Las Vegas, NV to Kingman, AZ

After 4 nights in LV it was time to leave and head back to Route 66. We retraced our journey and drove south on SR 93 past Boulder City and the Hoover Dam to reach Kingman, AZ. Boulder City was built in 1931 to house the men who had arrived to build the Hoover Dam (known as the Boulder Dam until 1947).

Driving towards Boulder City.

We reached Kingman which has long been a stopping place for travellers and is the only town around for miles.

An old engine from the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe line.

We went to the iconic Mr D'z Route 66 Diner for lunch.

We immediately felt we were back in the 1950s as soon as we entered the diner.

We asked for a recommendation for a hair salon and were directed to the one in the photo below. It was the smallest salon either of us had ever been in but the welcome we got was very big and we both left very pleased as well as extremely more knowledgeable about Kingman.

Then it was time to check into our motel. We stayed in the refurbished 1939 El Trovatore Motel which is one of the few pre-World War Two Motels still standing in Kingman. Each room has a Hollywood theme because many stars came here to entertain the American troops during the war.

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Holbrook, AZ to Peach Springs, AZ

We left Holbrook in bright sunshine and continued our drive along Rte 66 which once again had us driving on the Interstate at times. Our first stop was in Winslow made famous when The Eagles recorded "Take It Easy" whose second verse starts with "Standin' on a corner in Winslow Arizona". We then drove on to Flagstaff but didn't stop in the city. Flagstaff has a beautiful forested location high up on the Colorado Plateau and it was a change to be driving on roads lined with tall ponderosa pine trees. We had a picnic lunch off the beaten track in Buckskinner Park, Williams, AZ. We followed a dirt trail to the picnic area which really tested our car's tyres. They survived, thankfully. We soon found ourselves in Seligman (pronounced Sligman), a sleepy town which maintains a lot of its historic character together with a few unexpected twists - eg Santa in a Chevvy outside the wacky Snow Cap Drive-in. Our destination for the night was th

Seattle, WA

We left Everett on Sunday morning and headed south to Seattle, our final stop on this trip. We drove to our hotel and dropped off our cases before we headed to SeaTac to return our car. After the brief stop at the hotel we drove to Kubota Garden, a 20-acre Japanese garden in one of Seattle’s southern neighbourhoods. It was started in 1927 by Fijitaro Kubota, a Japanese immigrant. It is an urban oasis with Japanese and native trees and plants, ponds and waterfalls. It was beautiful with its fall colours. The following morning we headed down to the waterfront to the historic Pike Place Market where Starbucks first opened its doors to the public in 1971. Then we wandered through the market which opened in 1907 and strolled by the numerous stalls of seafood, fresh produce, crafts and flowers. On Tuesday we took the monorail, which was the first commercial monorail in the USA and built in 1962 as an attraction for the 1962 World’s Fair. It still uses the original cars. The monorail

Volcanic Country

On Wednesday morning after breakfast, we headed back to the airport to pick up our car. We got a very nice car, a Ford Edge, fairly large for what is described as a small SUV. Then it was off on the road trip part of the holiday. Our first stop was in a cabin in Ashford, a very small town near the entrance to the Mount Rainier National Park. Thursday morning saw us head to Mount Rainier NP. Mount Rainier at 14,410 ft is the tallest mountain in Washington State. It is an active volcano and is the most glaciated peak in the lower 48 states. We drove up to Paradise which at an elevation of 5,420 ft. is famous for its stunning views. We then walked to Myrtle Falls and the views all round us were just stunning. After lunch we drove to Reflection Lakes along a road with hairpin bends and precipitous drops to the side. While in Ashford, we ate at the quaint Copper Creek Restaurant which opened in 1946 and is the oldest, continuously operating restaurant in Washington State.

On the Road with T and S

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