Day 5 - the word for the day is, "Contrast"

when you set out to travel route 66, you find out that alot of the "newer" road was taken over by the Interstate when it came roaring through (progress and demolition - it's the American way). this, however, gives you the chance to experience some of the earlier roads that made up route 66. some of them are now state highways, some are gravel roads, and some simply don't exist any more - which forces you to drive on the Interstate. ick. i say this to tell you what a joy we had driving down a gravel (dirt) road after leaving Flagstaff, AZ. this road winds along and through a national forest and over the hills and through the woods. what a beautiful drive this is! if you're not in a hurry and can stand to drive 20-50 mph, i highly recommend this option. here's a picture of what it looked like driving this road.
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Dear Doug,
Hi. This is Williams, AZ. I know you don't know me, but I have a message for you:
Sincerely,
Williams Air Izona
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We slowed down in Ashfork, AZ just long enough to take some "retro" pictures.... because there's not much else to do there.





We stopped at another "tourist trap" just before Peach Springs, AZ. At least this one was only 1 mile off of the highway (the meteor crater was 6). The Grand Canyon Caverns sounded really cool, but the tour was going to be $12.50 each for Melissa and I and not sure about the kids - but it was a "guided tour" that only lasted 45 minutes. What a racket. How did all of these cool natural things end up as tourist traps instead of "public" parks? We did get some pictures and wandered through the gift shop. The food at the restaurant looked and smelled good, but it wasn't time for lunch yet.

We took a couple of shots of the "desert in action." We saw several "dust devils" or, more properly, "cyclone dust." The other desolate desert shot was just to show the CONTRAST between the Flagstaff area and the Mojave desert. It's only 2 hours from Flagstaff to Kingman (where we snapped these photos). I was amazed.

Most of the desert looked like this, but some was more interesting. We saw some mountains with nice colors and rock formations. One place where we stopped while driving the back road through the mountains even showed some evidence of recent donkey/horse visitations. :) Here are a few random shots of desert fun!

Just before we got up into the "high desert" roads, we stopped and took this shot of the boys walking down the road past one of the many "route 66" symbols painted on the road. Melissa is responsible this awesome picture:

We passed through Oatman, AZ. This is a small "tourist trap" town with no other industry. It used to be a mining town, but that's long since gone. Now they make a buck off of people stopping to feed the "wild burros" and buying t-shirts (which were $3.50 according to the sign), but we didn't stop.
Between Danby and Amboy (neither town should really be on the map), people have been leaving their names in the dirt berm along the side of the road for years. Most are just plain rocks, but we saw some with bottles, sticks, and even some with painted/colored rocks that really stand out. Being tourists, we just had to leave our mark! (hey, at least it's not destructive) There were large snake holes around and it was super, super hot. I can't imagine trying to cross the desert in a wagon or on foot!

Oh, by the way, we *did* make it to California! We were disappointed in the border, though. First we had to pass through an "Agricultural Inspection" where they ask you if you have any animals, plants, or fruit/vegetable products and search your car just to make sure. Reminded me of driving to Canada and then trying to get back into the US. Then, the "Welcome to California" sign was just a boring, green and white sign and was situated at the end of a busy bridge/interstate with absolutely no chance of stopping to take a picuture. Boo to you, California!

We ate at a truck stop Dairy Queen (bad) and stopped at the first decent Motel in Barstow to get a room. Jaden and I swam and then straight to bed. What a long day! We drove from Flagstaff, AZ to Barstow, CA, but it seemed like twice as long because the desert is a lonely, boring place to drive - especially when you get outside of the mountain-ish area.

We're off to LA today. Pray for us. I'm going to try to avoid the traffic, but I hear that's impossible.

until tomorrow,
...may your desert ride be short, your donkey fast, and your water cold.
vaya con Dios.