To say that today was a LARGE day would be an understatement. Left Flagstaff this morning and it was 52 degrees – not bad considering how cool it was last night. But I was only on the road about an hour and it was already too hot for the jacket. I headed out old Route 66 towards Seligman, Az where I started to get the flavor of the this route. From Seligman it was west to Kingman, Az where along the way I encountered my first ever Dust Storm! Now it was just a mini one of about five minutes but that was too much for me, especially considering the temperature was already over 90! But the wind had gotten its gumption up and wasn’t about to quit so between the heat, the dust and the wind it was dry and my body fluids were dropping quickly! So dry in fact that when I got bugs in my teeth I just chewed ’em up to generate spit so I could quench my thirst 🙂 I was stopping every hour to drink a bottle of water and lather on the sunscreen or else I would have been great for a salad – you know, the sun dried tomato type!
From Kingman I continued on Route 66 to Needles, California via the Mohave Desert where it was drier, hotter and windier ( temp in Golden Shores was 107 degrees!!). Folks if you ever get the chance to drive/ride Route 66 from Kingman, Az. to Needles, Ca. DON’T !!!! That’s a whole lot a nuthin’. Except the “town” of Oakman, Az is interesting – see the photo below to see the rush hour traffic:)
The closer I got to Vegas the windier it got and I honestly had trouble holding on to the bike even with a death grip! It was a little disconcerting at times – Like when a high-sided 5 ton truck went by me doing about 80 MPH leaning over in my direction 🙁 Vegas drivers remind me of Montreal drivers and I avoid going thru Montreal at all costs.
Decided to walk The Strip and take some nighttime images and do some people watching. There sure are some interesting folks! But as much as I wanted to I decided it was better if I didn’t take images of the people – plus I didn’t really have the right camera for that. I was a little late getting out there as I prefer dusk over night but I did manage to grab one shot with the iPad as the sun was setting. But then it got black in a hurry.
After I go out to the Hoover Dam in the morning I am going north to Salt Lake City. A slight change in “apparent morals” maybe? From Sin City to Mormon City – should be an interesting contrast any how.
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