Kingman, AZ to Las Vegas, NV

GET-YUR-MOTOR-RUNNIN'  ROAD TRIP

(Astoria - Santa Fe - Death Valley - Astoria)

November 3, 2013  (Day 20 of 44)

Kingman, AZ to Las Vegas, NV

Miles Today: 136 / Trip Miles: 2,745

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I checked out of the hotel in late morning, and took Route 66 through Kingman. The weather was windy, with good visibility, and temperatures in the high 60s. 

El Trovatore Motel - Kingman, AZ:
The El Trovatore motel located on historic Route 66 is one of the few pre-World War II tourist courts left in Kingman. The business started in 1937 as a service station, and a tourist court was added in 1939. At that time room rates were $3 per night, and El Trovatore was the first air-conditioned motel in Arizona. El Trovatore was owned by John Miller who was the builder and owner of one of the first hotels in Las Vegas, the Hotel Nevada (built in 1906). The Hotel Nevada was renamed the Sal Sagev Hotel ("Las Vegas" spelled backwards), and is now the Golden Gate Hotel. In 1980, when the Interstate 40 looped around Kingman, the motel's business declined, and the use changed to apartment operations. When I photographed the motel in 2011, it was closed and fenced off (see photo). With the developing tourism related to historic Route 66, El Trovatore has undergone restoration. A number of rooms are again open for overnight guests, and the historic neon sign on the 100-foot-high tower has been restored.

El Trovatore Court Postcard (circa 1940)

El Trovatore Motel

Located along Route 66 in Kingman, Arizona. Note the 100-foot-high tower with a neon sign. The Hualapai Mountains are in the background. Hualapai Peak is the tallest peak at 8,400 feet.  [flickr] 

(Click on Photo For Larger Image)

From Kingman I took U.S. Highway 93 north toward Las Vegas. The terrain is very arid, and the temperature warmed to a hazy 72 degrees. Arizona is organ donor country - motorcycle riders are not required to wear helmets.

Chloride, AZ:

Chloride is a historic silver mining camp located in the Cerbat Mountains east of US-93. A ridiculously unnecessary sign on the county road to Chloride warns travelers to "Do Not Enter When Flooded". Chloride sits at an elevation of 4,000 feet - the terrain is brush and cactus. The temperature was five degrees cooler than the valley below. Chloride with a population of 300 has a motel, a few restaurants & bars, and several gift shops. I had lunch at Yesterdays Restaurant. The food was okay, but the highlight of the restaurant was watching the leathery desert rat patrons. In the 1840s, prospectors discovered silver, gold, lead, zinc, and turquoise in this area. Chloride was founded about 1863, but mining was not widespread until the 1870s after a treaty was signed with the Hualapai Tribe (pronounced Wal-lah-pie and means “people of the tall pines"). The Chloride post office opened in 1871, and is the oldest operating post office in Arizona. The Butterfield Stage Line served Chloride from 1868 until 1919. The now abandoned Arizona and Utah Railway line between Chloride and McConnico (near Kingman) was inaugurated in 1899. The town eventually grew to a population of around 5,000 inhabitants, but by 1944 it was nearly a ghost town. Located in the mountains behind Chloride, and accessible via a rough dirt road, are murals painted by the renown artist Roy Purcell. The rough road was more than I was up for, so I passed on seeing the murals.  (Chloride's Rating = C+)

Fence Art
Located on a barbed-wire fence along the county road from US-93 to Chloride.  [flickr]
(Click on Photo For Larger Image)

Dolin Springs, AZ:

A shake-your-head-in-disbelief moment: After passing a road sign warning: "Flash Flood Area for 27 Miles", the terrain was covered with inhabited houses and trailers. Dolin Springs (population 1,800 / elevation 3,400 ft) is an ugly town, almost third world-like. After observing the crummy old and new construction is this area, it was obvious that building codes are non-existent, or ignored. (Dolin Springs Rating = D-)

Signs Along The Highway:

"LAND $500 DOWN  /  $0 IF A VET"
"SHOOT A 50 CALIBER MACHINE GUN / 10 MILES AHEAD"

Hoover Dam & Lake Mead:

The temperature reached a high of 75 degrees. Approaching the Hoover Dam exit, the divided highway cuts through some rugged mountains. Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between Arizona and Nevada. The dam was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression. It is 726 feet high from foundation rock to the roadway on the crest of the dam. The towers and ornaments on the parapet rise 40 feet above the crest. The dam weights more than 6,600,000 tons. Such a massive concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and the lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Amazingly, the dam was completed more than two years ahead of schedule. Hoover Dam created Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Heavily travelled U.S. 93 ran along the dam's crest until 2010, when the Hoover Dam bypass opened. Lake Mead is at a surface elevation of 1,221 feet above sea level. When the lake is full, it is 112 miles long, has 759 miles of shoreline, is 532 feet at greatest depth, 247 square miles of surface, and 28 million acre-feet of water. (Hoover Dam Rating = A)

Hoover Dam & Lake Mead
I parked near where this photo was taken, and walked down to, and over, the dam. Security around the dam is very tight.  [flickr]
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Brass Door
Located along the roadway on top of Hoover Dam.  [flickr]
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Today's Route:

Scenic Rating = B

Driving Fun/Road Rating = C+

Next Few Days:

Play in Las Vegas, and Mary arrives by plane.