Route 66: Williams to Kingman

Before leaving Williams we went to the train station in Williams where tourists can depart to the Grand Canyon and can also watch a cowboy and gun show with a midget shooting guns (blind rounds).

After leaving Williams the landscape changed pretty quickly and we dropped 1500 feet to the plains below. First stop was Ash Fork, a source of flag stone (and quarry), where the road splits in two one-way parts.

There were quite a few Burma Shave adverts along the road here before we arrived in Seligman, where the story of Wishman happens (brother Juan Delgadillo, who took ‘Make A Wish’ founder Frank Shankwitz under his wing as a 10 yr old). Here we met Angel Delgadillo, who is now 96 yo and only retired last year, at the barber shop, as well as his grandson-in-law, Mauricio. Angel was one of the main drivers to reinvigorate Route 66 after the Interstate was built and many of the business along the old route went bankrupt.

Juan’s Snowcap diner still operates and the ability to joke seemed to be a requirement to work there – both the man and the lady who served us were very funny (gave us actual straws, mustard was squeezed on customers, a banana was simply split, do you want ice… so a cup was filled and then kept adding). After enjoying some food there we went for a stroll in town. We saw some Edsel cars and the place where the Snowcap scenes were filmed for movie, a place on the edge of town and a real estate agent.

Next stop was Grand Canyon caverns where we had leftover lunch. The caverns were not opened – they’ve apparently been indefinitely shut after an incident last year where some tourists got trapped in the elevator going underground.

We next stopped at Hackberry general store which had metal signs rattling in the wind and a tabby cat sleeping lazily on a lounge. There were lots of prairie dogs on top of burrows along the way.

Another interesting place where we stopped was Antares Point petrol station, home of Gigantus Headacus, a 14 foot tall Tiki (Easter Island) idol head, where they had quite a few old cars on display – apparently cars that used to line the entrance to the caverns. There were also some spectacular dust storms in the distance.

Instead of going straight into Kingman we did a detour to Hualapai Park / cabins with very nice views (and also a sign that there was a bear in the area). It was much cooler up there too (37⁰C down in the desert, 25⁰C in the park). We decided to have dinner at the restaurant up in the park, which turned out to be a very good choice as the food was really yummy. On the way back the sky looked pretty threatening, with dark clouds and it was pretty windy too, with signs of a sandstorm in the distance.

In Kingman we stayed at a place called El Trovatore. The manager, Sam, told us some stories (that can be found online too, so maybe they’re true). Allegedly Pamela Anderson was arrested twice in this town (once for drink-driving, once for doing shots for Playboy without authorization); Jean Claude van Dame was also arrested here while shooting Universal Soldier because he drove at 120 mph in the city. Sam also mentioned that Kingsman is where B17s were stationed during and after WW2, as well as lots of personnel and that the Chinese built the railroad starting from LA, but they were not allowed in town so they built underground tunnels where they slept (and these tunnels were later on used to store alcohol during prohibition). Clarke Gable got married here and then stayed in Las Vegas for three months to wait for the investigation into his wife’s death to finish before joining the airforce as a pilot – until Hitler put a price on his head to be brought to him unscathed.

A short video mainly from Hualapai can be seen here.