We get our kicks on Rt. 66

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Lone Pine, CA to Peach Springs, AZ – 419 miles
Total miles: 788 miles

Do you ever wonder about who is behind those Adopt A Highway signs? Today as we cruised the highways and byways of California and Arizona I couldn’t help but wonder about the stories behind some of the signs. Why did the Indian Wells Ladies Garden Club sponsor a lonesome stretch of 395 in Kern County? Who are Kelli and Piglet and Family? Who was remembering Ray and Bertha? I think about all these unknown stories….

Today was long stretch of desert. We were greeted by the majesty of Mt. Whitney hit with the early morning sun during our morning walk. Then we hit the road for about 8 hours, across the Mojave, into Arizona, first sight of the mighty Colorado, and then onto Rt. 66, finally coming to rest in Peach Springs, the center of the Hualapai tribal nation. The desert wildflowers are in their last bloom for the season and you can still see a bit of green haze as you speed by. The landscape changes dramatically from the southern reaches of the Sierra, to high scrub desert, to dust devils swirling near the highway and then finally to the first of the majestic red rock buttes in Arizona.

Our picnic lunch was at the Sahara Oasis, on Rt. 66, somewhere between Barstow and Needles. Frankly, the name is a major misnomer – and I’d be concerned about truth in advertising…. We hit our first $5 a gallon gas there but there were two real highlights – the truck full of racing pigs, and the lovely waterless water feature at the picnic area. And then there was the sign in the store – something to the effect that we put a lot of money into this place, it took a lot of time to get it looking this nice, so if you don’t like it shut up – redefines customer service. Of course, the hand painted map of the entire Rt. 66 route across country was quite something…

Tomorrow will be quite the experience – white water rafting down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, helicopter tour of the canyon and then the Skywalk – can’t wait.

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