We travelled out of Williams and into the next valley. In Ash Fork this 1958 Desoto perches on the top of a 'Beauty Shop' which used to be a Gas Station.
Further on we stopped in Seligman where the Route 66 Association of Arizona was founded by Angel Delgadillo. Most of the shops are now tourist attractions and while we were there two tour buses arrived. This is one of the towns that has succeeded in keeping its shops open by attracting visitors off Interstate 40.
This is the famous Roadkill cafe where they will still cook animals killed on the road. It is also a diner where you can order normal things off the menu. We decided not to try it.
http://www.route66seligmanarizona.com/The_Roadkill_Cafe.php
We were travelling through seriously hot desert with little greenery and a lot of dry sand for much of the way.
During the day the wind rose and swirling dust storms, like small tornadoes, could be seen on either side of the road.
This completely out of place, 14 foot tall, Tiki (or Easter Island) Idol head can be seen next to a now abandoned diner.
There were lots of small communities in the desert with only one access road and all their post boxes were beside the junctions.
In Kingman we visited the Route 66 Museum which explained a lot about the development of the road from the ancient Indian trails to the early seventies 'black top'. It explained much of the hardship endured by the people who travelled from the Mid-West to California during the depression. The photos were very moving.
Kingman is a railroad town so this old Santa Fe steam loco has pride of place in a park down in the old town area.
We have travelled down the mountains and into desert today. This morning the temperature in Williams was 60 degrees. This afternoon in Kingman it was 95.
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