Catching Up with Route 66

Welcome! We've been on the road since Wednesday, June 24. It's been a wild ride and we have been surrounded by a myriad of distractions keeping us from posting our adventures... There was a Washoe County School District board meeting, a few blown transformers and a couple of Pirates trying desperately to deter us from using the interwebs.

So Wednesday morning, we headed off to Barstow, CA; a 440+ mile push to get to our starting point on Route 66. (We decided the western end was close enough for later and we were not sure we wanted to be in LA. Hindsight and after a discussion with some Great American Racers in Tucumcari, NM, we will need to check out the end. We are assured the end of Route 66 is at the ocean and there is a big Route 66 sign. He seemed jazzed about the whole affair and I don't want to miss out on that much excitement.)

It was a big push and it was pretty warm (this was before I realized I could check the temperature at my whim while riding on the bike) but still I could feel vacation sinking in and a school year full of highs and lows finally falling away. Perhaps they were melting in the heat.

Barstow to Kingman, AZ was a really hot one. It was consistently 105*. We were beginning to follow Route 66 and there were some really pretty stretches but I have to say the day was marked by the frozen cherry slurpee we consumed at the mini market on highway 58.

Kingman to Flagstaff was outstanding! Route 66 goes through gold mining country and it's obvious what people will do for the shiny stuff when you see all the twists the road will take up and down mountainsides. Hackberry was a great rest stop filled with tons of nostalgia. We are talking about the real deal here. (After going through a few states and seeing Route 66 Museums everywhere, it's pretty cool to see some old guy holding court in a folded up mountain town. There are cars, a preserved garage, signs, gas pumps... you name it. AND cold drinks and souvenirs.) Too, we met a photographer who explained we'd be running opposite The Great American Car Race headed out of Flagstaff. 100+ cars from the 1920's- 1970's make this race every year and this year was Route 66 from Missouri to California. It was awesome to see all the cars headed in the opposite direction and we waved to every one. 

Our weekend in Flagstaff was spent with our Pirate Crew. It was delicious fun and included a hike through Lava River Cave- a consistent 40* romp through an underground lava flow. On a Saturday, it was pretty busy, but we still had moments of sensory deprivation... no light and no sound and cool temps were worth battling the Boy Scouts. Dinner at Beaver Street Brewery and a drink at Mother Road Brewing followed by a leg wrestling match where I consistently beat Gosh rounded out a perfect weekend!

There's more, but it'll wait... Suffice to say it is a wonderful journey and we are having a great time! Stay tuned for more antics from the road... Rubber side down!