Bidding Route 66 Farewell

It was back to Route 66 for a bit of California before we headed into Nevada and steered toward Utah for a quick visit with Those Certain Bryce Canyon Rangers.

The California desert provided not only the first covered charging opportunity, but also charging rates significantly lower than in neighboring states in the Southwest.

Snoopy's brother Spike is honored in Needles, Calif., where Charles Schultz lived for a short time.

Another bypassed motel

A license-plate decorated palm tree in the desert

A slight detour brought a visit to the Hoover Dam.

The bridge overlooking the Hoover Dam honors fallen football star Pat Tillman.

Hot Stuff

Made it to the Nevada-California border yesterday:

No, they didn't have a charger for our EV.

A classic VW bus in the desert

We would see a lot more of these guys on the wooden sidewalk in Oatman.

Finished the day "off 66" at Lake Havasu, home of the London Bridge.

As our dashboard shows, it was hot in the desert. The temperature actually got to 113 degrees on the final part of our drive, but as they like to say out here . . .  it's dry heat. ;-)

Nearing The End

First real rain of the trip in Arizona cleaned our car.

Had to hop back on the burger train near Flagstaff.

Spent our final night on Route 66 in an Arizona classic.

With preseason football nine days away, we finish our Route 66 road trip on the California border today. Then it's up toward (but avoiding) Las Vegas before swinging over to Bryce Canyon for a quick visit with Those Certain Rangers. From there it's on to Colorado for an even quicker visit with Sister BGA before sprinting home to fire up BGA Overtime coverage of Dartmouth football. See you then!

Standin' On The Corner . . .

 

Cliche to come . . .

Yup. Met the sculptor on the corner.

Petrified Forsest National Park and Painted Desert

Meteor Crater, nearly 2.5 miles in circumference.

Another Day On 66

 

A surprising history lesson on Route 66

Our "hip camp" lodging

Perfectly hokey in western New Mexico

No EVs on 66 back in the day

We did not swim in the "Blue Hole."

On to Arizona later today.

Still On Route

Made it out of Oklahoma and into New Mexico, where we spent the night at the legendary Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari. Our room had a rotary phone and we sat into the night in '50s era metal chairs outside our room as period music played quietly in the courtyard. On to Santa Fe today.

Route 66 midpoint is ours as well.

Honoring Griff the Wonder Dog at Cadillac Ranch

The Dartmouth "Block D" makes an appearance.

Our lodging for the night

The neon comes on.

Enjoying the ambience

Our period room with the rotary phone

More From Route 66

A few more shots as we make our way across Texas. 

The leaning tower east of Amarillo

Gas station turned cafe and gift shop in Shamrock, Texas

What was once a real jail near the Oklahoma-Texas line 

The Texas state line is underwhelming on the Mother Road.

Getting Our Kicks

The famous Blue Whale of Catoosa, the world’s largest totem pole and more as we make our way through Oklahoma.