Day 13, Seligman, AZ to Bakersfield, CA

July 15, 2006
(Click on photos to see full size)

Today was the day for Route 66. My plan was to stay on the historic highway as much as possible. This proved to be a bigger challenge than I expected.

After getting loaded up and started, I spent about an hour in the small town of Seligman browsing the 50s era tourist shops and also picking up my day's supply of Gatorade. I struck out expecting an interesting trip into the past, but it was a bit disappointing. I wasted a bit more time at the Grand Canyon Caverns near Peach Springs, but mostly enjoyed the straight and lonely road between Seligman and Kingman. It was getting hot so I debated getting on I-40 at Kingman, but resisted the temptation.


Just before crossing the mountains.


Route 66 between Kingman and Oatman was the best stretch of road encountered the whole day. It was full of serious twisties, climbs and descents. I wasn't counting the turns, but I'm sure it rivals the famous Tail of the Dragon near the Smoky Mountains. The one car in front of me when entering this section quickly got out of my way, so my progress was unimpeded all the way into Oatman.



The small town of Oatman was a complete surprise to me. It had the face of an old west town and was a complete tourist trap. I was exhausted by the mountain road so I stopped to try to cool off. I found the only restaurant that had air conditioning and went in for ice cream. As I sat down a young man and his wife were getting up to leave and the waitress said, "Oh, you're from out of town!" The surprised young man said, "Oh, how did you know?" The waitress laughed and said, "Everybody's from out of town, absolutely nobody actually lives here."



Supposed descendents of prospectors' jackasses are allowed to roam the streets freely, providing tourists the enjoyment of cleaning donkey dung from their shoes.


A cheesy "Old West" show

Leaving Oatman, still hot, I continued down the mountain to Golden Shores, a small desert town with a "wannabe" name. I stopped to photograph the Route 66 logo in the road, and the big Wing decided she needed a rest and laid herself down after I got off. A close look at the full size picture and you can see her listing about 40 degrees.


When I reached Needles, I had completely soaked thrugh my shirt so I stopped to cool off at a gas station. It was 120 degrees in the shade. I considered stopping for the day, but Sunday was forecast to be the same. I bravely set out for Amboy and Bagdad, out in the middle of nowhere.

The next shady spot I found was in Amboy, which has a long-closed motel and gas station. It's now owned by a couple of guys who rent it out to movie producers occasionally. I guess it's a good deserted desert location. One of the guys, Larry, was hanging out at the old gas station, selling water and t-shirts to over-heated passers-by. He is a great guy, not trying to rip anybody off. He also has a drum full of emergency gasoline he sells for just what he paid for it. I didn't need any water, but I bought a t-shirt from him after chatting for about 45 minutes. The temperature in his shady area was 119.

Near the end of the remnants of the original Route 66 is the Bagdad Cafe, the site of a well-known movie and my last tourist stop on this trip. After a great malt and chat with the proprietress, I got back on the bike and headed for home. It was still 119.







As I rolled past the familiar Mojave Spaceport, it was beginning to get dark. It had been a very long and hot day, but I was too close to home to stop. I don't enjoy riding at night very much, but the thought of my own bed kept me going.

I rolled into my own garage just before 10pm, 14 days almost to the minute after my plane took off for Boston and the beginning of my odyssey. Today I rode 440 miles. 4174 miles of great riding since Boston!