Day 8: Leaving Las Vegas, Route 66

When we woke up this morning, I had the worst headache I have ever had. I wasn't feeling nauseous or dizzy, or any of the other things you would normally feel if you were hungover, just a sore sore head. Luckily we had already decided that one day in Las Vegas was probably all we needed. There are so many more places in the country that are worth more of our time than here. We also did a load of washing, so in our first week that makes four showers and one load of washing. I really didn't imagine we would be this clean, but it is definitely something I don't want to change.

As my headache slowly subsided, we pulled out and set the GPS for Kingman, Arizona. On the way, just a few miles out of Las Vegas, we drove across the Hoover Dam. Parts of it almost look like a castle on the water, especially seen from above on the Arizona side. Traffic was a bit slow, but a road was being constructed, with a massive flyover bridge, that looks like it will give an even more impressive aspect to the dam.

Hoover Dam looks like a castle.

As the road wound its way through some hills and into brown desert sands, I began to worry about gas. I only had a quarter of a tank, and we were heading into the wilderness. I guy from Connecticut I met last night said that there wasn't much in the desert. Lots of space with no one there. Maybe he didn't realise where I come from. In Australia, lots of space means hundreds of kilometres without food, petrol or water. You see signs on the drive to Adelaide like “Last Fuel for 240Km”, so I thought maybe I might be in trouble. Luckily there was a gas station only a few miles up the road. I don't think there are going to be big open spaces like at home. It's only 600 odd miles to the other side of Texas from here, and there are plenty of places in between. Still, if later on I report that I've run out of gas, remind me that I am an idiot.

Kingman, Arizona is a small town, some might say past it's prime. That's because they took the road away. Route 66 used to be known as “America's Main Street”, stretching from Santa Monica in California to Chicago, Illinois. Now it only exists in stops and starts. When I first started planning this trip I wanted to travel Route 66 from start to finish. It is such a famous road, I was so disappointed to find out that it hasn't existed in a long time. The Powerhouse Museum in Kingman gave an insight into the history of the road. It followed a very similar route to that used by the first Europeans to cross the country, and the train line that was it's partner across the continent is still bursting with life. I was excited to learn that parts of it still exist, and I've vowed to use it wherever possible, even if map makers only begrudgingly still include it on their maps.

All Pink and Blue and awesome.

We had lunch at Mr. D'z Route 66 Diner, which was a fabulous 1950s style diner just across the road from the museum and, after taking a short stroll past all of the “For Sale” signs in town, we continued on our way. Old Route 66 was going to take us all the way to Williams, the gateway to Grand Canyon. Parts of the road were fine, going through little hamlets long since forgotten by tourists, and winding its way through the hills. Two things about the landscape stuck me. The hills we all perfectly flat on top, looking like someone had just come along and lopped the top off. The other thing was that some of the hills were just made up of smaller boulders, as if they had been crumbled up and tossed away by some giant.

These hills were so flat they looked like a wall.

As dark fell, we arrived in Williams, which had a nice little neon stretch along 66. This was a larger town, still having a purpose standing outside the Grand Canyon National Park. We strolled the chilly street, before finding a nice quiet street to sit back and get some rest. We are going to see a big hole tomorrow.

Us in Williams. Me looking down the road to where we are heading, Alex... riding a statue of a bear.