Gettin' my kicks on Route 66

Well, almost. I picked up the old Route 66 at Oklahoma City on Tuesday, but have been mostly driving Interstate 40, which parallels 66 from that point. Its starting to feel a bit like Groundhog Day here at the moment. Another four days on the road, another five states traversed, a sunburnt left arm, and slightly fried eye balls. Did I mention the heat? It is hot! High 80's (low 30's in Celsius) in the afternoons, and clear skies. Today (Thursday) was a bit of a change from that, moving from New Mexico into Arizona, with blessedly cloudy skies, and much more tolerable temperatures.

I seem to remember saying I might rue my lack of air conditioning in Kermit, and I kind of am a bit. Having said that, I cheerfully rationalise my decision on the basis that only in about 10% of cases of old 'vettes advertised as being fitted with A/C, does it actually work, so I'm better off by virtue of having one less system to go wrong. Or so I keep telling myself :-).


Monday morning saw me leaving Jackson, TN [1] at the usual 11:00, and straight on to I 40. And so it went for the next three days - green, scrubby, flat and hot. It wasn't really until western New Mexico that there was much variation in the scenery. I've been making good progress though, and that is the name of the game at this point, so I can then enjoy the last few days without too much time pressure. I've averaged 330 miles per day over the last four days, and it has worked out pretty well - six hours per day average travel time, with about an hour of rest/gas/food stops mixed in.

Monday night was spent at the Super 8 Motel in Clarksville, Arkansas [2], with dinner at the adjacent Pizza Hut - too tired to be bothered looking for anything more exotic.

Tuesday was Goodbye Arkansas, Hello Oklahoma, with the night spent at yet another Super 8, this time in Clinton, OK [3].

Wednesday saw the end of Oklahoma, and a brief interlude in Texas, including a random stop in Groom, TX for lunch at the Route 66 Steakhouse. As I got out of the car, I was accosted by a couple of very sharp looking Texas State Troopers. I dunno how they manage it - it was 90 degrees, and their uniforms still had razor sharp creases, their hats were perky, and there was not a sweat stain to be seen. They sported matching sunnies and sidearms, and looked very much like you wouldn't want to mess with them! All they were interested in, predictably, was Kermit. Phew! They also confirmed that the Steakhouse was a good spot for lunch, and so it proved.

A slight digression: Since leaving Kentucky, it wasn't until reaching Arizona this afternoon, that I managed to find any sort of eating establishment with a liquor license. Not even for beer! Not altogether a bad thing at lunchtime, but a bit sad that you can't enjoy a beer or glass of wine with dinner. You'll never guess what I've been substituting (thanks to the influence of Judy Koester): Iced Tea, with lemon. Its really nice!!!! And refreshing. And this from a confirmed tea hater of many years standing. Will wonders never cease?

Anyway, back on I40 / Route 66. I continued westward through Texas, skirting Amarillo, and then popped into New Mexico. I had a quick detour off I40 onto Route 66 through Tucumcari, then back onto the interstate for the run through to Santa Rosa [4], ending up at yet another Super 8 for the night. This one not so super, as the advertised WiFi connectivity was not up to par in my room.

I went across the road for dinner, to a restaurant recommended in the motel guide. Well, if you are ever in Santa Rosa, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES patronise the Sun ' n ' Sand Restaurant. Of all the eating experiences I have enjoyed in the States (cheese aside), this was without doubt the worst, both in terms of food and service. The only thing half decent was the salsa, and I bet that was out of a bottle!

The other 'interesting' thing about New Mexico, and also this afternoon in Arizona, has been the altitude. Santa Rosa is at 4616 feet. The continental divide, passed late this afternoon, just before entering Arizona, is at 7275 feet, and a considerable part of the day was spent at elevations over 6000 feet. Tonight's stop, at Holbrook is at 5083 feet, darn near as high as good old Marias Pass in way back in Montana. All I can say is thank goodness for the oxygen concentrator. I would not have coped without it. It certainly vindicated my decision to get it, that's for sure!

