2019 WB Day 16 - Off The Road

The sixteenth day on the road actually took us off road... but not before we met with one of the gurus of the Mother Road, Jim Hinckley in Kingman. Jim met us at Mr Dz's where we had breakfast, after a great recommendation for coffee just around the corner!

It's when you chat with folk like this you begin to understand what Route 66 really means.

He warned our group about the tight twisting road to Oatman and while similar to many roads in New Zealand his comment about a million cars a year travelling over here before the interstate was opened really hit home.

Before that though we found another part of the old road cut off by the interstate and wondered how all that traffic made it on the old road.

We stopped at Cool Springs, scene of the Universal Soldier's big explosion... and also some inspiration for Radiator Springs from Cars.

The guys cutting and polishing rocks for jewellery were entertaining in themselves but it must have worked because we unloaded more greenbacks for their wares.

Past Ed's Campsite we wound our way up through the old gold and copper mining hills and on to Oatman.

The streets were laced with Burro, some more agitated than others and causing grief up and down the main street.

There was also the usual grief from the outlaws whose bumbling attempts to rob the bank ended as you might expect.

All good fun and certainly not your average day in an American country town.

From here we moved off the old road - Las Vegas our destination. Across the Colorado river at Laughlin we watched as dozens of jet skis carved up the waterway. Hardly a pleasurable experience!

Then a quick run up the i95 brought us to Hoover Dam and a plant tour that always leaves people in awe of the magnitude of the task undertaken to build this massive structure back in the 1930s.

Our stretched Hummer collected us at 7pm and we headed for the historic precinct - Fremont Street where the range of sights a huge surprise for those who had not experienced 'sin city' before!

Still that Las Vegas sign is always there and always the same... bringing to end another day for us.