Tuesday, May 10, 2016

On The Road - Finally

Hello from Williams, AZ. We've gone from 2300 feet, 90 degrees days and 70 degree nights to 6700 feet, 70 degree days and 40 degree nights. Sure hope we remembered to bring the little electric heater. We left home about 10:30 and got here in Williams at 2:45.  
Four and a quarter hours for 212 miles. 
Quickly into Arizona 
Discovered Kingman, AZ now has a speed trap just like Searchlight. Suddenly the speed limit is 35 and right behind a bush sat a motorcycle cop with his radar gun. NO, we didn't get a ticket, we'd already slowed down, but be careful going through there. 
Highway 93 from Vegas to Kingman is a rough road and it was windy as heck. Once through Kingman on I-40 the pavement didn't improve any - the orange cones are migrating...
 The only interesting scenery along the way. 
Don't know what this car is about. Look closely - the side and rear end are covered with a material that looked like parachute fabric. The metal part that showed was a white and black pattern. There were four of them that passed us. 
 Lots of snow on the high mountains in the distance. 

I managed to miss the turn for the RV park so we ended up in downtown Williams on old 66. Luckily it was easy to get back to where we should have turned. We are staying at the Railroad RV Ranch. Big pull-throughs, good TV reception, and the MiFi works. They also have cable TV and a good WiFi which I am using to post this. Price ($39.10) includes breakfast! 
After getting set up - which included a couple of glitches - mostly on my part - we drove into town. Had to buy a computer mouse as mine quit working! Only place in town to buy one was at the True Value Hardware and they only had one. 
 Then we walked around town for a little. Mostly a touristy town. But kind of interesting. See the girl hanging out the window?
 A neat letter box. 
 Old gas station that is now a museum/gift shop. 
Haven't seen one of these for a long time. I remember one when we lived in Casper, Wyoming - when I was about 14. Do people still buy kerosene?
 One of the stores along the main street. - Reminds me of something we saw years ago in Jackson Hole, WY. There the carvings were all Indians. 
 Says it all. 
Another Route 66 gift shop entrance. They sure had a lot of stuff for sale in there. 
 Some of the older buildings at the main four corners. 
 This is a restaurant. We stopped and ate there. By then the 6700 foot altitude was slowing both of us down. 
 The walk way leading inside. Mural of an old drive in theater. 
More pictures of the restaurant. We both had hamburgers and fries - way too much food. 


 Interesting bit of information. I remember driving right through town when the kids were little and we went to the Grand Canyon. 
 Why most of the buildings are stone or brick. 
 Lots of the old "Mother Road" motels left here. And still in use. 
We have both decided that the driver and passenger seats in the Jayco are not as comfortable as the the ones in the Alfa. And it rides a little harder. Going to take some getting used to. Haven't figured out the Nav system yet - Already know that some things in the cupboards will be moved to different areas. Going to take some getting used to. 
No plans for tomorrow, except that we will be staying overnight here tomorrow too. Then on to Monument Valley. 

4 comments:

Phil said...

The car you saw under wraps is next years model or prototype. I've seen them in Williams. Probably a Ford, since Ford has a proving ground outside Kingman. They are putting on highway miles. Usually you see 2 or 3 of them so drivers can observe them from behind. If you got a picture showing more detail, send it to Motor Trend and they might publish it.
I've always wanted to stay in an old railway car at that motel. I think you rent half of a pullman or dining car, but no pets allowed. Be sure at watch the trains leave from the Williams station to the Grand Canyon. Or take the trip up and back.

Carol and Bill said...

That was the best picture I got.

Suzanne said...

Glad you are on the test road trip! Sounds like you will be adding "memory foam" to your seats. :-)

Carol and Bill said...

Or if I can find another one - a nice curved pillow that just fits the small of the back. I got one for Bill years ago and he uses it all the time.