Dateline: Williams, Arizona, sixty miles south of the Grand Canyon.
Today's route took along over a hundred miles along the old Route 66. Arizona has some of the longest surviving stretches of the old road, and we took full advantage. We traveled north from Lake Havasu to Oatman, leading us to one of the most surreal experiences on our journey thus far.
Oatman is described in one of our guidebooks as a town that "looks likes a Wild West movie set, but it's real." When you follow Route 66 onto Oatman's Main Street, you see about twenty souvenir shops, all with names like "Outlaw Willie's House o' Tacky Kitsch." We ate lunch at the main tourist trap restaurant, and Adrian was brave enough to tackle the Navajo Taco. In Adrian's words: "Picture in your mind a Hostess Cupcake. Now remove what's on top, but keep sort of the deep-fried element of it down. Add on top of this cheese and chili, and you have the Navajo Taco." We're convinced it's taken at least a decade off his life, but that's the price you pay on an adventure such as this.
After this lunch, and after ensuring that the heart attacks would at least hold off for the immediate future, we headed on to Kingman, which holds nothing except gas stations. From there, it was a straight shot on 66 all the way to Ash Falls, where we rejoined I-40 into Williams.
This stretch of 66 takes you by many of the old motels for which the route used to be famous. As I sit here, we're drawing a blank on the names, but stay tuned to this post to see if we recall anything. We also passed many remains of rusted-out RVs and other vehicles.
Before I wrap this up, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the portion of 66 between Oatman and Kingman. And I leave it to Adrian to describe it: "The road from Oatman to Kingman winds up through the mountains, through old rocky paths that present full views of the dry, yellow labyrinth at their peaks. One sign on this path bears the weight of an unfortunate rattlesnake, slumped over the top as if to give a warning to travellers. Eventually, the path weaves down from the mountain, past abandoned RVs and cafes, and leads to a wide valley between the mountains. Within this valley is the town of Kingman."
Tomorrow: the Grand Canyon. Pictures coming whenever we get a chance to upload.
1 comment:
Imagine when dinosaur's roamed the earth before it was the wild west....probably looked like the rusted out RV's. BTW, the best place for local food is usally in the back of a gas stationn when the Navajo women (or whatever the local tribe is) are making fresh steaming tomales, tacos, or whatever...always cheap and most excellent. Here's another road musci suggestion for this area..."The Planets"/Gustav holst, or "Carmina Burana"/Adrian will know. Make sure you vehicle does not become one of the roadside hulks. BTW grilled rattlesnake is delicious...add to the nacho cupcake! Works with twinkies as well. I'll be in the Great Plains of Nebraska until Sunday...look for me in a covered wagon. Pop
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