Today has been considerably more interesting and pleasant than the previous three. For starters, the scenery in western New Mexico was more varied than I had seen for a while, with rocky red dirt, and flat topped mesas breaking up the landscape. Also, as mentioned, a good cloud cover, coupled with higher elevations dropped the temperatures from too damn hot to very comfortable. Nice!

Today's lunch stop was at another 'Truck Stops of America' or 'TA' service centre. Grant, a good friend of mine from Glenfield, had spend a year in the states driving an 18 wheeler all over the show. Once piece of good advice amongst many he gave me, was to check out at least one of these Truck Stops. Well I've been to a few now, and they are awesome. As well as an opportunity to check out some of the rigs up close, you get restaurants, convenience stores (think of a dairy, a hardware store, a pharmacy and an auto parts store all rolled into one) and restrooms, showers and laundry facilities. Not to mention full truck servicing facilities and a gas station. All you could possibly need to keep you going on your road trip. Good cheap food too. Today was chicken and chips, and two cups of coffee for $8.62 including tax. Plus a $2 tip for the waitress, and she deserved it.

Speaking of tipping, I have to say I initially thought it was going to be a right pain, not to mention a bit of a rort. From what I gather, wait staff don't get paid well in terms of their base wage, and they do rely on tips to make a half decent living. The result of this is that generally (Santa Rosa aside), you do get a much better standard of service than we are used to in NZ. It is as much about attitude as anything, and I've really enjoyed tipping generously when I think it is deserved, which is more often than not. You get to enjoy a friendly manner, prompt service with a smile, and occasionally a good chat. And it actually feels quite genuine in most cases. Not at all what I was expecting, and given the cheapness of the menu prices, no financial hardship at all.

Anyway, onto I40 yet again, and onward into Arizona. Tonight's stop is in Holbrook, AZ [5], another small town in the middle of nowhere much. After settling into the Econolodge, and recharging my, and the O2 machine's batteries, I went off in search of dinner, and found another little treasure: Mr. Maestas - Another Route 66 icon, full of period memorabilia (Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Native Amercian Curios), and nice food, and .... red wine! At last, a civilised State! The place was run by a Navajo family, and I got chatting to the head lady. She was a hard case, but really sweet. John would like her, as she is a rabid Ford Fan, but she had to concede my Chev was pretty damn nice too.

One wee challenge I've had on this trip, is finding the right presents to bring home for the whanau. The guys have been no problem, the ladies, a bit more challenging. I think I've cracked it at last though - I hope y'all like turquoise & silver jewelery, 'cos that's some of the nicest Native American stuff I've seen. The trick is finding the right piece for the right person, but my Navajo lady this evening solved another little piece of that puzzle for me... Patience, possums! Only a few more days to go.

Right, It's midnight, and time for some zzzzs. Tomorrow - the Grand Canyon!

P.S. I've just discovered - if you click on the map, it links through to a larger, more legible version - enjoy! I assume the same applies to the photos &c.

Go West Young (?) Man

Saturday indeed dawned another beautiful day. Amazing contrast to the day before, so I did slip back across the border into West Virginia, before continuing on my way westward.

Near the west end of Williamson yard - this goes on for about a couple of kilometres

And here's the other end - Norfolk Southern moves some serious tonnage east to the coast from here

From Williamson, I headed back into Kentucky, and on my way westward towards Bowling Green, my destination for the night, and home of the National Corvette Museum. This leg was pretty much Interstate all the way. The Americans do take their roads seriously. When building a four lane highway, there is none of this mucking around following the contours of the hills - just plough straight through, and if the grade gets too steep, just add another slow lane for the trucks. Like so much over here, just the sheer scale of things continues to impress.

The first 150 miles or so was through the western end of the Appalachian Mountains, which run for maybe a thousand miles north to south, and were probably a good 300 + miles wide through West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky.

