L.A. to Flagstaff

My people, it has been a long three days. Fun, but long. Plus, you would not believe the scarcity of internet connections in the Southwest. Yes, I know it's a desert...BRING ME MY EMAIL.

So I've posted a bunch of photos on Facebook, but I'll fill you in on the highlights of the trip so far. Tuesday, after leaving Jessie's house, we continued to talk in the voice that Jessie uses to translate her dog's thoughts (this has yet to cease). This is Tuesday, our first day on Route 66.

First up, just outside Helendale, CA: the Bottle Tree ForestIt was made by some random woman. I love that people do this, just making weird crap that nobody has to like but them and then lodging it at the side of the road. And then the rest of us get to marvel at it. This tree is my favorite because it has an old sewing machine at the top.

Next up on lovely Route 66, lovely Barstow, CA.

There's a funky little museum there on the history of both Route 66 and Barstow. It's housed in an old Harvey House at the railroad station. The Harvey Houses were built by Fred Harvey beginning in the 1890's for the Santa Fe Railroad; they're grand hotels with formal dining restaurants, meant to bring civilization to the Wild West. The architecture of some of them, like the Mary Jane Colter design we saw in Winslow, is phenomenal. Next to the Route 66 museum there's a railroad museum. This train matches my dress, and I appreciate that.

Further on: Oatman, AZ.

This was a gold and copper mining town during the boom, but became a ghost town when the ore dried up. The burros used in the mines stayed in the region and turned feral. Some of the original buildings remain, but most of them have been reconstructed so that the town can serve as both a tourist trap and a movie set. You can feed the burros, though, so they come right up to you. They all wanted to come with me, as most animals do, but I had to say "No. You are a burro. You will eventually turn on me." They were understandably heartbroken.


This is a restored gas station near Oatman. I have little to say about it, except that I really enjoy Mobil gas signs. People do stuff like this all over Route 66, and I think it's a healthy mixture of hustle for tourist cash and honest enthusiasm for the local history.
We ended the day in Flagstaff, AZ. We stayed at a great historic-y hotel, the Hotel Monte Vista. It is lovely place, and we got to stay in the John Wayne suite. John Wayne was the first to report a particular haunting here once (there are many), which is frickin' fantastic. It's a phantom bellboy who rings the bell at Room 210 and then vanishes. SOMEONE was messing with him, and I sincerely hope it was actually a phantom bellboy.