When choosing a route back east we couldn’t really do better than to ‘get our kicks on Route 66’ (a Rolling Stones classic, kids : ). We had already had some fun on the Oatman to Kingman section back in Feb around Den’s birthday and now had time to explore more of the myth around the ‘mother of all roads’ as the tourist blurb refers to it.The curious thing about this road is the way fact and fiction have become so closely intertwined. Each State and little town it passed through has its own take on the road, its place in American history and more importantly the American psyche. Whereas some towns seemed to have moved on and their 66 heritage hardly gets a mention - the physical road itself like the route being consumed by the Interstate network long ago. Others like Kingman, Peach Springs, Seligman, Williams, Winslow (all Arizona) and Gallup (self proclaimed Indian centre of the US) Laguna and Santa Rosa (New Mexico) love nothing more than to promote a time warp based on neon and nostalgia. We sort of followed the 66 from California to Oklahoma before heading into Kansas leaving the route about 40 miles to the south.
Winslow, Arizona stands out not just for its 66 connection but it must be one of the only places in the world where the town’s entire tourist industry is based on a line from a pop song. “ Standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona… “ (Taking it easy – Eagles, 1970’s). We too stood on the corner – flat bed ford in the background… sometimes you just have to let the tourist in you out for an airing : ) Santa Rosa (only 3000 people now) proudly promotes it’s Route 66 café and yet another bloody Route 66 museum. The town reeks of past glory with its 20 hotels, 3 RV parks and at least 15 restaurants (9 of them described and ‘historic diners’ which we decided means neon… burgers and fries? It is easy to mock but for a tiny spec smaller than say Benhall, Suffolk it has a good vibe and even a great little City Guide complete with a two page spread on the ‘Santa Rosa Visioning Plan’ for creating the Santa Rosa of the future… good luck with that one guys! It also seems to be a good place to get into a debate about the section of 66 that was decommissioned in 1937 or even where Billy the Kid ate his last Christmas dinner in 1880… and you think we are just wasting our life away out here…
Sorry, just in case you have never heard of Route 66… it ran from Chicago to LA, a dirt road to begin with but quickly paved, often called America’s main street offering millions of depression weary US families the open road to a better life in California – the American Dream. In 1972 it was replaced by the Interstate network (I 40 in this section) bypassing most of the little towns and business that only really existed because of it.It is difficult to put a finger on why the Route 66 hype appeals not just to Americans but people all around the world. Maybe it is something to do with pop culture, or a time when life was simpler when the world seemed more open… before America was forced to re-evaluate it’s take on the concept of freedom. Today… you are more likely to see convoys of grey bearded bikers on Harleys (Phil and Tony), bus loads of Japanese tourists and wandering or lost old hippies… like us maybe : ).
Out of the blue came the 4th of July, a big day in the American calendar. We were at Conchas Lake in Northern New Mexico. Like holiday weekends around the world it is a time to get away with the extended family. A bit like the Dennis or Double clans gathering at Tangham except everyone brings at least 1 RV, two trucks, a tent, a boat, the dogs, grill, bikes, rods, guns… OK, some of the boats are big 30ft+ but it’s not flash… more Southend than San Tropez… a boat just seems to be something that everyone who comes to these sort of places has.
Understandably most Americans drive when they go on holiday (or anywhere)… so they just load everything in until there is no more space. In fact we are not sure what most people ate that weekend as a total fire ban meant no fires, BBQs, grills or any source of ignition. No US holiday weekend is complete without the fire and cook-out. It is no surprise that people obey the rule on fires. A week earlier we had seen the smoke from one of the major fires on the Arizona / New Mexico border from our campground over 20mls away. That fire had already been burning for around two months and even with an army of 5000 fire fighters tackling it day and night it had already consumed over 450sq miles of forest. The 4th July fireworks (on the 3rd) were great... just like the 5th Nov… but in T shirts and shorts (25C) with bats swooping around you.
United States of America… this land gets more confusing the deeper you look at it. United under a flag maybe but a state called New Mexico? Re-visiting our original comments on the ‘creeping’ Hispanic influence in Texas, in New Mexico it would appear that rather than just look Mexican and speak Spanish many are Mexican. The diversity of the people here is mind blowing with Pueblo, Navajo and Apache (tribes) pure Mexican Indians, Hispanic influences with Catholicism and finally us Europeans. If you are on the road to nowhere then in New Mexico you can travel without moving – as ever time is the enemy and we had a date with the yellow brick road of Kansas.After the cold late spring we have gone straight into a full on mid west summer. It was as hot and sticky as you can imagine with average day temp 36-40C / 25C low at night and 90+ % relative humidity. Walking more than 5 miles is virtually impossible (you can’t carry enough water etc) even if you set off at 8am when it is only 27C! If it gets too hot we just look at each other and say “YELLOWSTONE!” that memory is usually enough to bring our temperature down : ).
Dot to dot… for any of you playing the route on the map game at home…Cataract Lake, Kaibab Forest (near Williams, Arizona) , Homolovi (Winslow, AZ), Petrified Forest National Park, Bluewater State Park, (New Mexico), Santa Rosa (NM), Conchas Lake (NM) then across the tiny bit of Texas and the Oklahoma panhandle into Kansas.
Quick update of some stats from Jane’s diary:
16,000 Miles, 20 States, 43 National Parks, 65 State Parks… and one pair of walking boots each : )
Have fun
Den and Jane X
