Day 4 (Part 1) Route 66: Kingman to Cool Springs, Arizona

With a brilliance as it seems to do almost everyday in Arizona, the sun rises and illuminates our simple, comfortable, and affordable Motel 6 room next to Interstate 40 in Kingman, Arizona.

A non-rush morning for Bro Mark and I. We packed our bags and readied our bikes for this final day of riding Route 66 to the Colorado River/California border.

At least an hour ago, James and Bryan set out on their bikes, heading about 6 miles (10 km) east across Kingman in search of the bike shop possessing the essential tubes we require for our desert transit today.

(I learned later that James and Bry wisely stopped at the local Carl's Jr. and stocked up on breakfast carbs as well.)

Mark, Ben, and I walk across the motel parking lot and enjoy the cuisine at the local restaurant where we had supper last night. I enjoy my favorite breakfast of a large bowl of oatmeal.

About 9 am, James and Bry and tubes return. James bought a whole box of tubes. Ten tubes in all, I think.

I can't recall who exactly, but a couple of riders in our party decided to take the preemptive action of replacing a few heavily patched tubes from yesterday. I also believe James bought some of the gooey liquid you squeeze into the tires that magically plugs holes as they happen. Given the frustrating experiences of yesterday, this makes sense.

(In retrospect, these were good decisions. I recall a few flats would be ours for the fun of it today; but nothing like yesterday's extreme experience.)

So about 9:30 am we are seeking our kicks on our last day (of this ride) on Route 66.

Heading south out of Kingman we find our expedition facing a long haul, about 20 miles (32 km) across Golden Valley, elevation 2,800 ft.

For those of you who enjoy elevation data, here's our journey today:
Starting at 3,333 ft (1,016 m) in Kingman.
Traveling through Golden Valley 2,800 ft  (854 m).
Climbing to Sitgreaves Pass at 3,550 ft (1,082 m).
Ending at Colorado River at 500 ft (152 m).

So once again I engage the psychological warfare of cycling facing down at least 20 km (12 mi) of gradually inclining road towards the last major geological barrier of our journey -- the Black Mountains. (Which could have been named the Dry and Brown Mountains.)

I get a bit tired just watching this upwards of over 5,000 ft mountain range towering larger and larger as we pedal closer and closer. I believe fewer sights are more psychologically challenging than seeing a mountain range rising from a flat desert floor.

After a couple of hours of riding, emerging from a bend in the road, I come upon a place that will release the wonder and magic of Route 66. One of The Road's truly legendary sites.

Sitting here, alone in this desert, in the late morning sun at the base of these mountains, stands a solitary building as old and captivating as 66 herself -- Cool Springs Gas & Cabins.

I nominate Cool Springs as Quintessential Route 66. This establishment represents a beautiful restoration of Historic 66, as does it's history capsulizes the entire Mother Road.

In the early 1930's, just a few years after Route 66 was commissioned, the Walker family of Indiana built a gasoline station and restaurant right here on Route 66 ("the Oatman Road") at the base of the Black Mountains.

Smart move. What are the three key principles in small business success? Location, location, location.

Thousands of travelers from the west would be arriving from Oatman and Los Angeles and all points in between. They would need gas, food, and perhaps a place to sleep. And even back then, much like today, there weren't very many businesses providing those vital services.

And guess what else? There would be tens of thousands of travelers arriving from Kingman and Chicago and the American East Coast and all points in between.

Cool Springs prospered with these conditions and a lot if hard work. And from a counsellor's perspective I wonder if all the hard work (and living out in the middle of nowhere) didn't take a heavy toil on the Cool Spring's owners.

Apparently, Mr Walker moved back to Indiana leaving Mrs Walker in charge. Mrs Walker married Mr Spidel and continued operating the intense business which is now whipping out daily chicken dinners faster than you call say cockadoodle do. 

Eventually Mrs Walker leaves Mr Spidel. He continues to operate the business serving those chickens and pumping that gas though the depression years, WW Two years, and "America in love with her cars and roads years" of the late 1940's and early 50's.

Then came the first blow. In the early 1950's Route 66 was officially "realigned" (That is road talk for "moved") to pass through Yuma. Ouch. That cooled off Cool Springs several economic degrees.

But the big chill came just a few years later with the replacement of the "new" Route 66 with construction of Interstate highway 40. Very few travelers opted for the white-knuckle switchbacks of the Black Mountains anymore.

Still determined, however, Mr Spidel, with the help of his niece and her husband, continued the business. But a fire broke out in the mid 1960's and burnt the building down to its stone foundations. The owners walked away from the ashes. A tragic event, but not the end of the story.

For years, until 1991, the stone ruins shared the quiet desert and quiet highway. Then steps in Hollywood from stage left, right, and center. A movie needs filming. There's need for a desert scene in which a building gets blow up. So the set designers build a fake Hollywood frame around the ruins of the Cool Spring stone remains, and then blow the building to smithereens.

And so we have a scene in the motion picture, "Universal Soldier" (which I've not seen but am looking for a copy just so I can see this scene).

And once again the smoke clears and Hollywood leaves and quiet claims this spot of history. Until the late 1990's. A nice man, Ned Leuchtner, who has an appreciation for history and restoration, stops at these ruins for a brief break one day.

The spirit and magic of the place captures his imagination and pocket book. He wants to buy these ruins and breathe new life into them so they can tell the story of Route 66.

He makes many offers of purchase to Mr Spidel's niece. But she is attached to this place and doesn't want to give it up for sentimental reasons. Eventually she recognizes Ned's kindred spirit for the old place and they make the transaction.

See Ned. See Ned work. See Ned work for about 5 years.

See Ned. See Ned smile. See Ned smile in 2004 when initial restorations are complete and for the first time since the mid-1960's the electricity is turned on and the lights blaze and Cool Springs is visibly back on the map.

So on September 17, around lunch time, I find a first class authentically restored gas station and restaurant. (Although no gas is pumped out of the antique vintage Mobile pumps and no food is served in the restaurant-now-turned-local-history-museum because food service regulations in modern America are a bit steep for the goals of this restoration).

But ice cold Dr Pepper is served. So I give this establishment a 5 Star Rating :-)

After my life restoring Dr Pepper, and yet another cancer thwarting skin saving application of sunscreen (the sun is bright and temps climbing into the high 30's C / high 80's F), I pedal up and around the first of many switchbacks and into what I will remember as the best magic Route 66  offer.



Getting ready to roll on our final day of Route 66

Mark and Ben sleep walking to breakfast

Pre-trip preventative tube replacement party. Bryan is trying to untie his arms.

Train coming into Kingman. Riding Route 66 is a train lovers dream. We see at least a half dozen each day.

Gentle descent into Golden Valley from Kingman.

Bro Mark historicalizing for the camera. See those mountains in the background?
We will be standing at the Pass in a few hours. Funny how Mark never says, "It's all uphill from here guys."

What are Bryan and Ben smiling about?
They are holding Mark's bike. Perhaps that's a clue.

James historicalizing for the camera.

Mark and Bryan and James or Ben (in the distance) making their way across Golden Valley.

Mark and Bryan cooling off at Cool Springs.

El Capitano enjoying the shade. It will be the last we have for several hours.

Thumb Butte, I believe. Created by a volcanic core a bizzilion years ago.
Geologic history awesome around here. Once upon a time this place was all underwater. Then it had Lava Rivers.
Now a desert.
Proof positive that all you have to do is live long enough in one spot and you will see a lot of changes :-)

You know, some of these vehicles don't look all that old to me.
What does that mean???

(To Be Continued In "Day 4 -- Part 2" Coming Soon)