No officer...we aren't selling crack

We began our morning in the same place we left off...the Grand Canyons Cavern Inn. We decided to be brave and try the hotel's restaurant for breakfast. It was much, much better than dinner had been the previous night. With our bellies happy, we packed up the car, and headed west on 66. We quickly came to the town of Peach Springs, which gave us a view of, believe it or not, the Grand Canyon! It was a quick view, and we could only see the rim, but it was a view!

At the next town, Truxton, we took a picture of the sign that boasts having all of the cities listed in the song "Route 66", but to us there seemed to be a few missing. We drove through Valentine into Hackberry - whose only building was the fun to visit Hackberry General Store.

Kingman was our next stop, and we took a short side trip on old 66 that now ends at a motocross track. We also topped off the gas tank in anticipation of our trek up the mountains to Oatman. We should say that Ilana had not really been looking forward to this part of the trip. She is not overly fond of heights - especially heights with little to no guardrails! But, she did a great job, and didn't worry too much about falling off of the mountain. The drive begins easily enough, but soon there are a lot of switchbacks, curvy turns, and steep climbs. However, we both quickly realized that the drive was well worth it. By taking this route, we got to see the newly rebuilt Cool Springs store and camp (well, it was closed-so the outside anyway) and also the ruins of Ed's Camp. It was here that we saw our one and only Saguaro cactus - something Ilana had been really excited about. We also stopped at Sitgreaves Pass and took a picture of the road we had just come up! It was all downhill from here into Oatman, but that didn't make the road any less dangerous. Especially because on the way down the mountain, we saw the remains of a very old car wreck. It appears the car simply drove off of the cliff - and the rusted shell still remains where it fell. We wanted to stop and take a picture, but there was no pull-off and there were people right behind us. Thankfully, in just a few miles, we pulled into Oatman.

Neither of us had really been prepared for Oatman, but we ended up having more fun here than we had imagined. The town is basically one street, with buildings dating to the early 1900's. But, the strangest thing about the town are the wild burros that roam the streets trying to get food from the tourists. You can buy carrots and feed at about every shop in town, and the burros definitely know it. They were cute and friendly, and it was still an odd sight. We also managed to get into town just before high noon, and we were able to see a Wild West gunfight re-enactment. We also took a quick tour of the Oatman Hotel and Cafe, which is home to the famous ghost of "Oatie." We also snapped a pic of the room that Clark Gable and Carol Lombard shared after their wedding during the filming of Gone With the Wind.

Next, it was finally time to enter California. This was a very bittersweet moment for us. On one hand, we are finally happy to be reaching the end of the journey, but on the other hand, we are having such a good time we don't want the trip to end. Once we entered California, we took a quick side trip on an older part of 66 (how it used to come into CA) that now ends at a PG&E plant. There is still a sign standing that welcomes travelers to Route 66 that we wanted to take a picture of. It was while we were parked here that a very nice Environmental Ranger asked us what we were doing there. We explained that we simply wanted to take a picture, and she seemed a little disappointed to not have caught us doing some sort of illicit act.

After getting back on the interstate and going through the inspection station, we got off on the next exit and headed into Needles. We stopped for lunch at the Hungry Bear and then, with bellies happy once again, we headed (once again) briefly on and off the Interstate. We then traveled on a pre-1931 section of Route 66 that was a very lonely stretch of the Mojave Desert. There was no services for at least 40 miles... and possibly further.

After taking some pictures at Cadiz Summit (site of a cafe/station/garage... now just foundation walls heavily graffitied), we headed down the hill and through the town of Amboy. The biggest thing here was the sign of Roy's Cafe and Motel; however, it looked to be closed (possibly being restored).

We then passed the Amboy Crater - which definitely looked out of place with the desert scrub and mountains in the background. Passing through Ludlow and Newberry Springs, we got back on the Interstate near the Marine Corps Logistics Base and then headed into Barstow; where we had a ok Italian dinner (we are spoiled with our local place) and called it a night at the Days Inn here (not before posting a blog update).

Onto LA ... and the traffic that awaits us!

I&J