caravanman
Engineer
My little adventure continues with a hire car from Las Vegas.
I had been rather unsure about renting a car this visit, due to health issues, but took the plunge anyway.
I have wanted to explore the south west of USA for some time, and this is now my chance. The most un-american car, a Hyundai, was the only one available. I am several years too late for a pink Cadillac convertible... probably just as well!
It was very nice to be on the move, no matter how comfortable a hotel, I always get a small bubble of excitement as I check out again.
Having just discovered that Lake Havasu City is where the old London Bridge now rests, I thought it a good spot to head towards, mainly as some parts of the route are marked as "scenic" which always attracts my attention. Managed to find the Boulder Highway, which was free of boulders, and headed south.
Dozens of police response vehicles in ones and two's overtake me, I looked up the internet later and there was a hostage situation in Laughlin. Resolved peacefully, but made me aware of just how far "help" has to travel... I guess the Arizona cops, just over the state line, would not be able to assist, so cops come from Las Vegas, taking an hour or so to arrive.
I very much enjoyed the drive to Lake Havasu, but the bridge itself looked rather silly. Don't know how much of a tourist attraction it is... Yes, I went, but only to mock!
Following my map's scenic advice, I headed south to Parker, then cut across to Vicksburg and on to Wickenburg, where I spent the night. Miles driven on day one was just over 300... all on the wrong side of the road!
Highlights of the day included seeing the large cartoon type cactus growing in the wild, and the dramatic rocks, cliffs, and mountains. The sunshine kept up all day too.
The motel manager was a young Indian guy, and when I mentioned my 5 months visit there, back in 1983, he became very talkative and told me a lot about his life in India before coming to America. He advised me of good photo opportunities for the next leg too.
Day 2:
Awoke rather too early, so just a little tired as I set off this morning. Bright sunshine again. This road is heading north from Wickenburg, the 89, which passes through the Weaver Mountains. What an amazing road! Almost every mile as we climb and twist and turn, the views are brilliant. Many motorcyclists on choppers, Harleys, and other massive machines seemed to enjoy hearing their exhausts loud growls as they echo back from the cliffs. A single width road only, with passing lanes, ensured a slow and careful progress, with many stops for those photos. There was a short sharp shower of rain, and I was glad of the car roof, seeing the unhappy faces of the bikers.
Once again, I had not booked any accommodation, as I did not know how far I would get, and I was glad of that when my energies began to fade mid afternoon.
My route passed through Prescott, then the road branches to become the 89A, to Cottonwood. From here I took the 260 to Camp Verde, and on through Strawberry to my stop for the night in Payson.
I decided to stop early today because I became tired, and Payson is a place with a few motels to choose from. The clerk at the bargain basement motel that I chose explained prices were above average today because of the rodeo being on! Now that is something we don’t have in the UK. Yee Haa! etc. etc.
Arizona seems to have far and away the largest number of traffic roundabouts I have had the pleasure of driving round so far in America, very few elsewhere.
Caught up on my emails, my son has just started a new job, so that was welcome news indeed.
Having now a rough idea of comfortable driving distances, I did decide to book ahead for the next night, and was able to get a motel at a slightly cheaper rate for Sunday night.
Day 3:
Again, I did not sleep so well, an early awakening for me today. Sunny morning, Rodeo guys with Stetsons and saddles getting their gear together as I load up my car.
Once again I am following the advice of my map, which shows today’s drive to be scenic, and boy, this turns out to be scenic without a doubt...
I have taken many hundreds of landscape photos over the years, and they never convey the real grandeur of what the eye can see... but still I repeat the exercise all the time!
This trip today starts off south from Payson on 87, then onto the 188 past Tonto Basin and Roosevelt Dam to the town of Globe. (Love these names!)
From Globe, I head north again on road 60, heading for Show Low, (what a name!) and Pinetop/Lakeside where I am tonight.
Today’s scenery has just been magic! I have stopped so many times to click away! If anyone likes big mountain views, this road 60 from Globe to Show Low is outstanding.
Seeing layer upon layer of rock strata towering up makes me feel humble, hard to imagine the passing of so much time for the layers to be deposited to such thickness.
I encountered another Indian here on checking in, a lady born in the UK of Indian parents and from the next town to Nottingham. Another interesting chit chat!
I think as I am looking at scenery and driving, the best thing is to try and let the pics tell the days story: Please look here for more pics:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152725123004120.1073741838.682004119&type=1&l=0f6acab421
Rain this evening made a nice change, hope it has cleared by morning!
