Day 42 - Get Your Kicks On Route 66
Trip Start
May 19, 2008
1
44
161
Trip End
Nov 08, 2008
Williams,
Arizona,
United States
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Oatman was once a settlement for the early pioneers but now, whilst still maintaining a certain charm, is more of a tourist attraction, particularly for its burros (donkeys) which quite happily roam the streets and allow the visitors to stroke them. There are rumours that they are drugged to keep them docile but we can't comment on that, although if it is the case then we certainly saw one that hadn't had it's medication!
From Oatman it was more climbing for Chip around twisty mountain roads (those pioneers were hardy people). When we reached the top we stopped to give Chip a rest but soon moved on as, although we couldn't see them, we could hear plenty of Rattlesnakes
Route 66
! Back down in the valley we saw and experienced "el ninos", the mini-tornados that are formed by the heat and the wind. They only look small and insignificant, but they are strong, as we found out when one whipped right out in front of us, covering poor Chip in all kinds of dust and grit.
We stopped for lunch on the outskirts of Kingman next to the railroad tracks and after a massively long train went past we decided to count the number of carriages on the next one. We estimate that it was just over a mile long!
After passing through Kingman which has lots of Route 66 memorabilia and old motels along the road, we wound back up into the mountains and came across, in our opinion, the most interesting place on the section of Route 66 that we travelled - Hackberry, or to be more specific Hackberry General Store. The owners John & Kerry have been there for ten years and in that time have filled it with more Route 66 memorabilia than you can imagine. Some of the stuff must be worth a fortune.
Back on the road we passed through Valentine, Truxton, Peach Springs, Nelson and Seligman each with their fair share of old motels and tourist attractions
Oatman Burros
. The scenery changed from the desert of Oatman into grasslands and the grey clouds built and the wind picked up causing HUGE clouds of dust to be kicked up. The clouds gave us a very welcome break from the burning sun and we even had a little rain, but it was only a little. The grasslands gave way to forests as we had our longest climb of the day into Williams. This is quite a large town and has really bought into the Route 66 theme with lots of old buildings and historic sights.
After quite a search we eventually found our campground for the night, Coconino County Park at Cataract Lake, and the search was well worth it. Harold the site host was a real VW enthusiast having owned more than 70 and he even raced them during the early 1970's.
The site is really pleasant and as it is so hard to find there are quite a few long-timers but not so many passing through, and that's the way they like it apparently! We could see why, it's a beautiful setting and there are deer which pass through the site in one direction every morning and then back the other way every evening.
Distance travelled: 199 miles
Total distance travelled: 1927 miles
Days on road: 22
States visited: 3
National Parks visited: 2
