RiverBear Photo Blog: Flagstaff, AZ to Kingman, AZ

GET-YUR-MOTOR-RUNNIN' ROAD TRIP

(Astoria - Santa Fe - Death Valley - Astoria)

November 2, 2013 (Day 19 of 44)

Flagstaff, AZ to Kingman, AZ

Miles Today: 178 / Trip Miles: 2,609

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Late morning, I headed west on Route 66 from Flagstaff to Kingman. The weather was great, with crystal clear air and a deep blue sky. After a few miles, near the U.S. Naval Observatory, old Highway 66 ends and merges onto Interstate 40. The Naval Observatory has 61-inch and 40-inch reflecting telescopes. In 1978, Pluto's moon Charon was discovered using the 61-inch instrument of this observatory.

Interstate 40 crosses the Arizona Divide at an elevation of 7,335 feet. The Arizona Divide is the high point that defines the watershed, and changes the direction of the flow of water from south & east to south & west. The terrain is pine forest. I exited I-40 to take an early alignment of Historic Route 66. After a bite to eat and some people watching in a Subway Restaurant located in a truck stop, I took a backroad toward Brannigan Park.

Brannigan Park, AZ
Brannigan Park is a beautiful area with grassy meadows, and tall stands of pine and aspen. Originally Route 66 ran through Brannigan Park and over Forty-nine Hill. This was the highest point of Route 66 at 7,425 feet above sea level. The narrow, winding road presented hazards to the early Route 66 traveler, especially in the winter. Brannigan Park businesses closed when Route 66 was moved south in 1941 to avoid the climb over the pass. The roads to Williams, AZ are a combination of paved and gravel surfaces. The gravel roads were in good condition, allowing for a comfortable 50 mph.

Williams, AZ

Williams (6,800 ft / 3,000 people) is a thriving tourist town. The Grand Canyon Railroad yard, full of beautifully restored train equipment looked interesting, but was heavily posted with "NO TRESPASSING" signs. West of Williams the sky was hazy from forest fire smoke. Heading west, Interstate 40 descends at a 6-percent grade, and a sphinx-like mountain was visible in the distance.

Ash Fork, AZ

Perfect weather: 72 degrees with some cloud formations. Ash Fork (5,200 ft / 500 people) has a good inventory of vintage Route 66 buildings in various conditions. When the Santa Fe Railroad moved its main line north, and away, from the town in 1960, Ash Fork lost nearly half its population. Then, when I-40 bypassed the town, drastically reducing traffic on Route 66, the local economy never recovered.

Today's trip along Arizona Route 66 exemplifies why the rest of the world thinks Americans are cowboys. In Ash Fork, I saw the first of two gunmen. Gunman #1 operates a business out of a rundown motel on Route 66. He sells survival supplies, arthritis bracelets, survival knives and Arizona quartz. Packing a semi-auto pistol in a holster on his hip, he was initially surly as I photographed the motel. He warmed up a bit after we chatted about the old motel & Route 66.

Seligman, AZ

I arrived at this popular Route 66 stop in late afternoon, and had the place to myself. Seligman (5,250 feet / 500 people) was first called Prescott Junction, and is home to the Road Kill Cafe serving "splatter platter", "swirl of squirrel" , "big bagged stag" & "highway hash"; the weird Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-in restaurant serving "dead chicken" & "cheese burgers with cheese"; the Black Cat Bar and many vintage motels including the StageCoach 66 Motel & the Romney Motel (I looked for Mitt hiding out). I chose the Snow Cap Drive-in to have a late lunch ("cheese burger with cheese"). When I picked up my order, the server asked if I wanted a straw for my ice tea. Upon replying "yes", she handed me a handful of hay. The entry door handle, with a "Pull" sign above it, is intentionally on the hinged side of the door.

After Seligman, old Route 66 travels through a huge valley of golden grassland surrounded by plateaus and mesas. A number of restored Burma-Shave advertisements are along this section of the highway. From the 1920s through the 1960s, Burma-Shave used an advertising gimmick of posting humorous rhyming poems on small sequential highway roadside signs. One of the series of signs I passed was: "Cattle Crossing" / "Means Go Slow" / "That Old Bull" / "Is Some Cow's Beau" / "Burma-Shave".

This section of 2-lane highway is arrow-straight, and follows the lay of the land. With very little traffic and surrounded by range land, it is a wonderful place for high speed cruising.

Truxton, AZ

Truxton (population 100 / 5,400 ft elevation) began in 1951 with the opening of the Truxton Cafe and service station. If you blink you will miss the town. The vintage Frontier Motel and Cafe are closed and for sale. In 2011, when I was here, both the motel and cafe were open for business.

Photo taken during my last visit in 2011

The cloud cover disappeared, and I drove straight into the blinding light of the setting sun. Temporary relief was provided when the highway descended into a canyon shared with the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway tracks and trains. Later, a jagged mountain range was outlined in the the sunset. Finally, the sun dropped below the horizon.

Kingman, AZ
Kingman (3,300 ft elevation / 28,000 population) is a major stop for travelers on Route 66. The old downtown area along Route 66 hasn't changed much over the years. American Gunman #2: While I waited inside BurgerKing for my food order, a gunman, with holstered semi-automatic pistol on his waist and assualt-type rifle slug on his shoulder, drank down two sodas from the soda machine and refilled a third time, finally capping the drink. What made this particularly memorable was that Gunman #2 was carrying a baby in a basket that he placed on the floor while gulping down his sodas.