*NOTE: Five years ago I began a journey across the country with Thiel, a dear friend of mine. I was moving from Chicago to Long Beach, California, and she agreed to make the drive with me. I present my journal of that journey on the corresponding day that it was recorded five years ago. Enjoy reliving this adventure with me!
Day 13: January 15, 2014
Our motel room came with breakfast in the morning in the lobby. We expected muffins and coffee, but there was a lot more. We fueled ourselves and hit the road. After Kingman, Arizona, the longest remaining single stretch of Route 66 in Arizona winds through mountains and desert-like terrain. The speed limit is 15 MPH at points. The roadway snakes around, switching back on itself and hugging the edge of the mountains. There were points at which Thiel couldn’t even bring herself to look out her side window because she was right on the edge of a dropoff.
Anybody hungry?
These iconic ads are all along the road.
At one point there was a pulloff with a view, so we stopped. There were several other people there as well. We walked to the top of the point and were treated to a sweeping, panoramic view. After being there for a few minutes we realized that all down the hill below us were crosses with peoples’ names on them. Some of them had items around them like most memorial sites do. Everyone there started trying to figure out if it was a cemetery or if all these people had died on the road, or what else it could be. There was no way that these were graves; it was a rock surface. I had been to this spot before a few years ago and didn’t remember any such thing being there, so it seems as if it’s relatively new. One of the other people there ventured the guess that maybe it was a memorial site for people whose ashes had been scattered there. There was no sign or anything to indicate what it could be.
RIP.
At the end of this stretch of road stands Oatman, Arizona, which is a very small town, but it was extremely crowded. A row of shops, a hotel, and loads of tourists greeted us as we pulled into town. However, the best thing about it is the burros that freely wander the streets, walking straight up to your car and expecting to be fed. Naturally it’s very slow going through this one-block town, so we crept along and were approached by two or three donkeys as we passed through. We didn’t stop but watched as people fed huddles of the animals. I had heard one braying when we first stopped at the overlook/memorial site just before we arrived. This town seems to be one of the ones that’s doing quite well on the old road, and it’s very far removed from the interstate. I guess their donkeys have kept them alive.
Oatman, AZ.
The road straightened up and there were loooooong stretches through the Mojave Desert, and we jumped back on the interstate for a short jaunt across the Colorado River into California, getting back off on the old road and losing our way for a little while in Needles, California. We righted our course and drove along until it got dark and we finally reached the LA area. I have, at long last, reached Long Beach and my new apartment, which I like a lot. I’m told there was an earthquake the night before we arrived of 4.4 on the Richter scale, but my roommates slept through it and didn’t feel a thing.
At the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, CA.
Los Angeles, CA.
Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles.
Have you found the orbit of Uranus?
Palm tree-lined streets in LA.
The Witch House of Beverly Hills.
Bird of Paradise.
Thiel before a California sunset.
Me watching the sunset.
So the Great American Road Trip is at an end. We have watched winter disappear behind us. There have been moments of fear and worry. Tempers have flared and calmed. You really need to like the person you’re traveling with very much in order to do something like this; otherwise there may be murder afoot. This is a large country with wildly varying cultures, climates, and terrain. I’m happy that I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of it. From Kathy Strong, author of Off the Beaten Path: Southern California: “Take the main roads, you’re a tourist…Take the back roads, you’re a traveler.”
Now it’s time to focus on finding a job, getting settled in my new place, figuring out public transportation, and seeing what the future holds for me here. It already feels better just being here, and I know that this was the right decision for me at this time. Here goes!
