Get your kicks on Route 66!

I don't even know where to start. Today was just the day! Driving along Route 66 is pure freedom. I mean it. Whatever worries or troubles you have, whatever goes on in your life... Your mind is suddenly free, you take a deep breath and just live in the moment. I fear it's gonna be a long time until I get that feeling again. And an even longer time until I can come back to the States and back to Route 66...

Today's first stop was in Oatman. All I can say is... BURROS!!! Oh my goodness, these supercute animals were freely roaming the streets and came straight up to us when we parked our machines. Of course, they were hoping to get some food, which we unfortunately didn't have. Nonetheless, we could pet them and take some pretty neat burro pictures. :-)
We were given half an hour to explore this old Western town and go shopping. I came to talk to a sweet elderly lady, who was working in one of the gift shops. She was joking around about coming with us and I innocently asked her: "But how could you ever live without the burros?". Wow. She almost started to cry and told me there was a very special female burro, who came into her shop every day. She fed and spoiled her on a daily basis for more than

six years and it felt as if this burro was a kind of pet of hers. The burro got pregnant and was almost due, when a drunk driver hit and killed her. So now a part of her wants to leave Oatman, just because she can't stand being in the gift shop without her burro showing up anymore. It was heart-wrenching... :-(

Leaving Oatman, the Route 66 turned into a breathtaking, winding road that led us to an old gas station in Cool Springs. After another little shopping trip (there's gonna be quite a few today!) we continued our ride to Kingman, where we visited the Route 66 museum in the Kingman Powerhouse - so interesting! - and had lunch at "Mr. D'z", a typical American diner.
Our next stop was at another old gas station in Hackberry. The owner was super-friendly and joking around all the time. We had a blast!

From Hackberry on the weather turned from sunny and hot to rainy,

windy and cold ("cold" being "only" 30°C). If there's one thing I don't want to do, it is driving on an open field on something made of steel in a thunderstorm. But apparently, I did and I survived. ;-)
With the rain subsiding we stopped for today's last Route 66 roadside attraction: the world-famous Angel & Vilma's Route 66 Shop in Seligman! Oh boy! I've seen the famous barber shop on TV and heard stories about it, but I never thought I'd be in this shop myself, let alone sit in the famous hairdresser's chair! I was so happy to be there, it's not even funny. The majority of the two groups hasn't even heard about this place yet! How on earth! I enjoyed every second of being there.

Time flew by and so we had to leave to reach today's final destination: Williams, the gateway to the Grand Canyon. We were too tired to explore the city (and our hotel is located in the outskirts of

Williams, that means it would've taken us some time to get somewhere interesting), so we just jumped right into the jacuzzi and then had dinner at the Rodeo restaurant. Apparently, Williams is famous for its rodeo events - a fact I learned at the restaurant due to a gazillion pictures and a tv showing rodeo bloopers. ;-)

I really can't believe this day is already over. There are just so many things I need to process and I feel like I haven't got time for that. Tomorrow's gonna be a shorter drive, because we'll go on our first helicopter tour and afterwards explore the Grand Canyon by foot. As I already said a few times: it's just one adventure after the other and seriously, I wish this trip would never end! I'm the happiest person on earth!