It was good to be on the Mother Road again! We needed to put a lot of miles on today if we are going to be in Saint Louis on Friday to drive across the Chain of Rocks Bridge, but there is still much of the Mother Road to explore! We got onto the National Trails Highway in Ludlow and found a great little diner near the Ludlow Motel with a memorial to the mining days of the area. This stretch of Mother Road that winds away from I-40 is one of my favorites; even it is really hot all the time! We did a bit more exploration at Roy’s (there are photo ops everywhere if you look for them!) and I showed Rich our deposit at the shoe tree.
We got back on I-40 in Needles and crossed into Arizona. We made plans to meet some friends of Rich, Erin and Dallas, in Oatman. They live near Las Vegas, and had never heard of Oatman so it was a good place to meet and check out some more of Route 66! Just south of Oatman are some very old ruins, one of which still contains a visible gas pump. Rich really loves those old gas pumps, and I promised him we’d see a few restored with the glass later in the trip!
We arrived in Oatman just in time to witness a gunfight. It definitely wasn’t a traditional gunfight, but it was cool and the actors inject some humor into the act. All the donations go to charity, so it was worth it! We met up with Erin and Dallas and told them all about our adventure. They are really cool people, and Erin found out why they don’t like people feeding the wild burrows! We ate a very forgetful lunch in Oatman and said goodbye to Erin and Dallas.
No one ever gets used to driving the Sitgreaves Pass alignment! Rich and I talked about trying to navigate this road back in the 1930’s! We found two sets of "ruins" near the top of the pass. One had what looked like a pipe coming out of the pavement and another contained a small stone foundation. At some point in time, some type of business rested on top of that foundation! We stopped by Ed’s Camp to snap a few photos and dropped by Cool Springs and got to meet George Chicago. He is another genuine individual who is passionate about the Mother Road and has a unique way of documenting where all the visitors to Cool Springs reside. You'll have to visit him to find out what that is!
As much as Rich and I wanted to explore more of the Mother Road, we were pressed for time and had to get back on I-40 near Kingman. We stopped in Seligman so Rich could see where the revival of the Mother Road all began. It would have been a pleasure to meet Angel in person, but he was not out and about. I am one among thousands who wish to say “Thank You!”
The forest fire near Flagstaff was much worse than it was when Mike and I drove by a week ago. You could see the smoke for miles in all directions. It was getting late and we needed to push forward, but we made time for Twin Arrows and Two Guns. We decided to stop for the night in Winslow, and took a gamble that there would be a room available at the fabulous La Posada Motel. Our gamble paid off and as we pulled in the parking lot, we were both amazed by the utter beauty of the historic landmark.
La Posada is a motel that everyone must stay at, even if it is just for one night. The structure was built in 1929 and the train still stops at the depot twice a day! We ate at the Turquoise Room, a dining experience many critics believe is the finest in the United States. It would be difficult to argue that point. The food was fabulous and our waiter was friendly as well as extremely knowledgeable on the history of the motel and the restaurant. We took out the tripod and Rich took countless pictures of the motel grounds. Pictures just can’t do this place justice! Tomorrow we need to make it to Amarillo if we have any chance of getting to Saint Louis by Friday morning!
