Joseph City, Arizona: Jackrabbit Trading Post

One of the best stops of our trip. The guy behind the counter was even nice enough to let me bring Cowboy (my dog) into the store as I shopped.

Two things:

Check out the "Route 66 Shrine" or whatever it is in the small room off the side. Lots of memorabilia piled up everywhere.

Also: this was by far the cheapest place we found for souvenirs, and we loaded up. Petrified Forest and "Here It Is" pennants for fifty cents! And jackrabbit underwear. All it lacked was a penny presser.

Here is the big fiberglass rabbit in front of the "Here It Is" shop. That's my girlfriend demonstrating how to ride a large rabbit. We didn't stop in -- we were racing sundown.

When I went by the Jackrabbit Trading post last summer, the "Here It Is" sign seemed in much better shape than the picture on RA. It looked like it had recently gotten a new paint job, and, more importantly, the little wooden rabbits running across the top of the sign had been restored. Inside are all the souvenirs you would expect from an Arizona trading post, plus a small one-room museum that includes photographs of some of the previous jackrabbit statues that have been out front. The Jackrabbit Trading Post has been a family business ever since it opened. The current owner bought it in 1980 from his father-in-law, who had taken over the business from his father, the original owner.