Hello California!
Yeah, I’m here. Sort of.
I crossed the Colorado River and into California about 3:13 pm today which meant that I had to immediately set the clock back to 2:13. At 2:15 I stop at the check point to show that my Safeway bought banana has no fruit flies. They didn’t care, he glanced at the stuff in the back of the wagon and just waved me through.
The day was a pretty tough one. I have been sluggish the last couple of days and it really started to show today. I was tired from the get go and the monotony of parts of the drive were making me sleepy (at least until I cranked up the DCI Signature Collection disk). I made more stops today than in recent days, primarily to go to the bathroom or in a couple of occasions to just shake things up and get the blood flowing.
My favorite point so far was the drive out of Flagstaff. I love the pine trees in this area and there were a couple of stretches of I-40 that wound through heavy forest. Sadly the further west I went the sparser the trees and the more brown things were. Yes, there are a number of what I will for a lack of a better term call shrubs, but they were low and spread out all over the desert floor. Not nearly as scenic as the mountains. I stopped briefly in Williams, Arizona to pick up some snacks. Williams like Gallup yesterday still had a feel for the old Route 66. Its a split highway, one street goes east, the other west. Both streets are lined with vintage shops and business. It helps that this is one of the gateways to the Grand Canyon from I-40. Williams is also the terminus for the Grand Canyon Railway and a great alternate to driving to the canyon.
The drive across the desert was in a word desolate. I have to admit though that the rock formations were very cool. It was also interesting to see the soil and the landscape change from one area to the next. Nature is amazing including watching the color change slightly as it was raining. Happy plants.
Gassed up at Kingman, Arizona. Wow, prices skyrocketed until I noticed that some of the stations were at about $2.98. A station across the street or in some cases right next door was $3.30. I’d never seen anything quite like this. Guess Kingman was the home of movie star Andy DeVine. A character actor and comic cowboy sidekick known for his distinctive raspy voice. The airport and main drag are named for him.
After I settled in to motel, by far the crappiest of the places that I stayed in this week. I kicked back for a little TV and a good nights rest.
Next stop San Jose…