A Map and a Mustang: Rain, rain, go away... kind of

8/2/2016

Well, the weather didn’t cooperate. But that’s okay, as it actually turned out to be quite pleasant!

Jane and I left the campground in the morning and headed west along 66. I’ve seen quite a few of the traditional Route 66 stops before, but somehow I have always missed Winslow! So, I stopped there first. Of course we went to “Standin’ on a Corner” Park, which is Winslow’s tribute to the Eagles song “Take It Easy”. It’s a nice little stop so I took a couple photos and then got myself some more Route 66 memorabilia. Not sure why but I just seem to need more of it every time I’m on that stretch of road.

One of my favorite parts about the southwest is the part where your GPS tells you to take a left in 245 miles.

Pictured: cool mountains, cool car, partially-consumed dragonfly stuffed in trim.

Oh don't worry, I did.

Interestingly, this place was under construction when I was here back in April 2014 as well...

Anyways, I took the opportunity to eat lunch and pursue one of my other favorite pasttimes: taking pictures of people taking pictures of my car. So here’s one:

After that I hit the road again and cruised on to Flagstaff. I wanted to stop at Twin Arrows to see another classic Route 66 icon (just two giant arrows in the ground, really) but I couldn’t find any signage for them when I got off at the exit and the phone’s GPS was down. So, oh well. I guess I’ll have to see them some other time.

Heading into Flagstaff I could see the storm clouds gathering. Made for some neat pictures, actually.

I then got into the thick of it. Pretty brutal rainstorm (for Arizona) with sideways heavy rain, lightning, the works. But it cooled everything down nicely and I haven’t seen rain in a while so it was actually pretty pleasant. And fortunately, Jane has some really good wet weather tires. I was comparing all of the cars that I passed (yes, I passed all of them… rain doesn’t bother me or Jane) and noticed that the semi trucks leave a large trail behind them where their tires wick up all of the water and throw it elsewhere. Interestingly, Jane’s tires also leave such a trail. Some other cars, not so much. Just something I noticed, that’s all.

Eventually I passed out of the storm and hit Seligman. Last time I was here it was April 2015 so most of the shops were closed up (off season, I guess). This time the town looked completely different though – it had really come alive! Tons of Route 66 gift shops and museums and memorabilia, and even more picture opportunities. I snapped a few shots until the thunderstorm approached again. Also, I took some more pictures of people taking pictures of Jane.

What the heck is going on with this paint

What an odd place to keep an Austin Healey... in the back room of a souvenir shop

After taking off, I got to enjoy some more sun and some lovely mountains!

My final stop of the day prior to arriving at my destination was Hoover Dam! I’ve always heard people talk about going to see it and never could figure out why people were so interested in a dam. You could say I didn’t… give a dam (couldn’t resist). But I was bored by the time I got to that vicinity so I decided to stop for a quick look. And holy cow am I glad I did! The sheer scale of this thing is mind-boggling. And it’s actually kind of beautiful in a concrete-and-rock kind of way.

Oh, and there were lots of people around for me to take pictures of.

This guy tried to hide behind the car but I took a picture of him anyways

Stealthily taken at 40x from across the Hoover Dam

Finally I headed on the last stretch to Vegas. I stayed for the night at Sam’s Town, which was a casino off the strip – I figure it’s not a great idea for a young chick to be wandering around the Vegas strip by herself on the average night, though I may be wrong. Prices were good at this place so I was happy with it. The place actually ended up being very underwhelming, but it did have one saving grace: an ice cream shop. Specifically, CALAMITY JANE’S ICE CREAM PARLOR. Awesome!! Too bad it was closed by the time I got to it. I thought nothing in Vegas was ever closed, but I guess I was wrong. Either way I was thoroughly affronted by the whole experience and resolved to get out of dodge as soon as possible the next morning.