Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Western Scenic Tour 2014, Day 3!


Mystery, adventure, intrigue, beauty, speed, passion, suspense...  Where can you experience ALL of these ALL at once?  On the 2014 Western Scenic Tour, of course!  
What a day!  Today consisted mostly of drive time, getting to the gateway to our next National Park:  Death Valley, via Lone Pine, California.
Our morning began with a powerful thunderstorm at 4 am in Williams, Arizona.  So much for our cleaned and dried cars!  But, better to rain at 4 am than during our previous day’s visit to the Grand Canyon, which couldn’t have been better.  The cool morning began with a continental breakfast at the Lodge.  We were all itching to get on the road, and I think it was probably the quickest breakfast such a large group has ever had!  We pulled out of Williams, and what a sight to behold!  Sixteen cars and 1 Harley motorcycle created quite a spectacle heading down historic Route 66 and onto the freeway.  Pedestrian traffic came to a stand-still and other cars paused in their traffic lanes to observe our colorful parade.  I am sure all the drivers and passengers in our group were beaming with pride.
We stopped for a quick visit in Seligman on Route 66.  How could we pass up this opportunity?  Seligman, Arizona is a Route 66 town all the way.  This delightful town retains all the flavor of the the old road.  A trip down Route 66 in Seligman is a trip back in time to the days when Route 66 was the Main Street of America.  
Back on the road, we had a spirited run into California with a lunch destination of the infamous Peggy Sue’s 50’s Diner.  Peggy Sue’s is an original roadside diner, built in 1954 with 9 counter stools and 3 booths.  It was built from railroad ties and mortar from the nearby Union Pacific Rail yard.  It is decorated with 50’s memorabilia, and the music of that era plays in the background.  The food was great and the service was awesome--they even greeted us in the parking lot and led us into a room that they had all ready for us!  As we dined, we observed people photographing and filming our beautiful cars.  How flattering!  
After lunch, we hit the road for Lone Pine, our final stop for the day.  We had a spirited run and as Lone Pine came into sight, something else came into sight.  Some beautiful, shiny red lights!  Up the line of cars she came, easing her way behind none other than??--the flashiest plum crazy Challenger, of course, driven by our wagon master, with his beautiful passenger--the author of these literary masterpieces.  We pulled over as the rest of the caravan flew by us with nary a glance in our direction.  We saw them fade into the horizon, and the feeling of abandonment set in.  We were left behind.  Silence was deafening, only broken by the slow, steady “crunch, crunch, crunch” of the highwayman boots digging into the gravel as she approached my window.  I hit the window control for down and stared at myself in the reflection of her highwayman sunglasses.  I never saw her eyes.  It was frightening.  After being educated on the hazards of exceeding the speed limit a little bit, we were released with a verbal warning.
Enough said.  We left with no ticket, but with a great story.  We drove into the parking lot of Dow Villa amidst applause and bows.  Teehee.  
We then proceeded to dinner at the Mt. Whitney Restaurant, and afterwards, our evening meeting.  Terry shared some of her tasty Lemon Moonshine, and Terry and Norb had a “penny jar” competition, which was won by Ken, who had the closest guess of the amount of pennies in the jar.  Thanks to Terry and Norb for planning these events!
Tomorrow, we have the earliest start as we meet for breakfast and head out to Death Valley National Park and Scotty’s Castle.  So, this writer is off to bed!  Good night!

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