Williams to Seligman, Oatman, AZ and then some…

Song inspiration of the day: A Horse with No Name (America, 1971)

On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot, and the ground was dry
But the air was full of sound
I’ve been through the desert
On a horse (‘burro’) with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert, you can remember your name
‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain..

After two days in Williams AZ along with hundreds of California motorcycle crews and RV’rs from everywhere else hunting for Americana Route 66, hiking with the Gen Z’ers @ the Grand pleasantly oblivious to the 66 fuss, it was time to bid adieux and be one with the 3 Wise Men along more Arizona double six. The cities Seligman, Kingman and Oatman were calling and at 7000′ elevation, “the heat was hot and the ground was dry, in the desert you can remember your name”…

We drove miles and miles along I40, the land still high desert, arid, tumbleweed airborne with mighty winds, not a stop to be had, not a stop was needed, as the only stop we needed was on Route 66 — and it became clear that anything worth exiting on I-40 was to reach a town on Route 66.

Seligman – inspiration for the fictional town Radiator Springs in the movie Cars – is a town of 2 city blocks max, 400 plus or minus population with biz after biz focused on Route 66 kitsch tourism. Sadly, Seligman was not open for business when we arrived, not even a breakfast cafe. So we did our best, captured photos, and once convinced there was no chit chatting with the locals, we continued on.

Kingman was a larger town, and a bustling stop for motorcycle crews and RV’ers, mainly because it is easily accessible from I-40 without crossing mountain passes – more on that. We took a drive- by approach to busy Kingman, as our anticipated highlight for the day was Oatman – home of the meandering Burro’s.

One piece missing from the Route 66 literature, was ‘how’ to get to Oatman. It is NOT large vehicle, truck or RV accessible, which at first steemed like a bonus for the day, but then there is the reason why. The mountain pass required to travel across the high desert lands was an 8 mile road with hairpin turns, steep ledges not a spit of safety (guardrails please?) and zero visibility for oncoming traffic…In our opinion (vivid imagination) this mountain pass was created by 2 men and a chisel, neither measuring the lane width needed for a car, each drinking heavily and tiring over the years, making the lanes more narrow as you reach the summit. The speed limit of 10 mph was a real stress point for the Hurry One, but fortunately Sloth insisted on driving, carefully, with safety in mind, well under the speed limit, as it would not have been a good look to disappear over the edge of the world. We apparently had offered up proper gifts to the Route 66 gods, and were greeted with Zero oncoming traffic on the miniature lanes.

At Oatman, we were greeted by friendly wild burro’s looking to be fed, we obliged, along with the other Route 66 touristas, checking out covered wagons, entrances to abandoned mines, saloons and general stores converted to selling Route 66 this-n-that, watching the burros stop traffic because they rule, and imagining a life 100 years ago..all while arriving at Oatman in an electric car taking digital pics from a cell phone.

We completed our day with a northern detour off Route 66, arriving in Las Vegas, NV… More adventures to come, and thank you for joining us this far in our travels. Stay tuned for tomorrow!

Photo Journal: adieux to Williams AZ