Sept. 1 Day 30 OTR

Well, Needles was warm overnight, to say the least.  I don't think it ever went below 33C.  The ground under the tent was so hot it radiated heat through our three inch sleeping mats.  We did not get much sleep.  We left early to have breakfast at McDonald's since it was even too warm to break out the Coleman stove.

We got back on Route 66 at Topock.  This stretch is more scenic than the one through the desert.  It also takes us to Oatman, a ghost town that has been revitalized with burros and, you guessed it, stores but all in the old buildings.  Actually not bad.

This is Roy's Cafe at Amboy, near the Amboy volcano, extinct.

Route 66 dips and turns its way into Kingman, Arizona. Somewhere on this stretch of road we turned 7000 km on the trip meter.  And it was 36C at 9 am.  We saw a handful of cars and one or two motorcycles on the whole stretch, until we came close to Kingman and the interstate again.

In Kingman, we visited the Route 66 museum, picked up some groceries and went to the campground for a much deserved rest.  Today was a short driving day and the curves and turns were not bad.  The road is posted - no vehicles over 40 feet but after driving down The General's Highway from Sequoia National Park, no road is too much.  That was the brake eater road.  Did I mention that we descended 6000 feet in 15 miles on that one?  You imagine the curves needed for that.  Today was nothing.

We have now driven much of the drivable sections of Route 66 over 3 different trips.  The section from Barstow to Santa Monica is covered by freeway and not interesting to us.  So we have completed our Route 66.

We will vegetate here today and then visit Vegas, maybe for two nights to rest up.  Once we leave Vegas we will truly be heading east and on our way home.  Thanks for staying tuned. By the way, the museum had our car on display!! That's what we look like when we camp.