GDB & Route 66
- Route 66: Ruins and Ghost Towns
- Road Trip! the First Part
- “I Can Only Do This Once”
- Goodbye to Mindy
- Hiking the Redwoods
- Art of the Ukiyo, the Floating World
- Highway 1 and Elephant Seals
- Route 66: The Mother Road, The Road of Dreams
- Route 66: California
- Route 66: Amboy and Roy’s Cafe
- Route 66: Arizona, part 1
- Route 66: Notes From the Mother Road
- Route 66: Arizona, Part 2
- Route 66: New Mexico
- Route 66: Remote 66
- Route 66: Texas
- Route 66: Classic Signs
So I’m off on the Great American Road Trip.
The purpose is to return Mindy to Guide Dogs for the Blind, and as I couldn’t get anyone at any airline to confirm that she’d be able to fly in the cabin with me, I had to drive her across the country. Trying to make the best of it, I planned an iconic journey for the return, tracing old Route 66 for as much of the old pavement that remains.
The run westward was a straight speed run. We left Saturday night, directly from Lawrence of Arabia at the Historic Artcraft Theater, which I as Canines In Action was sponsoring. Jon and I traded driving through the massive snowstorm all the way to Cheyenne, Wyoming, about 1100 miles straight through.
There I dropped Jon at the airport and headed west again. He flew to work in Nevada, reaching the state ahead of me.
We’re basically doing the biggest ride and tie, of a sort — I drop him off, he works, he flies ahead to where I can pick him up. We have that planned at least three times during this trip.
So I made it today from Cheyenne to Winnemucca, NV, about 800 miles, which isn’t bad for a day’s run, especially when one also spent the previous 24 hours driving or riding. Mindy is a perfect passenger, which helps. But that stretch of salt flats in Utah, where the road runs perfectly straight and perfectly flat for, I dunno, years? It’s like playing Desert Bus. And if it’s snowing, like it was today? It’s like playing Desert Bus with poor visibility. Hurrah for audio books! (That one was Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn.)
Tomorrow I’ll make the final run to San Rafael, where Mindy will go back to GDB. Then I’ll head south, pick up Jon when he flies in, and we’ll start the classic American Route 66 run.
I’ll be updating the map as we go!
Dear Laura, I salute your strength, and courage. I could not give her up. LLP Greta