Ed
I had been rather unsure about renting a car this visit, due to health issues, but took the plunge anyway.
I have wanted to explore the south west of USA for some time, and this is now my chance. The most un-american car, a Hyundai, was the only one available. I am several years too late for a pink Cadillac convertible... probably just as well!
It was very nice to be on the move, no matter how comfortable a hotel, I always get a small bubble of excitement as I check out again.
Having just discovered that Lake Havasu City is where the old London Bridge now rests, I thought it a good spot to head towards, mainly as some parts of the route are marked as "scenic" which always attracts my attention. Managed to find the Boulder Highway, which was free of boulders, and headed south.
Dozens of police response vehicles in ones and two's overtake me, I looked up the internet later and there was a hostage situation in Laughlin. Resolved peacefully, but made me aware of just how far "help" has to travel... I guess the Arizona cops, just over the state line, would not be able to assist, so cops come from Las Vegas, taking an hour or so to arrive.
I very much enjoyed the drive to Lake Havasu, but the bridge itself looked rather silly. Don't know how much of a tourist attraction it is... Yes, I went, but only to mock!
Following my map's scenic advice, I headed south to Parker, then cut across to Vicksburg and on to Wickenburg, where I spent the night. Miles driven on day one was just over 300... all on the wrong side of the road!
Highlights of the day included seeing the large cartoon type cactus growing in the wild, and the dramatic rocks, cliffs, and mountains. The sunshine kept up all day too.
The motel manager was a young Indian guy, and when I mentioned my 5 months visit there, back in 1983, he became very talkative and told me a lot about his life in India before coming to America. He advised me of good photo opportunities for the next leg too.
Day 2:
Awoke rather too early, so just a little tired as I set off this morning. Bright sunshine again. This road is heading north from Wickenburg, the 89, which passes through the Weaver Mountains. What an amazing road! Almost every mile as we climb and twist and turn, the views are brilliant. Many motorcyclists on choppers, Harleys, and other massive machines seemed to enjoy hearing their exhausts loud growls as they echo back from the cliffs. A single width road only, with passing lanes, ensured a slow and careful progress, with many stops for those photos. There was a short sharp shower of rain, and I was glad of the car roof, seeing the unhappy faces of the bikers.
Once again, I had not booked any accommodation, as I did not know how far I would get, and I was glad of that when my energies began to fade mid afternoon.
My route passed through Prescott, then the road branches to become the 89A, to Cottonwood. From here I took the 260 to Camp Verde, and on through Strawberry to my stop for the night in Payson.
I decided to stop early today because I became tired, and Payson is a place with a few motels to choose from. The clerk at the bargain basement motel that I chose explained prices were above average today because of the rodeo being on! Now that is something we don’t have in the UK. Yee Haa! etc. etc.
Arizona seems to have far and away the largest number of traffic roundabouts I have had the pleasure of driving round so far in America, very few elsewhere.
Caught up on my emails, my son has just started a new job, so that was welcome news indeed.
Having now a rough idea of comfortable driving distances, I did decide to book ahead for the next night, and was able to get a motel at a slightly cheaper rate for Sunday night.
Day 3:
Again, I did not sleep so well, an early awakening for me today. Sunny morning, Rodeo guys with Stetsons and saddles getting their gear together as I load up my car.
Once again I am following the advice of my map, which shows today’s drive to be scenic, and boy, this turns out to be scenic without a doubt...
I have taken many hundreds of landscape photos over the years, and they never convey the real grandeur of what the eye can see... but still I repeat the exercise all the time!
This trip today starts off south from Payson on 87, then onto the 188 past Tonto Basin and Roosevelt Dam to the town of Globe. (Love these names!)
From Globe, I head north again on road 60, heading for Show Low, (what a name!) and Pinetop/Lakeside where I am tonight.
Today’s scenery has just been magic! I have stopped so many times to click away! If anyone likes big mountain views, this road 60 from Globe to Show Low is outstanding.
Seeing layer upon layer of rock strata towering up makes me feel humble, hard to imagine the passing of so much time for the layers to be deposited to such thickness.
I encountered another Indian here on checking in, a lady born in the UK of Indian parents and from the next town to Nottingham. Another interesting chit chat!
I think as I am looking at scenery and driving, the best thing is to try and let the pics tell the days story: Please look here for more pics:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152725123004120.1073741838.682004119&type=1&l=0f6acab421
Rain this evening made a nice change, hope it has cleared by morning!
Ed
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