Days 14 & 15 - How things can change...
- Paul Mullan
- Oct 3, 2017
- 2 min read
Mr Dz Diner has been around for many years and hails from the old days. The service wasn't up to expectation but we didn't let it spoil our day... Frances and Jenni found a real live Cactus and that made their day!
Across the road at the Powerhouse Museum there is a section devoted to Route 66 including a new display and short video about a Mother Road pioneer Allen Bell which was worth a look.
From Kingman we headed for the hills and stopped at Cool Springs, the gas station that inspired Radiator Springs in Cars - the movie. In real life this station was been blown up in the 1992 movie Universal Soldier featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme. It was re-built but struggles to stay alive with three different vendors trying to run a successful business in as many years.
Winding through very different mountain countryside we find the western town of Oatman, with its wooden sidewalks and Burros wandering the street still captures something of old.
The mock gunfight might not be as real as it really once was but it served to give a feel of what it must have been like.
Slipping off Route 66 and along the i95 we arrived at Hoover Dam...
...to find there were no tours of the plant, so we moved on in to Las Vegas for our planned two night stop.
The events of that night will remain front and centre for our group. They dined at the Mandalay Bay Hotel after taking in a show and got caught up in the aftermath of the tragedy that is now USA's worst massacre.
Our day off in Sin City was full of mixed emotions but we breakfasted at the Peppermill, the girls did go shopping and the boys did go to Shelby American, both highlights of their own.
Austin's talk about the motoring guru's rise and his racing history was compelling and provided many new stories and the line up of Shelby's in the massive mod plant alongside was impressive.
With the second night's entertainment cancelled at the Mandalay Bay we quietly dined at the Outback Steakhouse and chatted with the Police who were clearly evident up and down the strip all day.
Their deployment was a show of presence to avoid any of the 43 million tourists who visit here every year not returning. Sadly this last 24 hours has brought new meaning to the term Sin City.
