Out of the cold!

Yep - snow!

We leave Williams on Monday 25 February. It is very cold and things have frozen up in the RV. The external water hose is solid with ice even though unhooked from the tap; the water pump isn't working to enable us to access our water storage tank; the water line is frozen.   But ... it was worth coming north.
It is a beautiful sunny day with very little wind; great showers; all good to go.

The frozen water hose

9.15am - 32F.
We are heading west to Kingman, first on I-40, then we are going to take a detour of about 80 miles on Route 66.
At Crookman Rd (Exit 139) we leave I-40 ... driving Route 66! In the 7 miles since we left Williams we have descended about 2000 feet.
I track the temperatures as we go.

10am - 35F.  Driving through farming country on Route 66. Some livestock and fencing but barren and dry looking. The road is lined with advertising signs for Burma Shave.

Burma Shave was an American brand of brushless shaving cream. Its advertising roadside billboards first appeared in 1925 and remained a major advertising component until 1963 throughout the US. Typically 6 consecutive small signs would be placed on the edge of highways spaced for sequential reading by  passing motorists. The last sign was always the name of the product. The signs were in red and white colours.

The signs have all been removed from highways but recreations of sign sets appear on Highway 66 between Ash Fork and Kingman AZ  exactly where we are driving! I try to photograph a set of the signs but it is difficult from a passing vehicle. So I have downloaded a set so that you can get the idea!!

The only photo I was quick enough to take!

11am - 42F. Driving through Peach Springs, capital of the Hualapai Nation.

These photos are taken in Seligman on Route 66. The town looks as if it is in a time warp; almost empty of people (although I guess it is early on a Monday morning). Our travel book suggests that we stop in at the legendary Snow Cap for an ice-cream or visit Angel's Barber Shop ... but we continue on.

I  look up Seligman on Wikipaedia:   '1889-1891 - Seligman was established by the Theut and Moultie families. Both were prosperous slaughterhouse owners; Southern ante-bellum families who lost everything in the Civil War and the Reconstruction periods that followed. They moved west hoping to find a new life in the largely uninhabited territory of Arizona. They took over an area of Seligman Campsite from the Apache Indians.'   Hope that was just what you needed to know!!!

12 noon - 47F  Driving through Kingman. We are going to go east on I-40 for about 12 miles to a truck wash. The snowy conditions we have been through in the last few days not to mention the salt products put on the roads to prevent them icing up have left the RV looking pretty dismal and dirty. It's a good idea to get it all off.


Kingman is known as the heart of Route 66. In 1857,Lt. Edward Beale and the US Camel Corps surveyed along the 35th parallel to establish a new road west. This route was followed by Lewis Kingman in 1880 when surveying for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The first train pulled into the town of Kingman in 1883.


In 1926 a highway paralleling the railroad was certified US Highway 66.
After the Great Depression millions travelled US Highway 66 in the hope of finding a new beginning out west.  So that is how it all started!
Now faded motels and gas stations galore grace Kingman's Main Street.

There are 400 miles of Route 66 pavement stretching across Arizona including the longest uninterrupted portion of the old road left in the country, which is the road we have just travelled today. We are happy!

Now we are going south on Highway 95.

1.30pm - 57F. Beautiful sunshine as we head for Lake Havasu City where we will stop for the night. The external water hose is thawing out nicely. It is so lovely to feel warm again!

 The history of Lake Havasu City is a complete contrast to Kingman. It was founded in 1964 by Californian businessman Robert McCulloch. The resort city he built on the Colorado River was popular with the landlocked citizens of Arizona. However his real brainwave came 4 years later when he bought London Bridge and transported it stone by stone from England to Lake Havasu!
The bridge and adjoining mock-Tudor village complex are one of Arizona's most popular destinations.

3.30pm - 65F. We arrive in Lake Havasu City. Then the fun starts!!  


When we set up we find that the water filter attached to the external water hose had frozen and blown itself apart - we have a new one so Trevor fits that on. He then drops the tanks which we were unable to do this morning. Then we turn on the water, hold our breath and bingo - yep there is a burst water pipe. When the water is turned on we find ourselves with a flood inside, coming from .. the ice maker!!

By the time we figure out what is happening inside - as we are both outside - and turn the water off, there is quite a lot of water running down from the back of the freezer, under the couch and all over the floor. We then have a real clean out as we mop up all the water. It appears to be a small pipe which has burst. The ice maker is turned off. When we finally turn the water on again it appears OK. I guess Margaritas will have to wait!
The upside?  We find Ron's truck keys which we had lost when we were in South Dakota and had to replace. They had slipped under the couch.

What a day!We started off in freezing temperatures; now we are warm, we can see the lake, we have had a spring clean - we are ready for a drink!!