Day #1: Hesperia, CA to Holbrook, AZ

The keyword of the first day was:  RAIN!  We had clouds, scattered showers, and in some places flat-out downpours and hail, from the first seconds of today's leg to the last.

Started with our final packing and stuffing of the car.

The trunk shortly before departure.

Got on the road at 7:20, only 20 minutes later than our hoped for departure time, with a smattering of raindrops already falling in Hesperia.  The clouds made for beautiful skies and kept temperatures cool, so the drive up 15 to Barstow and then east on 40 toward the Arizona border was very gorgeous as we enjoyed light traffic and stunning scenery.  Shortly after getting onto I-40 the Taurus reached a milestone:

111,111 miles

In order to get a photo of this momentous occasion we exited 40 and got on the old Route 66,  which runs right along side the newer highway, so we could slow down and document the mileage for posterity.

Painted Route 66 marker

Unfortunately, the old Route 66 is not maintained, at least in this stretch, and driving on it is akin to pushing a shopping cart over a long stretch of corrugated sheet metal.  As a result we got back onto the infinitely smoother I-40 at the first opportunity.

Before we got to Needles we stopped at a rest area that not only had a rattlesnake warning sign, but also a historical marker informing us that the rest stop was on the site of the Camp Clipper Desert Training Center, where troops were sent for toughening up before being shipped overseas during World War II.

The plaque mentions other Desert Training Centers used during WWII, including the one in Bouse where my dad was stationed before being sent to Europe.

Next we arrived in Needles, just on the California side of the Arizona border.  There was a period when my family spent almost every weekend in Needles, swimming in the Del Rea motel pool and eating at the nearby Loma's Restaurant.  We couldn't find the motel or the restaurant, but the Needles wagon is still there:

Needles was supposed to be 107 degrees today, but while it was very hot, the clouds kept the temperature within reason.  

We toyed with the idea of trying to find Oatman, an old Arizona ghost town that we remember visiting when we were much younger, but soon realized it was too far out of the way to attempt.  We did, however, take advantage of every rest stop we could find.

Glad we decided to leave the herd at home.

By this point we were getting ready for lunch.  Trying to maintain a semblance of health and frugality we brought lunch fixin's with us.  Unfortunately, Arizona seems to suffer from a dearth of parks and/or picnic tables, so we ended up having to settle for commandeering the Seligman Post Office parking lot for our repast, though passing up the local cuisine options took all of our willpower:

Roadkill just like mom used to make.

Shortly after leaving Seligman the weather really started to get interesting.  What so far had been pleasant overcast skies with a few spritzes of rain here and there turned into a full-fledged deluge.

Ominous black clouds, with the occasional lighting bolt, loomed ahead of us.  Heavy rains followed us for most of the rest of the trip, though lightened up enough for us to enjoy the Meteor Crater near Winslow.

4000 ft. across and 550 feet deep.

The Meteor Center also has a test capsule from the Apollo space missions used when NASA was developing a capsule that would stay upright while bobbing in the water after splashdown.

By this point it was starting to get late, but we still had one more item on today's bucket list:

Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.

From there it was a short drive to Holbrook, where we decamped at the Best Western Adobe Inn (clean, bedbug-free, and highly recommended.)  We dined in the oldest continuously operating restaurant in town (and one of the oldest still on Route 66) Joe and Aggie's Cafe.  I enjoyed a Navajo Taco (basically a tostada with a puffy, fried bread bottom instead of a corn tortilla) while TJ got an enchilada and taco combo.  A great finish to a full and enjoyable day.

So far so good.  But tomorrow will see us venture into uncharted territory, at least for me, as we leave Arizona, cross New Mexico, and head into the wilds of the Texas panhandle.  Until then, good night for now.