Route 66, California and Arizona

I took some time today to drive some of the Historic Route 66 in the area. Route 66 was the first highway to traverse the US. It went form LA to Chicago. It went through many small towns and was called "The Main Street of America".

The first part I drove today was through downtown Needles, California. It was the main street of Needles was not very scenic.

I followed the old highway up to Oatman, a small mining town in Arizona. The drive was spectacular, scenic and desolate. Below is a picture of the highway with the mountains in the background.

Oatman is an old mining town and Route 66 went right through the middle of the town which is in a tight valley. They have wild burros there. They also cater to the tourists with gunfights a noon and bunches of tourist shops. I don't know where all the people and cars came from because there were very few cars on the road I drove.

I continued past Oatman up to the summit of the pass. The road was very narrow, in places it was not wide enough for two full sized pick-ups to pass each other. There was no guardrail and the drop was more 100 feet.

I then drove to Bullhead City on a gravel road through a valley that had black rocks strewn all over it.

So another great day, warm and sunny.