Route 66 Road Trip: Las Vegas, Nevada to Kingman, Arizona

Road Trip!  Route 66 from Las Vegas, Nevada to Las Vegas, New Mexico!

We had such a good time on our "Grand Circle" driving/hiking trip to the National Parks of Southern Utah last Spring that we decided to escape the grey days of winter in Philadelphia for the sunny (we hope) clime of Northern Arizona and New Mexico.  Several guidebooks to the historic Route 66 route and its dining and lodging options gave us some great ideas for an itinerary.  We will poke along on the way east from Las Vegas, never driving more than 200 miles in one day-some days only 50 or 60 miles.  Only on our two-day return to Nevada will we "book it", doing 300+ miles a day. 

Hoover Dam on the Colorado River

Day one:  Arrive in Las Vegas and pick up our rental car, then drive to Hoover Dam.  Being the daughter of a "dam builder" with the Bureau of Reclamation, as a child Joan toured many of the monumental dams of the west with her family, including Hoover Dam, so we enjoyed the view from the top of the dam before we toured the visitor center.  Amazing!  The water in Lake Mead is about 50 feet lower than full capacity-hello, global warming?

 

Lake Mead and the Nevada Intake towers from the top of Hoover Dam

Dane Wells at Hoover Dam

It's hard to get a picture of the dam, so here's a picture of the photographer who took the pictures of the dam:  Dane, aka Indiana Wells.

Next stop:  Kingman, Arizona, with a sound track prepared by Dane to accompany our drive, including The Eagles "Take It Easy" and Manhattan Transfer's cover of "Get Your Kicks on Route 66".

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.
(words & lyrics by Bobby Troup)






Elvis Presley Room at El Trovatore Motel, Kingman, Arizona

After a brief detour to Chloride, Arizona, an almost-ghost town/1860s mining town now a haven for artists and western craftsmen, we arrived in Kingman, Arizona.  On Andy Devine Drive (the character actor was born here) we found  El Trovatore Motel. Super-friendly proprietors Sam & Monica showed us around and we chose the Elvis Presley room!


Sam and Monica have owned the motel for just over a year, and have been busy repairing and restoring it.  One of their proudest accomplishments is the relighting of the huge neon sign.

 

El Trovatore Motel with its restored tower sign, Kingman, Arizona

We also visited the Powerhouse Route 66 Museum in Kingman, to get started right with the history of the historic route in Arizona. 

 

Powerhouse, Kingman, Arizona, home of the Arizona Route 66 Museum

We ended our long day with a typically Western meal:  Steak at the Dam Bar just down the highway from El Trovatore.  Of course Dane had to have a Fat Tire beer from Colorado, since it's not available in Philadelphia, and  in a cocktail mood, Joan enjoyed a house specialty, a margarita made with agave.

 

Of course it came with biscuits and beans!