Having gone to bed with the promise of a replacement car being delivered by 9 am, it was disappointing for Carolyn to get a call from Dollar at 8 am asking if we were still in need of “service”. No, we needed a car!!  The second call at 9 am was a little better, but it was going to take 3 hours to get one to us. Wait a minute, we were being offered something with a tiny boot space. Carolyn wasn’t having it and, what do you know, the next call offered something much bigger. In fact, we got a nice upgrade. It meant hanging around with nowhere to go in this small desert town but, undeterred, I made good use of the guest laundry facilities and we set off in our nice new car with suitcases full of clean clothes.

It was good to be doing what we have done consistently well…disobeying the sat nav and wandering off the main highway in search of Old Route 66. One of the guide books had  mentioned an iconic road house where you cooked your own burgers, steaks, ribs, etc on a huge indoor BBQ, accompanied by as much salad as you could eat.  There was a choice of about 40 draught beers and a clientele of bikers and ranchers, all served by a petite, if indominatable, lady of a certain age wearing shorts and a pony tail.

Our determination to stick with the 66 for the rest of our journey caused a problem. We ran out of road. No indication, but a couple of miles along the way the potholes became plentiful, as did the grass growing on the road.  Round the bend we found the reason…a concrete barrier across the road. You could sense the glee from the electronic voice, “Turn around when possible”.

Carolyn’s Curios

So, the day after the night before. No-one was hurt, merely inconvenienced. We’d done everything we’d wanted to do (plus some more!) and we’re now back on schedule without missing a beat from our road trip.

Today has been a steadier day but we agreed it was important to keep to our plans where we could and maintain our momentum. We did.

As we passed Camp Navajo, I couldn’t resist, on the sight of equipment being moved, to title the photos below as ‘Army training’! #sorry The flags are those of the U.S.A. and Arizona.

It was also interesting seeing the old parked Santa Fe train with a modern diesel behind. Day ends back at Williams. Tomorrow Kingman, Arizona.