Friday, July 21

Pretty interesting day today. Got onto route 66 and went back in time. This road is what I remember from my childhood, not that I have ever been on it before, but it is the type of road that my family traveled on our summer vacations. It is two lane blacktop that just goes and goes. None of this multi-lane interstate stuff. 66 has places to pull over and look at the scenery, it slows you down as you go through little towns and it is not afraid of going uphill and around a corner at the same time!

We followed it to Seligman. This is the town that has the Snowcap burger joint in it. Came highly recommended by my friend Ed, and was more than worth the stop. The owners are hilarious, in a soup-nazi sort of way. It is a must stop. The rest of the town is another example of a dying small town fighting its demise tooth and nail. Somewhat successfully, due in large part to the Snowcap I think.

Found a cool ghost town, well at least an old town, courtesy of Zelda. Chloride City is an old mining town with no mine anymore. It is SO far off the beaten track yet has about 300 people still living there. Why is anyone’s guess, this place has nothing to keep anyone there. It has a cool old jail and at the top of a 10 mile very rough road there are “The Murals”. Some artist who used to be a miner worked decided to express himself by painting murals on a bunch of the rocks on a cliff in the middle of nowhere. Claims that it is to express himself. I think it is just a way to see how many dumb tourists will fall for his scam! Actually, the paintings are pretty wild. They are as much as 30 feet high and are not vandalized yet, so it looks pretty good.

On to Oatman along Route 66. Now, this is a terribly pretty part of this highway. The road winds along cliff edges and there are places that are super twisty and hilly. The pictures just don't show the dropoffs right at the side of the roads.

You come upon Oatman rather unexpectedly, and there are wild donkeys all over the streets. Oatman is an old mining town with a hotel where Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their honeymoon. Saw the room.

The donkeys are great, you can pet them and feed them. A bag of carrots are available in the stores for $1.00 each and the kids get a real kick out of feeding them. The donkeys do get a bit aggressive about it all though, and will almost climb in the car with you. Try explaining that damage to the rental company!

Finally got to Laughlin. 121 degrees!!!!!!!!! That is the hottest that I have ever experienced. It actually hurts to hold your hand against the car window. 121 is HOT. Really, really hot. The hotel is very nice, not hot. Went for a walk along the Colorado river and saw dozens of carp. Did I mention it was hot?

Primm is the destination tomorrow.