October
6th, 2005 |
October
7th, 2005 |
October
8th, 2005 |
October
9th, 2005 |
October
10th, 2005 |
October
11th, 2005 |
October
12th, 2005 |
October
13th, 2005 |
October
14th, 2005 |
October
15th, 2005 |
October
16th, 2005 |
October
17th, 2005 |
October
18th, 2005 |
October
19th, 2005 |
October
20th, 2005 |
October
21th, 2005 |
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Wahoo! We’re in Cow-lifornia! Traveled out of Flagstaff
this a.m. and followed the old road around the southern rim of the
Grand Canyon. We stopped in Seligman and serenaded a bunch of foreign
tourists on the street—funny how the overwhelming majority
of 66 aficionados and travelers are foreign. The town is totally
passed by on the Interstate, thus has much of its old road charm
and most people who live and work there are sustained by Route 66
travelers.
We dropped into the deep desert at Kingman and once again followed
the old road into the mountains, an old mining road that is a
definite throwback to the 19th century. Oatman, the main town,
subsides on tourism, and wild burros roam the street extorting
carrots and kettle corn from the people there. Gable and Lombard
spent their honeymoon at the hotel there...supposedly. It is a
place that you won’t find anywhere else. We played a set
and fit in like local ‘color’. From there it was across
the river to California and the scorched desert between Needles
and Barstow. Imagine the people who chanced and embraced the promises
of California, traveling huge distances, arriving to the Golden
State to face the most unforgiving terrain and weather on the
entire stretch of 2,500 miles that make up this storied road.
Alas, we are on our way into San Bernardino, we have a school
hit in the early morn and will make most of the trip to Santa
Monica tomorrow, leaving the last symbolic piece to the pier for
Friday, exactly two weeks after leaving from Chicago. (Just like
last year)
So much has happened since Chicago , it is as if we have lived
many lives and found many new friends that we will miss, look
forward to staying in touch with and seeing again. We’re
pulling in now, and we’re well-beaten from the grueling
trek today…we’ll check in tomorrow.
A reminder, (OK, don’t make
me beg here…pleeeze!): We’re out here doing this to
support JazzMasters Workshop, a no charge music-mentoring programs
for kids. Please consider a tax-deductible per-mile pledge, we’d
appreciate it. You can do it right from this site! Thanks!
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