What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!
If I put that you can all think of the "Prince Harry" moments I had, yes!
Dream on!
Monday 6 May 2013
Sunday 5th May Via Oatman to Vegas
Off on the final stretch of the old road in Arizona today
and on to California
The migrants in the thirties drove along this part of the
route thinking they were nearing California but as the progressed west they saw
these hills looming and must have wondered how they would cross them,
But cross they did following a winding, cliff side hugging
road, so steep in parts that they had to reverse up. I’ve always thought they
did that because reverse gear is lower than first. That is part of it, but I
now know from talking to the old guy in Kingman that it was also because most
of those early vehicles had gravity fed fuel systems and if they went up too
steep a hill the engine starved of fuel. Ok, boring!
Nestled on the west side of the hills is Oatman. Bypassed by
the Interstate in 1952 it is a gold mining town which is trying, and succeeding, just, to
survive by being a living museum of its past.
Then a long drive down from Oatman to Needles and across the
Colorado to California.
At this point I doubled back along the Interstate to Kingman
and up the 93 as I wanted to go to Las Vegas and see the Hoover Dam and Boulder
City on the way.
The road to the dam was a beautiful sweeping road with views
of the Colorado River of he the west and of course the Hoover Dam is on the
river.
When I was last at the Hoover Dam you could drive across it
but they were in the process of building a massive bridge across the gorge
above the dam as a by-pass. This time that bridge was finished and in use and in
fact all road traffic across the dam has been stopped. You can though still
park up and walk across but the day had been too long for that.
Saturday 4th May - Route 66 Fun Run, Kingman, Arizona
This is where I am so far - it now has 3 sections https://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=200059512251364914226.0004daba15b3107f38ef0
What can I say about today – No, as you now know I haven’t died but I admit I am pretty close to heaven. Kingman, as I’ve said, has a good Route 66 Museum and is home to The Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona.
It
celebrates the old road – and there are 200 miles of it surviving in Arizona - in many ways but once a year the Association
organises a Fun Run for the many vehicles associated with the road as it was,
has been or is now. The vehicles gather in Seligman on the Friday evening,
drive the 89 odd miles of old road to Kingman on the Saturday where they park
up and are judged, though I don’t know on what criteria given the range.
All
day in Kingman there is stuff going on and the continuing stream of vehicles
into the town is fascinating – ok, I guess you have to be there.
On the Sunday they all drive the final
stretch of old road in Arizona via Oatman to Topcock.
I had done or was to do all that run and so with a bit of sweet
talking – which again is helped by my “cute accent”, well they think it is – I got
on the run and was actually allowed to pass through the portal for an official photo, to you no big deal but to me…. Well, the
grin is still there.
Again, met some great people – this particular couple where
lovely, sat in their car, in 32°C
all day, except when he got out to talk to me about various bits of it during
the day,
Can’t say much more about the day really so will just show a
few photos of the vehicles, I have “several” more – they go from the old
sublime to the modern ridiculous but all are amazing.
I hung on to it as long as I could because one thing was certain, that maxim wouldn't hold true in my next port of call .....La Vegas!
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