

3/23/2026 - Carty's Camp (Route 66)

 When we were leaving Needles, we back tracked the route 66 stuff we missed the day before.

On you left side of the road at 201 E Broadway St. you can see empty cabins, a former office building and to the left is the vacant service station.  This place was known as Carty's Camp.  It had a flat box shaped canopy that promoted, "Lunch, hot-cold drinks and Groceries and also gas, lubrication and batteries.

If you have seen Grapes of Wrath, you probably recognize this building.

William Carty and Dick Mansker opened it in 1923, before Route 66 was created.  William bought out Mansker and sold it to Howard Carmody in 1940.  At the time there was 28 cabins.

Carmody switched from Shell to Standard Oil.  When Howard left to enlist to the US Army in 1943, it was run by S. Stewart.  After the war Howard sold it to the Ames who ran it until 1971 with Chevron when they closed for good.

3/22/2026 - Wagon Wheel Restaurant (Route 66)

 

For the night we were staying in Needles, CA we went to a restaurant called Wagon Wheel Restaurant that is located on Route 66.  It was down the street from the hotel.  We walked around and saw a gift shop and dining area.  The food was good. I had a turkey sandwich.  The atmosphere was fun. A lot of Route 66 stuff around.

The Wagon Wheel Restaurant was not the original name. In the early 1950's the restaurant was called Lynn's Broiler. In 1978, it became Wagon Wheel Restaurant.

3/22/2026 - Needles (Route 66)

 In March 2026, my mom and I did a road trip to California to do Route 66.  We started the drive from the first town on the route and that is Needles also called "Gateway to California."

That night we stayed at a newer hotel that was on Route 66.  This mural was on the driveway of the hotel.

Here is my start of Route 66 adventure in California.  Please come join me.