Cowboys, Deserts, and California

I did not blog yesterday because our connection was to slow. We only drove 75 miles yesterday from Kingsman to Needles. We got hung up in Oatman as you can imagine from Penny's post. Puppies, Donkey's and cowboys Penny was in heaven.

This is the GPS system showing the road we were traveling.

She paid the price to get there, because that mountain trip was amazing. I only thought that the mountains the day before were good but these were the best. Penny hates heights, this was not only high but the drops offs were on her side of the car and the roads were old and narrow and they were hairpin turns and old bridges, but it is the only way to get to Oatman and once Penny read about the wild Donkey's and I heard about the mountain roads it was a MUST do.

There is a Vista at the top where you can stop and see Nevada, Arizona, and California. It was pretty hazy, but very cool to look at.

Oatman is well worth the drive, it was very entertaining and we had a great time hanging out there. Penny bought a bag of carrots as soon as we arrived and began the search for the Donkey's, I on the other hand was looking for the cowboys! Fortunately both of us left happy. Mike Fox is the Cowboy he had lunch with us and gave us the history of the settlement of the west and the history of Oatman. He is very, very knowledgeable, he grew up in this town. If you get a chance to visit this little town, find Mike, he loves to share his knowledge and he is very friendly. A good ambassador of the town.

We had lunch in the hotel Saloon, there are Dollar Bills all over the walls, ceilings, doors and any where that you cans staple a dollar. The estimate there are about 30,000 dollars with peoples names or slogans written on them. Now, BNI and the Queen of Networking has one on the wall too! While Penny was donating money to the Donkey food fund, I was writing on $$$ bills and putting them on the wall!!

On our way to Needles, down the mountain we stopped in the desert to look at stuff, you know, Penny and I stop to look at everything. We were amazed by the way that locals use the desert as their dumping ground.

After we left Oatman we only drove to Needles, Barstow would have had more to choose from but it was to far to drive to and there was nothing in between. At least that put us in California. Route 66 goes right through this town and there are many of the old hotels along the route. Most are not kept up and many of them closed. Needles is a small town, not a lot to choose from in the way of hotels so we stayed at the Travelodge Motel, at least it is not in the slums, the room was clean and quiet. It looks like the Days Inn is under some major remodeling due to a storm.

We are in California even if we did only go 75 miles!!! YEA!

Gettin our Kicks on Route 66

Hazel M. Walker

Queen of the Road

Out of Sedona

As much as we loved Sedona, we packed up and left today. Sedona is not part of the Route 66 trip, but it was so close to Flagstaff that we decided to take Route 89A and check out the beautiful Red Rocks. It is well worth the side trip.

Today we took 89A around the Mountains into Jerome. Again, not part of the Route 66 trip but what the heck we are already off the path. Jerome is phenomenal, a whole town build on the side of mountains. Jerome has a rich history of copper mining and when the copper mines where closed the town was all but abandoned. Today it is growing and draws a lot of tourist. It is so different from all of the other towns we have encountered in Arizona. No way could I ever live in this place, if you fell off of your porch it would kill you! If you ever get a chance I would recommend that you take the opportunity to visit the old town!

Now, let me tell you about the mountain drive. It was so exciting, we were climbing up the mountain zigging and zagging, great hairpin curves, uphill, downhill and sheer drop on the drivers side. Baby was a blast to drive on this road, at the top most point we were at 7500 feet. Remember, what goes up, must come down, and we did. Penny did great, she hates heights, but did well, we had the top down on the car and the temperature was wonderful. This was the most beautiful part of the day to me, it was also the most exciting and therefore fun.

We got of the longest portion of Route 66. It is 150 miles of straight two lane highway, the temperature was still below 95 degrees so we kept the top down. That was a mistake......it is not feeling so good now! Much of this part of the drive was interesting but not beautiful.

We went thru this little town called Seligman, Arizona. Very fun, several of the local places have really gone out of their way to create a fun place to stop and buy geegaw's. We went to a little DQ like place, (not DQ) we had hot dogs for lunch....Bob hot dogs...short and fat. Not the John hot dog which is long and thin. Their description not mine. The guys taking the orders where very very funny! Stop here if you get a chance!

We continued on, top still down..........not a good idea, did I tell you were are sunburned! LOL

Tonight we are in Kingsman, Arizona, tomorrow we go thru the Mohave Desert. Our guide books says fill the tank and take plenty of water. We will also ride with the top up!!!! We should be in California tomorrow night!! YEA!

Getting our Kicks on Route 66
Hazel M. Walker
Queen of the Road

Standin on the Corner in Winslow Arizona......

such a fine site to see, it's a girl my lord in a flat bed ford......slowin down to take a look at me. A Classic Eagles Song, Take it Easy.

We went to Winslow this morning. I would highly recommend it...in the next two years they will be doing a lot of improvement with a big Route 66 Park, and restoration of some of the buildings.

We stayed in Holbrook, Arizona at the Holiday Inn Express. They had the new super beds, you know the big pillow tops with the wonderful down comforters. We decided to order a Pizza from the Pizza Hut right down the street, at 7:30pm we called placed the order only to be told they quit delivering at 7:00pm. To say we were shocked, 7:00pm, you gotta be kidding me! We want Pizza. We had fish sandwiches from Burger King, cause we were in our jammies and did not want to get out of the car! Yuck.

BUT...........we had the BEST nights sleep ever at this hotel. It was great, beds just like home. I highly recommend this hotel. I know that Penny loved them too, she was talking to me, about Ghost Hunters, then the next thing I hear is Penny snoring...I mean humming. I never met anyone who can fall asleep in the middle of a sentence!

Arizona has so much to see. We went to the painted desert, which was beautiful, the petrified forest where satellites follow you around to make sure you do not steal any of the petrified wood. I picked up a piece of wood, it was beautiful and Penny said I had to put it down because there was a $325 fine if you picked up the wood, moved the wood or stole the wood. So they must have satellites watching the entire time you are there, right? I threw my piece of wood down! Damn it.

Hazel at the Crater

We went to the Meteor Crater today, both Penny and I were not very interested really but thought we would take a quick look. Wow.....are we glad we did. It is unimaginable how big this thing is. Or how old it is.

Penny at the Crater

Oh well, we both loved the views.

Now we are in Flagstaff Arizona. It is hard to believe that this is still Arizona! It is so green, pine trees everywhere! No more dessert, no more heat. It reminds me a lot of Washington. Tomorrow we will explore Flagstaff and take a side trip to Sedona and who knows from there.

Baby, my Lexus convertible has been great on the road. We get a great many comments from people about the car, everyone loves her! But, packing her has become an art, with so little space and so much shopping to do over the miles we have had to be very creative. DHL is our best friend! If you are thinking of taking this trip we highly recommend taking Packing Slips with you, it makes life so much easier.

We Found more Giants!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I am off to do laundry, that is the other thing, we are limited on the amount of clothes we could bring so we have to do laundry often.

Getting our Kicks on Route 66............
Hazel M. Walker
Queen of the Road