Hi My Gorgeous Friends!

I am a little behind in sharing, but here is day 7!!!

We left Williams, AZ at 8am and headed to California.

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We stopped off and drove some of route 66 which runs parallel to I40.

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We stopped in Seligman, AZ and spent a few hours traveling back in time.

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My favorite stop of the day was an ice cream shop that just celebrated 66 years in business on route 66. I chatted with the owner and soaked in all the stories!

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Meet John and his granddaughter Amaya!

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This ice cream shop sits on the corner and boasts quite a bit of land. There is the shop, a fun colorful outside seating area, a backyard museum, and the property even has John’s family home that he grew up in right next to the shop.

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I talked with John several times while we were there and here is some of what I learned.

He had so much to share and its incredible!

The shop was opened by his father Juan who watched the repair shop workers have to cross the street to use the outhouse by his house. He eyed the corner and thought it would be a great place for them to be able to grab a cold icecream before they headed back to work.

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His father first tried to open a Dairy Queen franchise, but they turned him down saying that Seligman was too small of a town. So he bought into Snow Cap instead.

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The ice cream shop opened in 1953. Today it is a favorite stop from tourists all over the world. John told me that his dad Juan was interviewed by the producers of the movie Cars as they were working on the movie. He explained that lots of the inspiration for the movie came from his shop and small town along with other iconic stops along route 66.

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He walked with me through the backyard museum and showed me the cars! He said that he added the eyes later after the movie became so popular.

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What a joy this stop was on our journey. If you ever stop in, you can expect tons of practical jokes as you place your order and pay. He offered me a small handful of straw when asked if I needed a straw. He also offered me a half off ice cream cone that was cut in two. And several other fun, unexpected jokes were shared. The best part was watching him teach his granddaughter and I saw her playing jokes on the customers too.

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These jokes were part of the charm that his dad instituted when he started the shop, followed by John, and now his granddaughter Amaya is learning the family business. How special is their story!

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An original family owned business tale of a route 66 shop started in the 50s, and being passed down to son to granddaughter. I didn’t get to ask him about the time in history when it went from a booming street to a ghost town when the highway went in. Now it has recovered due to the historic value and the tourism his town attracts, but there may have been some hard decades between the town’s heyday and its historic landmark status.

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We left the Snowcap, did a little more sight-seeing and then hit the road again!

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And after about 4 hours, we passed into California!!

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And we arrived at our campsite right at dusk. The campground is situated on Lake Elsinore which is just 5 minutes from my grandmother’s house.

Our site is located right on the playground. As you look out of the door of the motorhome, you can see the playground.

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I put glow bracelets on the kids and sent them off to play. I took the first deep breath of the trip. We had arrived at our destination where we would be for a week, and the kids could run and play while we could watch from the comfort of our motorhome. God is so good. He is in every detail!

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And that’s a wrap on day 7. 🙂

Blessings!

Vanessa Lynn

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