One of the many cuts made to allow the Interstate to blast its way across the Appalachians

After a lunch stop at Hazard, I continued on and quite abruptly the mountains ended, and the countryside opened up into lush farmland spread over gently rolling hills. I got off the interstate briefly to visit Nancy (the village, not the girl), as my gas tank was getting low. Kermit sure makes a good talking point, and the gas station owner, Larry, was an old 'vette fan from way back, so we had a good old chat. These southerners do have problems with my Kiwi accent though!

Back on the road again, finally making Bowling Green about 5:30 - then realised I had crossed another time zone, and it was really only 4:30, which gave me time to get Kermit washed (it got really filthy in the rain in WV) in preparation for our visit to the museum on the morrow.

Another night, another Econo Lodge. I was reminded yet again of the old joke about 'Why are Indians no good at Soccer? 'Cos every time the get a penalty corner, they put a dairy on it'. The same could be said of motels over here, as every Super 8 or Econo Lodge seems to be owned by an Indian family. Mostly very nice ('So Mr Simon, Do you know Richard Hadlee?' - I'm not kidding - that was a actual conversation!!!!).

It does give one a somewhat distorted view of American culture though, so its just as well I'm balancing it out with visits to local Bar & Grills, and Restaurants. Saturday night at the Motor City Bar & Grill, conveniently next door to the Motel, was a good case in point. The local NFL team were playing on the TV, and the place was a riot until the game finished. There were some really odd people about too. I hate to reinforce stereotypes, but I reckon some of them might well have had parents whose genes were swimming in the same pool, if you follow my drift.

A good night's sleep was followed by a trip to the Laundromat for a quick drop off, then off to the Corvette Museum. The first cool thing about the museum, is that the best car parks are reserved for Corvettes only, so I took great pleasure in parking next to a very tasty 2006 C6 coupe. The museum itself is pretty neat, with 80 odd 'vettes ranging from one of the original batch of 300 from 1953, right up to a brand new 2008 model, awaiting delivery to its new owner. A lot of the interpretive displays weren't that well lit, which made photography a challenge, but there was one big open area called gasoline alley, where I did get some good photos.

Tasty '64 roadster

2005 coupe, after its return from a Sunday drive through Alaska to the Arctic Ocean

A representative from each Corvette generation - C1 in foreground through to the current C6 - 55 years, and close to 1.5 million cars!

After a quick visit to the giftshop, which one has to pass through on the way out - no escaping it - it was time for a quick bite (a damn fine cheeseburger from a local chain called Hardees, and about 5 x nicer food the Mickey D's), it was off to collect the laundry and back onto the interstate for a quick 200 mile sprint to Jackson, Tennessee. I do mean sprint too. The speed limit on the Interstates in western KY, and TN is 70 mph, which means to keep up with the traffic flow, a lot of the time you are either doing close to 80, or getting blasted past by 18 wheelers! I did the 200 miles in 160 minutes, and that included a quick stop for gas. I'll let you do the maths! The interstates sure are an efficient way of getting from A to B, but not much chop for sightseeing. Oh well, my schedule is a bit tighter than is ideal, so I may as well make the most of the opportunities to cover some ground eficiently.

Speaking of which, time for a couple of maps:

My travels over this past weekend, from South Williamson, KY [1] to Bowling Green, KY [2] to Jackson, TN [3]

My proposed route from Jackson, TN [1] to Los Angeles [6] via Clarksville, AR [2] (tonight's stop), Grand Canyon, AZ [3], & Las Vegas, NV [4].

I generally only plan my overnight stops a day or so in advance, so the blue moon icons represent where my GPS software thinks I should stay, based on what I've told it about preferred driving times, planned stops and average speeds.

This route is a fair bit further north than I had originally anticipated, but time precludes other options. I had really hoped to get to San Diego, to meet up with Gregg Blundell, whom I had been introduced to through a mutual friend. Oh well, I will hold off making a final decision about that until I get to Nevada. If the next few days go well, I might just be able to pick up a bit of time, but I do need to be careful about not pushing myself (and Kermit) too hard!

Well, time to get packed up and hit the road - Arkansas here we come.