RonHardestyPhotos

A Magazine about Route 66
Route 66 Magazine

As today is Christmas Eve, Santa arrives tonight and I didn’t have a Christmas tree for my travel trailer, I was wondering what a Christmas tree in Arizona might look like.

So, I took a little ride east of Mesa, AZ. to go look for a Christmas tree, just like I would have if I were living back in the great state of Washington. Washington has a lot of trees (like you would probably expect). So I drove and drove and here is all I could find:

It was about 6′ tall using the Chevy Chase, Christmas Vacation movie method of measuring. It was a little full (it filled the travel trailer) as I put it up.So, I hope you realize that most of the story above was all tongue in cheek. I did go a little east to do some exploring and I did snap this image today.

All this is to say, MERRY CHRISTMAS! and HAPPY HOLIDAYS regardless of your religon.

I’m in Mesa, AZ now and I’m trying to learn landsacpe photography. Because “normal” and “average” are no longer useful words to me, I’m grateful when learnin’ happens. I was out trying to do some learnin’ one day and Beleve it or not, this image was taken when it was dark. I almost couldn’t see the “trail” I was walking on in Usarry Recreation area.

Technorati Tags: arizona, az, cactus, scenic, landscape, image, photo

As I was leaving Las Vegas a little over a year ago at about sundown, I came across this hill that was on fire with color. These opportunitys don’t last long and I was glad that I was able to pull over and able to take this photograph. In someways its not very photogenic. The dried grass next to the road, the broken fence wire fence, the hill or mountain with no distinghishable features. This could be near your house.

Technorati Tags: red, mountain, sunset, az, photo, image

powered by performancing firefox

Just a couple of days before Christmas, I thought I’d check out what is east of

Mesa, AZ. and see what the Superstitution Mountains looked like. Oh, Yeah it rained today! First time in 5 months I’m told!

Route 66 is not easy to discover and drive. I tried to follow Route 66 from about 100 miles North of St. Louis, MO. out past the Grand Canyon in AZ. I thought the drive would take me about 6 or 7 days. I spent about a month driving it.

As this image tries to communicate, there are a number of versions of Route 66. I had GPS and Microsoft’s Streets and Trips software. I researched the internet and found a few great websites. There are a number of books and maps available. One GREAT map in the form of a book is Route 66: EZ66 Guide for Travelers by Jerry McClanahan. And to see ahead of time what you might see on the trip is Images of 66 by David Wickline. Both are good books. One is for great images (you’ll know what your looking at and are looking for. The other is a great treasure map. It takes you state by state and turn for turn magic ride in either direction… REALLY A GREAT MAP BOOK!

There is a lot to see and experience on Route 66. Atleast 2 great museums. One in Elk City, OK. called National Route 66 Museum The best of the 2 I visited. Why? Because it had som other museums on the same grounds. There seemed to be a relationship between all the museums at this location.

The other museum I saw was in Clinton, OK. It was a great one also. I would go to this one too… The other one in Elk City just had some extras and that’s why it got the nod…

A family could do one state per vacation and still never see everything in a decade…

Technorati Tags: route 66, ez66, guide, for , travelers, map, national, route 66, museum