Taco Loco (Originally post 3 Nov 2013)
Country

There is no easy way to get from the coast to the mountains in central California. All roads lead, as straight as a gun barrel, across the wide agricultural expanse of the Central Valley. The day after our family dinner with Blair, Kristen, Ewen and Lily, we let out east across the valley with the sort of mile eating determination that comes naturally to Americans, Australians and Canadians. The just settle down to it and get on with it mentality. The drive all Saturday to the Bachelor and Spinsters Ball, dance all night then drive all day Sunday to get home mentality. It takes training.

We climbed out of the valley on the narrow back roads high enough into the Sierra Nevada that we met a snow plough on its way back from clearing the pass up ahead. It was only a few minutes before we found the snow and the cold that went with it. Oh well, I thought, here we go again. With the road just ploughed and plenty of grit on the surface we pressed on cautiously, confidently, through Greenhorn Pass (6102ft) and dropped down into the town of Kernville near Lake Isabella, the road to the east and access to the Death Valley National Park.

The park was certainly spectacular even if the remoteness and inaccessibility that made it terrifying to the first Europeans to venture there have long since dissolved with the bituminous roads and the ever present park service. A detour to a high point on the eastern side of the valley named Dante's View was a high point in every sense.

Las Vegas is close to the east of the park and provided an easy and cheap rest day. The place is, if this is possible, tackier and sillier than it was when I first visited 32 years ago but, since everyone has been there at least once, there is no need to elaborate. For those who are Vegas fans here is a tip. Walk a few blocks from the Strip to 4632 S Maryland Parkway to a little taco joint just opposite the University of Nevada. Yayo Taco has way-out tacos like chicken with basil almond pesto and roasted bell peppers with balsamic cruda. It also has 150 beers on its menu and a goodly wine list.

Jo settled for a wasabi seared steak with black bean salsa taco while my extravaganza had yellow curry tofu, tamarind salsa and fresh greens. An interesting lunch and a couple of beers at Yayo will set you back about $20 so it is hardly a big night out and there isn't a slot machine to be seen.

200 km south from Las Vegas we crossed onto the legendary American road Route 66 for a short stretch. In fact, you can only drive on Route 66 for a short stretch these days. This road was for a century, until construction of the interstate highways in the late 1950s, the only road to California from the east. It was the route followed by wagon trains in the 19th Century and by Steinbeck’s dust-bowl refugees in The Grapes of Wrath. It was paved by work gangs during the Great Depression which made it a strategic boon during WWII and carried a second, post war, wave of immigration to California. It was made world famous by the Rolling Stones version of the song urging us to “Get your kicks on Route 66”.

Most of it is long gone, absorbed into other roads, but there is a short interesting section in Arizona kept alive by a healthy tourist trade. We ended our week with a little Route 66 nostalgia including an overnight at an original 1930s' highway motel in the town of Kingman AZ. We had the John Wayne room and the photo says it all!

Some old villages along Route 66 have a new lease of life as tourist destinations. One popular village is Oatman AZ about 50 miles south west of Kingman. We rode out to have a look and stopped to take a photo of the view along the way. I walked forward of the parking area to get a good view and came across a makeshift memorial garden where small markers had been raised and, no doubt, ashes scattered. The view was spectacular and it seemed to us a good place to remember a loved one and ponder the frailty of life.

Team Elephant is travelling well. We will have a short lay-over next week in Phoenix AZ to sort some administration then head for Mexico.