Wednesday, 3 June 2009. Up early and looked out the window to see a cloudy sky over Las Vegas. No complaints as this would keep the temperature down a little bit on my drive down to Kingman.
After a light breakfast I finished loading up the car and headed off to the southeast and Kingman. The drive was pretty good up until Hoover Dam. As I didn’t get there until about 1030 the tourist traffic had picked up and the road was very slow. This is somewhat expected. The construction of the Hoover Dam bypass was quite impressive. However, once clear of the dam a long line of cars was held up by some idiot in his pickup truck doing about 15 miles an hour under the speed limit. Now going slow is not a problem. However, if you constantly bypass places where you could pull off and let everybody you were holding up pass you by, then I have strong impulses to use a sawed-off shotgun on the idiot. Eventually the road became four lanes and 20 to 30 cars and trucks were able to pass them. The rest of the way into Kingman was quick and easy.
My first task upon entering Kingman was to look up Jim Hinckley. After little bit of map searching I was able to track down Jim at his office where he manages a Penske truck rental. He graciously allowed me to use part of his counter to plan out where I was going next. First was getting a motel room which I did at the local Motel 6. I then had some lunch at the Calico Diner next to the motel.
From there I went over to the Mojave Museum where I spent a pleasant hour or so. It was a very well laid out museum and I enjoyed the section devoted to Andy Devine. Yes I do remember him from movies and enjoyed his acting. Next on the agenda was to go over to Locomotive Park which had a big locomotive, tender and caboose. Across the street was Mr. D’z. Next door was Dunton Motors which had a 27 Franklin along with two 60s Mustangs and an old motorcycle in the showroom window. As I needed a little bit of nourishment, I stopped in at Mr. D’z and bought myself an ice cream cone. It was really nice to eat on the hot spring day.
For dinner I went over to the Brunswick Hotel which is a Route 66 icon. I had a very nice upscale dinner. While the filet was good, I really liked the mushroom soup. Part of the decorations on the wall were vastly overpriced paintings. The gentleman playing the piano felt the same way.
As I walked to the car the owner of the 1956 Buick Special was just starting her up. We ended up having a nice chat about the car, and the owner admired my shoulder bag. She was wondering where I had obtained it, and when she learned I had made it, she wanted to know if I could make her one. I said, let’s talk again when I get home and have access to my sewing machine.
About that point to ladies walked over to also admire the car. When I heard them speak in German to one another, I couldn’t resist nattering at them in German as well. The younger of the two ladies had just finished a year in a South Bend high school as part of a student exchange program.
Back at the motel I caught up a little bit on my bookkeeping, I’m keeping a spreadsheet on how far I drive and what my expenses are.
