Celebrate the Mother Road with recently published book

WILLIAMS, Ariz. - Just in time for road trip season comes a swinging road trip book. Arizona Kicks on Route 66 by Roger Naylor, with photography by Larry Lindahl, makes a rollicking jaunt across the iconic highway.

That twisted ribbon of highway - that loopy, swoopy road, that python of pavement - curls from the sun-gnawed desert through bare outback and into ferocious mountains.

Route 66 in Arizona crosses stark badlands, cloud-swept plateaus and a desert painted in scandalous hues. The road explores forests of tall pines and forests where trees have turned to stone. It brushes past volcanoes, craters and the ruins of ancient civilizations. Amid the scenic splendor, the highway John Steinbeck referred to as the "Mother Road" passes through small towns and the skeletons of towns. If the Grand Canyon is the heart of Arizona, then Route 66 is the main artery.

Along the way, layers of Americana, with dazzling side trips branching in every direction, cradle Route 66. As an Arizona resident himself, Naylor wants you to take the journey of a lifetime across Arizona, the birthplace of Historic Route 66.

More and more, travelers looking for an old-fashioned road trip and a way of life they were afraid had vanished, exit the interstate to dip their wheels into the mythology of the untamed road. And though Route 66 exudes a timeless quality, a fresh vibrancy has taken hold as new businesses open and restorations salvage existing ones. It's all captured in the new book Arizona Kicks on Route 66.

"Route 66 is the last frontier of Arizona," said Naylor. "People are surprised to learn how much of the road remains intact in the state, including the longest unbroken stretch of Historic Route 66 in existence. It's a rolling river of pavement that begins west of Ash Fork and stretches 158 miles to the California border. It's a beautiful, bewitching drive, plus there are burgers and pie. What else do you need?"

All of the fun and funky things to do along Route 66 in Arizona are covered. Find a gorgeous handwoven rug at historic Hubbell Trading Post on the Navajo Reservation. Walk through a forest of stone at Petrified Forest National Park. Sleep in a wigwam at Wigwam Motel in Holbrook. See where a meteor struck the earth at Meteor Crater. Watch out for ghosts in Flagstaff's haunted Hotel Monte Vista.

Catch a ride on the Grand Canyon Railway in Williams. Pay a visit to Angel Delgadillo and his barbershop in Seligman, who helped make Route 66 historic and has been dubbed its "guardian angel." Spend the night deep underground at Grand Canyon Caverns. Dig into the lemon pie at Redneck's Southern Pit BBQ in Kingman. Feed a burro on the streets of Oatman. And don't forget to take a side trip to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, or Lake Havasu.

Roger Naylor is a travel writer and humorist. His work appears in Arizona Highways, Arizona Republic, Las Vegas Review-Journal, USA Today, Go Escape, Western Art & Architecture, Sedona Magazine, and Nevada Magazine. He is a senior writer for The Bob and Tom Show, a nationally syndicated radio program. Naylor lives in Cottonwood, Ariz.

Larry Lindahl's photography has been showcased in books, scenic calendars, and magazines including Arizona Highways, Glamour, Smart Money, American Archaeology, Southwest Art, and Outdoor Photographer. He is the author and photographer of the award-winning book Secret Sedona: Sacred Moments in the Landscape. Lindahl lives in Sedona, Ariz.

Arizona Kicks on Route 66 is from Rio Nuevo Publishers and is available in stores across Northern Arizona. For news on the book, or to keep up with the latest events on Route 66 Arizona, find them on Facebook.com/Route66Arizona.