The Three L’s Travel The West

Our day to leave Las Vegas.  We decided we would definitely come back here to explore more, but perhaps when not so hot or crowded.  Have learned that October is a great time for that.  We did manage to check out by 10:30AM after Louie once again did a fantastic job packing everything into the car.

Our first destination this morning was Hoover Dam.  Since we were short on time, we did not take any tours, simply drove across it and back, taking photos as we went. 

From Hoover Dam, we backtracked a bit and headed south toward Oatman, Arizona.  We set the GPS for the fastest route to get there.  Little did we know the last 10 miles would be on gravel road with no shoulder and lots of dips and curves.  We also saw abandoned TV’s, computer monitors, kitchen appliances, and even an old car off the road, most of them riddled with bullet holes.  There were also warning signs about flash flooding and trespassing in staked mine areas. The skull and crossbones was very effective.

It was mid afternoon upon our arrival in Oatman.  This town’s economy is based solely on tourism, as each shop sells a plethora of Route 66 items.  Half of the shops appeared to cater to bikers passing through.  Route 66 runs right through the middle of town, and it felt like we had stepped back in time (well, WAY back to the early 1900’s).  It was old and historic and I loved it!  Louie found the old jail, and was enthralled with that.  Lynnae made friends with the roaming burros.  She bought a bag of carrots and fed them to the burros while Louie and I watched.  A couple of them nosed my elbow and back looking for carrots.  Very docile and friendly creatures. 

After leaving Oatman, we travelled Route 66 al the way to Seligman.  There were a few towns along the way that still had remnants of that golden era of highway travel.  This is also where we saw our first rain in days. 

At Seligman, we found a Subway for dinner.  Turned east and on I-40 and headed toward Flagstaff, arriving around 7PM.  A little more time on the road than I expected, but Louie and Lynnae did very well and were very patient for my indulgence to travel the “Mother Road”.

Unloaded the car and the kids jumped into their swimsuits.  They swam for about an hour, and I sat by the pool wrapped up in Lynnae’s towel trying to keep the wind off me.  After they finished swimming, the took a dip in the jacuzzi. 

Our hotel is right off the freeway, but we can’t hear any noise from it in our room.  We must be close to railroad tracks as we have heard several trains, but can’t see them for the darkness.  Will be curious to see how it goes tonight sleeping.

Travel time: 9 hours. Travel miles: 338 miles. Average MPG: 29

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 12th, 2008 at 12:16 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.