Birth of the Mother Road
Route 66 was officially commissioned in 1926, linking Chicago to Los Angeles and establishing one of the first coast-to-coast paved highways in the United States. Arizona became a critical segment of this highway, connecting the high plains of the east to the western deserts and the California border. The route followed older trails, rail corridors, and stagecoach paths, adapting the landscape into a navigable highway for the automobile era.
Route 66 always fascinated me and more so when I read about its history and significant contributions to the overall economic and infrastructure development of this country! We initially planned to fly to Chicago where Route 66 starts but altered our plans due to high cost of fuel and airfares. So Trini and I decided to drive a segment of the historic highway so we can at least help celebrate its 100-year anniversary.
We started in Summerlin Las Vegas where we are residing and drove about 2 hours bypassing Laughlin, NV and going through Bullhead City, Arizona. Although summer was officially over four days ago, temperature was still in the low-90’s. We began the historic drive just outside of Bullhead City where we noticed group of bikers and other vehicles also traversing the famous road. We surmised that they were also celebrating Route 66 Centennial.
Just before we entered the quaint and rustic town of Oatman, AZ we passed by a “collectible store” with “abandoned” vintage vehicles.
We stopped by a scenic view point where we noticed several stray donkeys (we realized they were the main tourist attraction in the area). One of them came to my window waiting to be fed (they got used to the tourists feeding them). After a few more minutes of driving we reached Oatman. We were surprised to see the dirt parking lot filled with visitors. There were stores selling all kinds of semi-precious stones and necklaces and other take-me-home-and-forget-me mementos. I bought the obligatory magnet to join the others in my refrigerator.
After browsing the different unique merchandise we decided to continue on and see what awaits us ahead. This portion of Route 66 is called Sitgreaves Pass Scenic Drive. It was an elevated highway with a maximum speed of 15 mph due to the narrow serpentine winding road. My eyes were constantly on the road to avoid going over the steep ravine, hence, I did not enjoy the so-called “scenic drive”. The up and down curves took us almost an hour.
I noticed several people on top of a hill from a distance and was curious as to what they were doing there so I decided to find out. I parked the car on a bumpy dirt road where two other cars were already parked. I walked a short distance to the other side of the parking area and immediately saw numerous crosses of different sizes and styles with names engraved I surmised were the loved ones of whoever placed the crosses there. A slightly tattered U.S. flag was billowing from the breeze overlooking the valley below!
We heaved a sigh of relief when we sighted the end of the dizzying Sitgreaves Pass, not only was the road straight and it was also wider! Driving past a small town of Hackeberry we came upon a trading post. By this time, we really needed to use the rest room. On the grounds were several vintage American automobiles and one of them was similar to the car Martin Sheen drove in California Kid. There were old vending machines and gas pumps.
After purchasing a Route 66 ball cap to add to my already increasing collection, Trini and I decided to continue on to our hotel as it was already past 3:00 pm. The route did not look as interesting as the ones we left and there was no sign of the historical highway although we were still traversing it. We passed a sign that said that we were entering Hualapai Reservation although nothing on both sides of the road would indicate that. We noticed a cargo train on our right that seemed to be endless, we could not see the end nor the front. Finally, at one point, I guess I was driving faster than the train, we caught up with the front end!
We reached Williams, AZ where we booked a room for the night. I remember that more than twenty years ago we took the Grand Canyon train from this quaint town. We drove a total of almost 300 miles today.
Tomorrow our destination is Albuquerque, NM. This segment of Route 66 has been incorporated with the modern freeways but we plan on stopping at the Meteor Crater and Petrified Forest National Park.
