Only Made it Out to Needles...

Day 10: 192 Miles
Total: 2,916 Miles

Well, we're in California...Needles to be exact, which is where the obscure reference from a Three Dog Night song in my title comes from. The temperature is 113 degrees and premium gasoline is northwards of $5/gallon, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

We had a great evening strolling around Seligman last night. It seems that every business in this small town thoroughly embraces the Route 66 spirit, and they're proud of the fact that they took the lead in its renaissance. We ate dinner and watched some terrific live music at Westside Lilo's last night. Then ate breakfast at the Roadkill Cafe this morning before leaving. Both great places. Here are some additional Seligman pictures I took before we moved on.












We drove to another of my very favorite Route 66 icons, the Hackberry General Store, where we spent close to an hour just wandering around. The Hackberry General Store is difficult to describe, so I'll try to do it with lots of pictures.

















After leaving Hackberry our next major adventure was to be our drive over the Oatman Pass to the town of Oatman. But first we passed by a few photogenic things like this runaway relic from Easter Island.


Next we drove through the town of Kingman, AZ. This is a nice place with some great historical character.





A short while later we began our drive up the Oatman Pass. This is a beautiful but potentially lethal drive over the mountains and down the other side to the town of Oatman. We stopped off at Cool Springs Cabins to buy some water and we had a nice conversation with the owner before moving on.







After the beautiful drive, the town of Oatman was a letdown, to say the least. Definitely the most touristy and schlocky place on the trip. Wild (very tame) burros and T-shirt shops made up 90% of the towns character.





So after that we got out of Dodge...er...Oatman as quickly as possible and traveled some very nondescript roadway before crossing the Colorado River into California and subsequently to Needles. The motel I wanted to stay in on the Colorado River was full, so we are staying in a very inexpensive but surprisingly adequate substitute. We will try to get a very early start in the morning to cross the Mohave Desert into Victorville while the temperature is still relatively cool. Tomorrow is our last chance for a tepee experience when we arrive in Rialto. Wish us luck!

Ciao!

Comments

Aunt Mona said…
Needles! What bad memories I have of that! When Jim, Dot and I drove to San Diego to visit Bea (took 3 days from NY state to her house) Got to Needles around midnight,- 112 degrees with wind blowing. No air conditioner in the car. Felt like furnace heat blowing in our faces. Stopped for a coffee break. Restaurant air conditioned. The minute I walked in I got very woozy, headed for the rest toom and just sat down on the floor. I thought I was having a heart attack. Jim got mad because I couldn't take over driving. He wasn't about to stop in a motel. That cured me of any desire to traavel. we made a couple more trips from CA to NY in 72 hours. Miserable trips! Never again did I agree to do anything so foolish.
Aunt Mona said…
Needles! What bad memories I have of that! When Jim, Dot and I drove to San Diego to visit Bea (took 3 days from NY state to her house) Got to Needles around midnight,- 112 degrees with wind blowing. No air conditioner in the car. Felt like furnace heat blowing in our faces. Stopped for a coffee break. Restaurant air conditioned. The minute I walked in I got very woozy, headed for the rest toom and just sat down on the floor. I thought I was having a heart attack. Jim got mad because I couldn't take over driving. He wasn't about to stop in a motel. That cured me of any desire to traavel. we made a couple more trips from CA to NY in 72 hours. Miserable trips! Never again did I agree to do anything so foolish.

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