A Map and a Mustang: Learning to Fly

First of all, I’d like to start by apologizing for not updating this blog in a timely fashion! It has been a wild trip. I’m now near the end of it but late is better than never for a post!

Thursday morning dawned with an accompaniment of a light sprinkling of snow. I, of course, disregarded the white stuff and hit the road! Jane and I had a lot of running to do as I was aiming to be in Kingman, AZ by nightfall. This meant a drive from Raton to Kingman through Las Vegas (NM), Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Grants, Gallup, Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, Williams, and Seligman. In short, a lot of Route 66 – the Mother Road!

Cruising Route 66 is something of a nostalgic American pastime, especially for “car people”. I can very truthfully say that what I did on Thursday was not anywhere close to a cruise. To put it succinctly, Jane and I hauled ass down Route 66 and made it across two states in one day. We stopped only once in Albuquerque for some delicious green chile chicken enchiladas – a New Mexican specialty. The rest of the time was spent eating away at the miles, pounding down the blacktop to a backdrop of screaming guitars (hair metal, of course).

It was super windy in New Mexico again and the wind noise inside the car was phenomenal. I saw a semi truck get blown over by a lane and Jane was getting whipped around pretty good. I figured that at some point Jane was just going to take wing and fly with the wind, which probably would have saved me quite a bit on gas. Because we were driving so quickly I was only getting a measly 18 mpg. But alas, all four tires remained (mostly) on the ground and so I was restricted only to the paved parts of the American Southwest. There were some sections of road that were so straight that I could have let go of the wheel and still been on the road 30 minutes later no worse for the wear.

I can’t say that the day was eventful, but it was at least beautiful. The weather was kind of overcast but that was made better by news that I received from Colorado – apparently it had snowed over a foot at my house! The overcast weather also kept me from needing sunblock or A/C or anything else. Mostly I just drove.

We finally pulled into Kingman around 7:30PM after hammering down the highway for a full 12 hours. I had booked a hotel room for my stay, as I wanted to be able to leave bright and early again. My place of choice was El Trovatore Motel, a classic Route 66 stop. It’s a motel that was built in the 50’s and never updated. It boasts around 20 rooms, each with a separate movie star theme, and comes complete with a giant Route 66 mural and the traditional 50’s Route 66 giant neon sign. Very cool retro vibe! I stayed in the John Wayne room and watched old black and white movies late into the night. And so I concluded my Route 66 day – with a time warp back into the glory days of the Mother Road.