We decided we had done sunrises, so a more relaxed start to the day. Breakfasted, showered, packed and refuelled the car and we were on our way by 10.30. Not too bad.
We drove southeast out of the Park to join highway 127 which put us firmly heading south. The whole area is still desert, part of the great Navajo Desert, only the amount of vegetation varies, fro not very much to nothing at all! Through Shoshone, a small collection of whitewashed buildings, situated at the edge of the Timbisha Shoshone lands and on and on across the desert. Mostly straight with a few shallow bends we came upon a stretch that was dead straight for 10 miles and it was possible to see from one end to the other. Made for boring driving.
We passed another set of sand dunes, they are not as common as one might suppose even in a desert, and on to Baker where we joined the interstate highway 15, heading for Las Vegas. This was a four lane highway so we made better time, but it was busy. It ran across yet more desert and soon began a thirty mile climb from 900 feet to Mountain Pass (very inventive with names, these Americans) at 4,730 feet - a long slow drag along this dead straight road. Just over the pass we entered Nevada and drove along the Joshua Tree Highway. Mile after mile of desert but this time covered with Joshua Trees and Yucca as well as the usual scrubby plants.
We stopped for lunch at a tiny little town called Nipton, it was founded at the junction of old wagon train routes, then the railway came. Then the railway closed the station and the town almost died (it didn't look too lively today!). Still has a small hotel and cafe and a few houses but that's it? It was still hot, 108F, and still very dry.
On down the road to join another interstate highway, 95 at Searchlight Nv, our first in Nevada and whilst only four lanes it seemed so wide and fast. Only a short spell on the highway before heading west across the Columbia River into Arizona.
Yet another climb to yet another pass and into Golden Valley. This must have been considered a beauty spot at one time but now there are many RV and trailer sites, scattered in the desert scrub, a sort of holiday place. It seemed to go on for miles, the road dead straight but we're through, over the hill and into Kingman, our destination for the day and the heart of the old Route 66.
There was a vintage car festival so the town was buzzing, a great atmosphere. We took a slow drive through then on to our motel, El Trovatore where we met the owner who gave us lots of info on the town and surrounding area. The motel is a film star themed place, each room named after a Hollywood star and featured photographs of that star in each room. We had the Audrey Hepburn room complete with stills from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'. The Motel was built in the 1930's and retains many of its original features and the current owner is quirky to say the least.
We drove back into town to look at the vintage cars, all beautifully preserved and presented. A quick stop at Mr D'z Route 66 Diner for a home made root beer (I had the root beer floater - root beer with a scoop of ice cream!) - very refreshing. A number of trains came through the town while we were there, huge trains, five locomotives at the front followed by 139 ( Ruth counted!!) flatbeds, double stacked with shipping containers, they took ages to pass. Apparently Kingman is on the main route from Chicago to the west coast and they run a very frequent service, 24 hours a day.
Back to our room before walking to the nearest, and highly recommended steakhouse, Dambar. We opted to eat in the bar room, an experience in itself, there were to screens all over, showing five different sports and a very loud juke box. Great, we loved the atmosphere.
We ordered a ribeye steak to be shared, which the waitress was happy with ad finished with a chocolate brownie and ice cream dessert, shared, of course. The food servings were huge so we were glad we had shared. We sampled the bourbon afterwards, it was ok but I prefer malt whisky. Staggered back to our room and crashed.
We really liked Kingman and El Trovatore and we will spend some time in the town before moving on tomorrow.
