Day 15 - NOTR and PPOO Part 2 at DennyGibson.com

Day 15: October 16, 2024
Out of California
Comment via blog

Prev

Next

I was happy to see that the cute house at Dagget is still standing although it certainly is showing its age.

Bagdad Cafe was closed but a look through the windows showed a full inventory of T-shirts and such. It may look deserted in this pictures but that is the result of careful timing. There were actually quite a few people around.

The first picture is of the Ludlow Cafe and Motel. The second is of the motel lobby. If you know, you know. I have stayed here in the past and considered it last night after my first choice did not work out but decided to just pull over in Barstow rather than continue driving.

I just happened to notice this marker maybe a hundred yards off of the highway and drove down th graded dirt road to check it out. The plaque tells of a 1942 military plan crash in which five men were killed. There is no indication that the nearby wooden grave markers are associated with the incident in any way.

My first thought on seeing this state patrol car was new road closures or som sort of criminal activity. I did not think of commercial filming which is what it turned out to be. I could either turn back to Ludlow or wait an unknown amount of time. With Ludlow some 25 miles behind me, I chose to wait. It was less than ten minutes before I, and another car that had pulled up behind me, were waved through.

In Amboy, I learned that the commercial being shot was for Levis and got my first taste of Green River. Nice flavor but it sure is sweet. When I left, I stopped across the road to photograph the shoe tree and to chat with Brit. Brit is from New Mexico and that's where he was headed. He had left British Columbia thirty days ago on the 32 year old BMW that he apparently bought new. He had paused here for lunch and I not only got a picture of him but of his apple resting on the shoe tree.

This is the other end of that road closure that I encountered on Friday. I returned to I-40 to participate in one more traffic delay before leaving California. This time, though, there was no question as to the cause. Then I was back on the NOTR which I had left as the PPOO five days ago.

This is the site of a new personal record. I had filled up once on California's $5+ gas but had otherwise limited gas buying to amounts that I thought at the time might get me out of the state. About now, I begin to have doubts about the last 50 or so miles and when I reached this station I decided it would be wise to add a gallon. Heck, I thought, I'll just get $10 worth. That turned out to be nearly the same thing. I got 1.238 gallon at $8.099 per gallon. It had only been $6.499 back in the isolated Amboy and would be $5.899 in Needles.

This is the intersection where the PPOO and NOTR hook up going west and where they split going east. Fender's River Road Resort is the target motel that was filled when I called last evening. In hindsight, I believe I would have been pushing it to make it before dark if it had been available.

Then it was a return to I-40 and one last exit to catch one more bit of NOTR in California.

Taking the first exit in Arizona got me headed toward Oatman and doing what the electric sign said soon paid off. The burros live in the hills surrounding Oatman and each day come into town or gather by the road waiting for tourists to feed them.

Oatman is almost completely a tourist town that I really don't need a lot of but I did step into the Oatman Hotel, which I learned is the only operating restaurant in town, to have a beer surrounded by dollar bills.

This is the first time I have driven eastbound through Oatman and the scenery in this direction look different. It may even be more striking. I'm guessing that burro stationed at Sitgreaves Summit is hoping to pick off west bound tourists before they reach the town. Once past the summit, it's mostly down hill past reassuring guard rails to the long deserted Ed's Camp.

At Cool Springs Camp, they have put up a new sign since I was last here. I did not need a T-shirt or coffee mug but I did buy a drink and a snack.

In Kingman, I immediately filled my tank with 14.477 gallons of $3.099 gas. I believe the Subaru's capacity is 16 gallons which means I still had 1.523 left in the tank which means I didn't really need that 1.238 gallons I bought in the desert. The peace of mind, however, was worth every penny.

I next checked int this room at the Arizona Inn and was soon walking downtown for dinner. Kingman has three breweries within a few blocks of each other two of which were new to me. I had a beer at Rickety Cricket Brewing while the sun set then walked back to the Grand Canyon Brewery where I ate dinner.

[Prev] [Site Home] [Trip Home] [Next]