When we left the park this morning we weren’t sure where we’d end up other than stopping in Kingman for lunch.
Pretty quiet in the park this time of year….suits us just fine. 
We decided to take the scenic and twisty route through Oatman to Kingman where we stopped for lunch.
Highway 153 to Oatman. 
Boundary Cone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_Cone
Always a burro at the edge of the road when you near Oatman. We passed a sign for a Burro barbecue on the way through Bullhead city….!
Coming into Oatman. 
Lots of tourists….
Bye – bye Oatman…we never stop and…..probably never will.
The geology here is just amazing as you twist and turn your way over the mountains. 
Going up. 
Scenic route 66.
Ess curves, ess curves and more ess curves. 
Sitgreaves Pass elevation 3550 feet ….. Laughlin, Nevada 504 feet. 
Starting to level out. 
Green up here too. Lots of ocotillo and small flowering shrubs. 
Beautiful. 
Must be water down there for this much greenery. 
Always another burro. 
Cool Springs…..we stopped on another trip but not today. 
Now down across the wide open, desolate, dry, dusty windy south end of Golden Valley. 
A quick trip on I 40 north to Kingman. 
We were going to continue on Route 66 into Kingman but it was closed so we had to take the freeway. 
Route 66 or Beale St. in Kingman. 
El Palacio where we’ll stop for lunch. A small chain of family restaurants. 
Parked for lunch.
Efficiently run, fast service and good food. It is production Mexican food but with the amount of people that they serve I guess it has to be. Not the same as a small Mexican restaurant in Mexico but….this isn’t Mexico!
Mexican film idol….Pedro Infante. 
Lunch is done and we head out the Hualapai Mountain Road and up into the mountains. 
We both left the park in our heated jackets but I took mine off in Kingman. 
The rocks hardly look real and the juniper is starting to appear as we climb. 
Pine trees now and it is cooling off. 
Reminds me a little bit of Kelowna, B.C. in Canada. 
Looking back at Kingman. We stopped in the park and…..I put my heated jacket back on! Don’t need to turn it on but….I can if I want to.
We stopped at the beginning of the Hualapai or (Pine tree folk derived from the name of the Indian tribe that once lived there) Mountain park and turned around. Elevation about 6300 feet.
Down we go to Kingman. 
Leaving Kingman and Highway 93 from Las Vegas is backed up from the freeway entrance to I40 in Kingman all the way to where we get off to return to Laughlin on Highway 68. About 4 miles of solid traffic. Must be something big.
So we were back in the park by about 3pm and had a good days ride. Dennis and Marilyn are now parked down the way from us after their stay in Parker, AZ.
Checked the net and there was a huge semi truck accident on I 40 leaving Kingman so that’s why the traffic was so heavy.
A good day.
Sounds like a long but fun day. I like the idea of the heated jacket, never heard of that before.
ReplyDeleteToo funny! When I started reading your post I held my breath because I thought you were taking your rig to Oatman and past. We've never done the route but I've seen it on google and heard about it. Then I wondered why you were heading east. Good thing you have the motorcycle in the picture. I love that area. We used to always go to old Kingman to Mr. D's but haven't in several years. They have a nice Visitor Center there. Thanks for the tour - love the rocks and juniper!
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