Day 12

Miles driven 352 – Total Miles 4326 – Williams, AZ to Mountainaire, AZ – 5 hours on the bike

It was nice to sleep in a bed again. Soft and comfy, and I knew a shower awaited me when I got up. I sleep just fine on the ground, but it’s a sleep punctuated by moving around to get comfortable, while a soft bed I never wake until morning. First thing I did was shower and shave again as I was making up for missing it for four days before. It felt so good. I was squeaky clean and ready for the day. Checkout wasn’t until 10am, so I leisurely packed and spent some time working on my online journal and uploading photos.

Next on my path was going down Route 66, mainly the one remaining original stretch left from Kingman AZ to Seligman AZ. It’s about 80 miles long and I soon found out there isn’t much left on it.

I drove down I-40 from Williams to Kingman so I would be coming back east along Route 66 which curves up and around.

The first 20 miles were very hot desert conditions, straight and nothing at all to see on the road. But when you get to Hackberry, you see the gaudy old signs for the Hackberry General Store coming up. At first I figured I’d skip this sight as there would be more awaiting me, but then decided to turn around (which is a good thing as it was uniquely the  only attraction).

The Hackberry General Store is a preserved piece of the history of Route 66. There is a single gas pump out front; an outhouse along the side; an old style eatery inside; a preserved corvette under the overhang… This was what I was looking for!! Unfortunately it is only a private museum. The gas isn’t running, the eatery isn’t serving, and about the only thing you can do is buy some Route 66 trinkets or some overpriced snacks.

When I first pull up, it’s quite obvious that I am out of place with my bright red 200 mph crotch rocket, while everyone else is on Harleys and a few other cruiser styles. But I’ve never been one to care that I’m not like everyone else . All the riders are milling around talking or taking pictures. They all have the full getups you would expect; leathers, chaps, cutoff shirts, tatoos, bandanas, and more. It’s only after walking among them that I begin to realize that they are all speaking either in different languages or heavy accents. Most of them are Italian and German. In fact I don’t see a single other American except the cashier.

What an strange reversal of roles that is going on here. I’m the only American at this stop, I’m riding a Japanese sport bike and feeling like Akira, while all the foreign riders are dressed up to mimic the American outlaw biker lifestyle and visiting a defunct store on the tiny remaining portion of a road which meant exploring and travel to all of America… It just didn’t fit.

As I continued down Route 66 all I saw were the remains of cafes and gas stations, but nothing was open or functional. The further I drove and the less I saw, the more depressing it became… I was viewing the dried up umbilica cord of America. After seeing Disney’s “Cars”, I was hoping some small areas still survived. Some small bits of nostalgia, but I just didn’t see it. The only excitement on the whole stretch was the Burmashave advertisements. They gave a feeling of being in the family sedan, traveling down the road, bored and waiting for the next group of signs as your only entertainment.

There were some remaining buildings in the towns like Seligman and Williams that once were part of Route 66, but then were cut off with I-40 going close by. These towns still had life, but had also moved on with the times, and only had a few remenants left of those booming days.

If you come here with high expectations like I now see I did, you’ll be disappointed. Route 66 is just a shell of it’s former glory. Like the slight whiff of the expensive perfume on a faded ballroom dress, it gives your mind a quick vision of the grand days gone by, but those visions fade as fast as they come and you’re left with the current reality.

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