The morning started out with breakfast at The Road Kill Cafe in Seligman and then a pleasant drive back through this quaint little town. After breakfast, it was a drive through the little towns of Peach Springs, Truxton, and Valentine with a photo op stop at Hackberry General Store. We spent about an hour there just walking around snapping pictures of this quirky little place.
Kingman turned out to be an alive little town that was very quiet on this Sunday morning. We decided to park the car and walk around town. A great courthouse rewarded us for our efforts. We saw several trains pass by as we took pictures of the Hotels Beale and Brunswick.
While the first part of the morning turned out to be a mix of life and dusty death, it was in Cool Springs that I saw hope. After a ride on the Mother Road past beautiful scenery, we arrived at Cool Springs, nothing more than a stop at a general store. Inside we bought cokes and water for the drive and got a chance to talk to George who was the store's manager. Finding out that I was a probation officer George wanted my advise - was he crazy to have feelings for a woman who was serving time in prison? George told us that he met Lynell while visiting a former employee in prison. He said that over the last 11 months he visited her twice a month and that they were making plans on starting a relationship when she gets out of prison next year.
My first inclination was to tell him he was crazy and to run as fast as he could in the other direction. But, the look on his face as he spoke of Lynell made me think about how this relationship and his willingness to give Lynell a chance was much like the little dusty towns on Route 66 have been given a second chance. We chatted for about 30 minutes about second (and sometimes third) chances and how sometimes you have to take a risk, and how you can never except things for just face-value or you just might miss the opportunity of a lifetime. In the end George promised to keep us posted on how things progress. I wish you the best of luck my new friend!
The next part of our journey was over the Oatman Pass; every twist and turn of this road brought new and more breathtaking scenery. Sadly, I was very disappointed by what lay at the end; the town of Oatman was a schlock town! Garish, faux old west signs announced t-shirts, trinkets, and food. I felt like I was in a Bugs Bunny cartoon as men dressed as gunslingers shot it out in town and "wild" burros nibbled at tourists' hands looking for a carrot. Lunch was the only bright spot - I had a Navajo taco (fry bread covered with chili and cheese) that was delicious.
The rest of the drive into Needles was quiet except for a few comments about how disheartened Okies driving the Mother Road on their exodus from the Dust Bowl to the Land of Milk and Honey must have been when they crossed the state line into California - out of the dust bowl and into the dust! But, the journey is not over and there is hope as we settle in for the night in preparation for the drive across the Mohave Desert early tomorrow morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment