August 25th

We left our nostalgic motel (wow, couldn't wait to get out of there) and headed toward Oatman, AZ but first we stopped and had a great breakfast.

Loved that spicy Arizona breakfast. We headed out of our Rt 66 historic town (neat photos) and traveled along a really great stretch of Historic Route 66 toward Oatman, AZ. An abandoned mining town that left behind some wild donkey's. The town is so cool. You can feed the donkeys and they are so sweet. It was really hot and we had to leave the dogs in the car with the air running and doors locked. Wild donkeys consider dogs (canine species) the enemy and will stomp them since coyotes are the #1 enemy and there are many baby donkey's everywhere. The shops were very neat also. The switchback roads to get there offered spectacular views. On the way from Oatman, we crossed through into California and saw lots and lots of desert, mountains. It got to be 104 degrees. We headed to the Calico Ghost town. This was another abandoned mining town that is now restored to it's original look and some structures still exist from the 1800's. It was a great example (as far as we know) of an 1880's mining town.

Today we are happy to be in a modern hotel room in San Bernardino California. We hope to finish this leg of our Rt 66 trip at the Santa Monica Pier tomorrow and then begin our new adventures heading back east and seeing more things a long the way. Sad to say goodbye to Rt 66 but am looking forward to Colorado, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore if possible to fit it all in. Kelly likes to linger and Ray likes to keep moving. We have 3 weeks total and lots to see. We are calling it the highlights tour