Day 10--Ludlow--Needles, Ca.--Kingman--Prescott, Az.: Will they remember?

This was a fitting sign we saw today in our travels, and somewhat of a summation of our trip; or should I say mine and Daren's trip, because it has been a totally different experience for the boys than for us. They sit in their seats and watch a ton of movies, we have a system going on who gets to pick movies next, and most of the stuff we go by and take pictures of, they are oblivious to, but I've realized that it's just how it is. It's not like they are little history buffs and want to learn about everything we are reading about and seeing--heck, I wasn't all that interested in history until I went to Italy to pick up my brother, Eric, from his mission, and I was 19! But I have thought many times on this trip: What will they remember?

Daren and I talked about this very thing today, tonight actually, and no, they won't remember the stories of abandoned hotels, gas stations, and roadside cafes. But hopefully they will remember the times they got out of the car to look at an interesting historical site, or a neat little town--or the magnetic transportation set they got today, or the fighting over whether or not to watch Monster House...again; or, or,or. When we are actually on Route 66, I am constantly reading either from our guide book which tells me which turn to take and how far to go (and I really have to pay attention then so we don't get lost), or reading from a great internet site I found which gives even more infomation on the places we are passing. That stuff is what is so interesting to both Daren and me, but the boys don't really care--although Ben listens in from time to time and will ask questions. Daren and I are having a blast though, and it's fun that we both like doing the same things. This trip has prompted us to think about better ways to travel, and we have come up with a great idea, but how to get it off the ground is another question...

We were in Ludlow this morning, and that was a trip down memory lane for me. My grandpa and grandma (Waterwheel) used to have a place out in Needles, on the Ca. and Arizona border by the Colorado River, and we used to go out there all the time in the summer when we were younger, to go jetskiing and to the beach there. Ludlow was the last place to stop with a gas station before the many many miles to Needles, and that's pretty much how it is now, a gas station, a motel, and a cafe. Just enough to get a traveler by. It was fun to see it again. Anyway, back on the road, I'm sure the boys will remember getting out of the car to see this crater just outside a little town named Amboy (and by little I mean all that is left is one motel, one cafe, and the remnants of an old restaurant/gas station called the Road Runner's Retreat Restaurant, see below).

We got to Needles and I hardly recognized it, but we took a different route through town than we did when I was younger. We opted for the "adventure tour" on our way out of town in which we got to drive a very old section of the road, but you had to have four-wheel drive. It was fun to see how the so-called "road" was barely visible in places because the pavement had deteriorated so much. You could just imagine what it had been like to see the road filled with cars and trucks traveling in either direction. This was part of the 1947 alignment of Route 66.

This was the last place we visited in California, just after the rough road outside Needles, and then it was on to Arizona. The Colorado River, seen here, divides California and Arizona. The Trails Arch Bridge, a huge steel arch bridge seen spanning the two sides, was once the main way for travelers to cross the river--including the dust bowl immigrants who were fictionalized in the book "Grapes of Wrath," written by John Steinbeck in 1939. Daren and I are trying to find that book on CD, download, or whatever to read because it takes place on the old Route 66--through all these places we are seeing. Now the bridge has been converted to support a gas line across the Colorado River. It was fun for me to see the Colorado River again and remember the many times I was there (I remember it being 119 degrees once in the middle of summer!!).

And just like that we were on I-40 for two minutes, just long enough to cross the river into Arizona, and we were off the beaten path again.

One of the best surprises of the day, maybe even the trip so far, was the little town of Oatman. It was an old mining town back in the day, but now mostly caters to tourists. Many scenes of the film, How the West Was Won was filmed here, and it looks like a wild west show! But what really makes it unique were the burrows wandering all over town...in the middle of the streets, standing outside shops, or wherever. I learned from an internet site that this was the inspiration in the "Cars" movie for the wandering tractors throughout Radiator Springs.

We finally found an open ice cream store, and ate our cones out on the sidewalk. Will took a liking to this young burrow, and when he found out from a lady working there that the burrow's name is River, Will asked us, "Did River get changed into a donkey?" (We were just with River yesterday at Pirate's Cove, you know) We got a good laugh out of that! It wasn't more than two minutes later that when Will looked away, River got a hold of his ice cream and downed it in one gulp!! Will was shocked and sad and mad, all at the same time, but Daren shared the rest of his ice cream with Will. Jake thought it was so funny that he just fed the rest of his ice cream to River. Boys!! I'm sure they will remember that place!

It was a beautiful drive out of Oatman through the mountains, and I also found out that the scene in Cars when Lightning and Sally go for a drive through the mountains is based on this stretch of road we drove. It was beautiful. And I'm sure there will be many more references to Cars on this trip.

This is where we stopped for dinner tonight, in a small town called Truxton. It was a cool sign out front and some of the best food inside. Seriously yummy!!

These are a couple of our favorite signs of the day--the Road Runner, as mentioned above, and the Historic Route 66 Motel in Seligman, lit up just before dusk. Daren really liked these signs, and I have to say that it is so great that he actually wants me to take pictures, and it's because of this blog (which was his idea). Now we are in Prescott, Az. If you are looking for it on a map, it's not on Route 66. It's a bit off the path, but this is where Grandma (Cottrell) Waterwheel grew up, and we wanted to explore it a bit and see all the things she remembers--hopefully a lot of it is still there! But that's for tomorrow, and for tonight, I'm going to bed!! Bye

p.s. Happy 44th Anniversary to my mom and dad today!!

Total mileage to date: 2,080.8

Weather: up to 102 degrees, but down in the 60's by tonight
Premium gas prices: As high as $5.29, as low as $4.19, but paid $5.09 this morning!! Our first $5 per gallon gas!!