In 1976 I was 21 years old and it seemed like everyone everywhere was proudly and patriotically celebrating America’s Bicentennial (as God intended). 🇺🇸
Here we are in 2026 which marks America’s 250th or the “Semiquincentennial”which is a mouthful, so let’s just go with the official quarter millennial hashtag: #America250. Although, I low key kind of want it to have a really fun and super long name. (Starts thinking…)
I bring all this up because as a very proud Cuban-born, naturalized American citizen – who happily, boldly, and often emotionally celebrates our yearly July 4th Independence Day – I can’t help but want to go hard on this year’s “semiqui…” umm… See what I mean? America 250! Let’s GO! 🕶️🇺🇸🫡
Eric and I put together a short and aspirational compilation of America 250 Bucket List items that were easily accessible and affordable, and at the very top was a Road Trip through Route 66 (also called The Mother Road) to the Grand Canyon. Because it’s pretty doable from where we live and because I’ve never even seen the Grand Canyon.
Can you believe I’ve NEVER done this?? I know. Shut up.
So Eric and I gassed up the Rogue and packed some snacks and we were off! 🚙💨
We did some pre-trip research on the best way to see some of the Mother Road and inventive ways to get to the Canyon which didn’t require us sitting in a car for 12 hours, straight, because frankly, we’re old. But that’s not important right now.
Standing in the middle of the road to snap this foot selfie on Route 66 in Needles, California.
Our first 4.5 hour stretch took us from the OC to Needles, which is on the Colorado River border between California and Arizona. There was not much of interest for us in Needles, California except it happens to be on Historic Route 66. So we took a few “Yay! We made it to Route 66!” photos and happily checked into the local Hilton to sleep and were off the next day.
Our next stop – another 4 hours away – was Williams, Arizona.
Williams has the distinction of being known as a gateway to Grand Canyon National Park via the Grand Canyon Railway and is on Historic Route 66, which checked off all the Mother Road Trip boxes. And wow! I most certainly used ALL my capital letters on that last sentence, didn’t I? I’m not yelling, I’m CUBAN. 🇨🇺😉
We opted for an all inclusive travel package that included the final leg from Williams to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon aboard the gorgeous old-timey Grand Canyon Railway.
And, no. This is not a sponsored post. It’s really more of me, over-sharing about how The Darbys went about choosing the most comfortable travel add-ons, as we’re getting older (<– there it is again!) and comfort has become our highest option. But that’s not important right now, either.
Williams is an adorable little town right smack dab on Route 66.
Williams also boasts having the largest Route 66 sign on, well… Route 66.
I got a little obsessed with the history and lore of the Mother Road and was absolutely delighted by all the charm of the place and especially how Williams uniquely includes the longest surviving, uninterrupted stretch of Historic Route 66 in the country. Color me America-happy! 🕶️⭐️🇺🇸
It took us just a few hours to walk through and explore this part of the town. Also, we had so much “how cool is this???” energy happening all day. It was absolutely the BEST.
The next day we boarded the Grand Canyon Railway and stepped straight into our very own American Old West Childhood Train Dream. Seriously.
The trip from Williams to the South Rim took about 2.5 delightful hours. We excitedly de-boarded the train and walked a few hundred steps and WHAMMO! There was the Grand Canyon in all it’s majestical glory.
Everyone told us that even though we’ve seen a thousand pictures it doesn’t even compare to the real thing. They were sooo right.
Not gonna lie: The tears just rolled down our cheeks.
America. Just WOW.
Hello, Grand Canyon. Emphasis on the GRAND.
It goes without saying that Cubans who escaped the communist dictatorship and found a haven of freedom here in the U.S. are some of the most patriotic people you’ll ever meet.
I, for one, am unabashedly proud and grateful to be an American and I love this country so very much. And am excited to celebrate 2026 and this SuperDuperSemiQuinCentennialOfAwesomeness. (<– now, that’s more like it!)
Thanks for coming along on this leg of our #America250 Road Trip. Because Holy Wow! Grand Canyon!! I’m seriously and shamelessly in love. ⭐️❤️
America, you don’t disappoint. 🇺🇸⭐️❤️
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