Escape from Las Vegas, Wednesday 26th August
At last we are leaving Las Vegas. It’s a great place to
visit once, but its full of people, very noisy from the constant piped music and the hubbub of people and too hot in summer.
Even early in the morning the casino is busy but at least
this was the quietest that I had seen the lobby. Betsy wouldn’t start and Seb was having
trouble getting some help to start the bus so there was a delay in our escape.
We were some driving down the highway, past Lake Mead and
over the new bridge next to the Hoover Dam but there was no view of the dam as
the parapet was too high.
We stopped in Kingman which was an important stop on the
historic and famous Route 66 which was completed in the thirties and was the
route taken by many Americans heading out to the west coast and made famous in
several songs and books such as Rolling Stones' Route 66 and John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.
We had lunch in Mr D’z, a retro diner with a traditional
menu, milk shakes, root beer, burgers and hot dogs.
It was located opposite a
major double tracked railway line and
the tracks paralleled the road for the rest of the afternoon. There was
a continual procession of trains. None were very long so my new record of the longest
train at 190 carriages still stands but there was one train with five locos at
the front and another with four locos at the front and two behind.
The modern interstate takes a direct route between towns but
we took the old Route 66 road. It is full of nostalgia such as at Hackberry
General Stores.
And where there was another photo shoot with Penepole with some friends, driving and this time something to shout about.
Another stop down the road was also stuck in the past.
We passed through Williams and entered the Grand Canyon
National Park. We went straight to a lookout over the canyon to see the sunset
but we missed the best light and colours.
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