It was time to put the road into road trip. We waved goodbye to the luxury of the Hollands' residence and climbed into the mountains east of LA, glad to see that most of the traffic was heading into the metropolis. An hour on the road and we'd moved from overpopulation to the emptiness of the high desert.
Here we decided to get even more authentic, and move from the flat, new I-40 onto the Mother Road - Route 66. It runs alongside the interstate for much of the way, but now and again loops off into the Mojave Desert and passes through towns for which the phrase "seen better days" was invented.
One of the more interesting places we passed through was Amboy, population: 2. The cafe here used to employ 90 servers, and now they're lucky to see that many tourists in a week. Yet with some co-ordination they're (both?) trying to rejuvenate the place, have just got their post office reopened, and are raising money to relight the sign of Roy's Motel. Honestly, middle of nowhere doesn't even begin to give you directions here.
A town further on, Oatman, has tried a different response to the hard times, theming itself up as a wild west outpost. For some reason I couldn't determine, donkeys are allowed to roam free within the city limits. The Oatman Outlaws put on what they describe as a show at high noon and 2.15pm every day. The place's best hope is probably the nearby goldmine that, due to current high prices for the metal, has recently reopened.
We finished the day at Grand Canyon Caverns, located slightly north-east of the middle of nowhere. There are some impressive caves here, but at $15 each entrance fee we took a picture of the dinosaur outside and headed on to Flagstaff.
It was a stunning day of doing American things along an American icon, but I can only imagine what it must have been like when this was the transcontinental route from Chicago to LA serving thousands of cars and trucks a day. In the words of Nat King Cole:
If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
Not even a Starbucks nearby.
The desert, the empty tarmac, and a car. What more do you need?
The only life for miles around. But quite advanced life, I like to think.
Wish you were here. Surely the inspiration for the town in Cars.
Oatman, where the donkey roams free.
The outlaws.
Should be outlawed.
Watch this space...
One of these spectators is a local.
Back up into the desert mountains.
Found him!
Trains were the only thing to keep us company for most of the day. Just like in University Village!
The price of admission was even scarier.
