To Florida...We Must --Part 2

So we're on our way home from California...[see earlier posts]...It's still Monday, February 18, 2008. My dh and dd have finished climbing rocks and we're back on the road. While we were stopped, dd picked some tiny little wildflowers. All of a sudden she realized there were a hundred tiny bugs crawling all over her --coming off the flowers. Eeeek!!! Bugs and wildflowers were quickly put in the wind. Here is a wonderful life lesson; don't pick the wildflowers!!! It was also a lesson in how there is truly 'life' in the desolate desert.

5:45 pm...we're close to the Arizona State Line. We come into Needles, CA. This is another "famous" place according to the internet. We're excited to get off the interstate and check it out! Small population of only about 4,800..on the famous Route 66...chronicled in the "Never Been to Spain" song by Three Dog Night...referred to in movies...etc.

From Wikipedia:
In the comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles Schulz who lived in Needles, California as a boy, often cartooned Snoopy's brother Spike living in the desert outside Needles. He frequently heads to Needles to partake of the town's nightlife, often running afoul of the local coyotes. Charles Schultz attended D Street School in Needles as a child, in a previous building on the same site as the current building at the top of D Street hill. This school, renamed Katie Hohstadt Elementary after a popular primary teacher of the 1970s and 1980s (grades 1 and 2 only now), is located at 600 Cibola Street.

There were other 'pop culture' things about Needles...but let me tell you, they would not want to hire me for their Chamber of Commerce! We stopped at a Shell gas station which also had a Dairy Queen sign on it. We were thinking..."Wahoo! Ice Cream!" I went in to check on whether their diesel was the right kind (no sticker on the pump) and to see if it was a possible potty stop. Eewwwww! Nasty! We looked around a little more and got back on the interstate. We were not impressed. Here is a picture of the most interesting thing we saw in Needles....the Colorado River. This is where the train crosses the river. Finally, we're out of California.

Our next hope for stopping would be Kingman, Arizona. In Kingman, we found another Dairy Queen. It was kind of strange because it was in a strip mall. But it was fairly clean, the ice cream was wonderful and CHEAP!!! Hot fudge sundae's DO make a wonderful dinner!

By 8:00 pm it was starting to get dark and we started looking for a place to rest for the night. The scenery was starting to get prettier with a bit of snow here and there -- so we didn't want to drive through it in the dark. We pulled off the interstate in Ash Fork, AZ which was on a stretch of Route 66. Unfortunately, the one semi-decent motel in town looked like it was built in the late 50's and we weren't too sure about the safety of the Alfie on the trailer....so we pushed on to Williams, AZ.


In Williams, we found a wonderful motel with snow EVERYWHERE! My dh barely got the truck stopped before dd was out playing in the snow in her flip-flops!

A little fun throwing snow at her dad perked her right up after a long day of riding across the rocky desert!








It also didn't take long for dd to get luggage in the room, change into warmer clothes, and head out to build a snowman just outside our room. This is Tex. (notice her brand-new leather hat perched on wet snow?) She and her dad had a great time playing in the snow during the commercials of "Dancing with the Stars!

We noticed that Williams, AZ has a lot of touristy things available for families including a train ride through some really beautiful countryside. Too bad we don't have time to dawdle. Since Williams is also located just 50 miles from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, Mom and Dad were secretly planning a side-trip to head that way in the morning. We think dd will be quite pleased.

More tomorrow! I think I might be able to string this out for another 15-20 posts! Not that I would really do that...but I could! Stay tuned...