Needles,CA to Seligman, AZ (Wed. July 21)

We woke up this morning to another 100+ degree day. It was so hot that we couldn't even stay in the camper for more than a few minutes at a time or sit outside on the picnic table to eat breakfast so we got the camper down as quick as we could and headed to Denny's for breakfast. After breakfast we headed back out onto 66 with our first major stop planned in Oatman. This section of Route 66 is one of the most complete sections (most of the longest original sections are in AZ). Once you got started on the road you couldn't get lost because these towns were so small (or non existent) that it was THE only road. No need for maps around here!!!

We saw lots of cool vegetation as we drove including these really interesting plants (I think some sort of cactus) that almost from a distance looked like little people with green hair. In the beginning we saw just a few and then more and more in big groups. There were so many after awhile it almost looked like armies of them were coming over the hills to attack.

Oatman is well known for its wild donkeys. It was a gold mining town at one time and when the miners left town they left some donkeys behind which have continued to leave wild. Well, if you can call all the tourists feeding them pounds of carrots every day, they are wild. Oatman has a daily gun fight they stage to raise money for Shriners. As the show begins they pick out a "volunteer" from the audience for one stunt. Guess who they picked?? Colin! He had to hold a straw in his mouth while one of the outlaws used a whip to knock it out. These guys were real comedians and the stunt was really a riot. We got most of it on video and will post it to youtube as soon as we get a chance. After picking on Colin for a few minutes three guys did a typical Wild West gun fight show. It was short but entertaining. We then visited a few stores and headed off down the road.

We left Oatman with me very nervous. I had heard some things about that section of the road being a really tough drive. I had been thinking after what I had driven in Yosemite this would be a piece of cake but when the time came to drive it I was pretty apprehensive. It was a very, very windy road with a lot of very step inclines. I was not as scared here as California because the drop off the side of the road was not as far down. The ride didn't end up being as tough on me as it was on the car. For the first time on the trip we started to worry about overheating. We had to shut off the air an run the heater to get the heat out of the engine. Once we did that engine temp indicator started dropping pretty quickly. We ran the heat for several miles just to be sure we would make it. It was a good thing it only lasted for a couple of miles as the heater in 110 degree weather is a bit rough. It really made us appreciate what the people who drove 66 back in the Depression had to go through. They didn't get to turn on their air conditioning when the hills leveled out.

The next major stop we made was Kingman. We first visited the Rt 66 Museum and then headed across the street to Mr D's Rt 66 Diner. Colin and I had the most amazing chili cheese dogs we had ever seen!! The fries that went with it were awfully good too! I have learned one thing in the last few days. All my good intentions of eating healthy most meals is going right out the window. It is a good thing this trip is not longer than it is or you would be rolling me out of the car when I get home!!

After lunch we continued on hitting many small towns along the way. We have seen so many old, closed down gas stations, motels, restaurants, houses in many of these towns. We were looking forward to one town in particular, Hackberry. There is a general store in Hackberry that is know for having a really nice red convertible corvette parked in front of it. With three car crazy boys it was a must stop. We got to the store at 5:00:01 and as we got out of the car the owner jumped into the car and drove it down a driveway next to the store and into his garage. We didn't know but he closes at 5:00 and he was not waiting a second longer to close down for the night. The boys were so bummed. They saw the car as we pulled up but now they couldn't take a picture of it. I saw the guy (his house was right next door where he parked the car) watering some plants so I started talking to him and trying to be all nice thinking maybe he would offer to bring the car out for a quick picture as most people on the Route are so accommodating. But he would not do it for anything. I was so mad I could have choked him. I understand stores have closing time but when you see a car of tourists pull in from MA at one second after five and three boys jumped out don't you think you would take a few minutes before closing down shop for the night??? This guy's whole business depends on tourists and word of mouth can really help a business if it is a good word!! So, we took what pictures we could (he has a lot of other cool stuff to look at) and continued on. The other problem with him closing shop early was the boys couldn't get a stamp on their Arizona Route 66 Passport book. Arizona had designed the book to encourage people to visit all the major stops on the Route. All three boys were trying to collect all the required stamps and the general store was one of them. So, no open store, no stamp.

Well, it was obvious we weren't going to get to see the car so we headed on an hour east to Seligman. This town is another really famous Route 66 town. We plan to spend some good time here in the morning before continuing on.