Wild Asses on the Colorado River: Route 66 Grand Wagoneer Road Trip Day 7

Kingman is the first major city that you'll encounter driving west on Interstate 40 through Arizona. Conversely, it's also the final major city in the state that you'll pass through traveling east on Route 66. Perfect for an evening stopover, Kingman is located along Route 66, I-40, Route 93, and Arizona Highway 68. Its geographical location provides access to Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada, the Colorado River, Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, and so much more. It's a modern town, with dozens of hotels, gas stations, and restaurants. Kingman is also the first place you'll encounter an In-N-Out restaurant while traveling Route 66 from east to west, and we were long overdue for a Double-Double. (Whataburger is trash … fight us.)

Leaving Kingman on the morning of day seven of the 2022 Nitto American Road Tour, we headed out through historic old town Kingman, which is home to the Kingman visitor center, museum, and gift shop. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we were too early to enjoy yet another Route 66 museum. Conveniently, Route 66 is the main drag through town, and it is lined with fantastic 50s-style diners and reportedly has a thriving nightlife.

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From Kingman we headed southwest on Route 66 to the town of Cool Springs, which is little more than another roadside gift shop. However, Cool Springs is also known as the beginning of the "Arizona Sidewinder," a road that is popular in the motorcycle and performance car world. Sitgreaves Pass, as it's officially known, covers 8 miles of Route 66, has an astonishing 191 turns, and employs no guard rails. We were forewarned about the four-legged asses that call the area home and like to stand on the road, as well as the two-legged asses who don't heed the warnings.

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At the end of the "Arizona Sidewinder" is Oatman, Arizona, a living ghost town. More a tourist trap today, the town of Oatman has numerous gift shops, several fine restaurants, and a pack of wild donkeys that call the place home. The town began as a small mining camp in 1915 and grew to about 3,500 residents quickly after striking a gold deposit worth more than 10 million dollars. The mine shut down in 1924 and the town was eventually bypassed by I-40 in 1953.

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The traveling circus that was the 2022 Nitto American Road Tour stopped for lunch at the Topock Marina, which is an extremely popular spot for boaters along the mighty Colorado River. It was here that we were informed that this would be our stopping point, as the team had arranged drivers for our vehicles and a trio of power boats to shuttle us to our evening destination of Lake Havasu. An afternoon on the Colorado River was a welcome adventure, as the outside temperature had hit 109 degrees, the hottest day of our Route 66 journey thus far.

Overnighting in Lake Havasu City meant that the next morning we would awaken to our final day on Route 66, which would take us across the state of California, from Needles to Santa Monica. While we were sad that our adventure was winding down, we were excited to be only a day away from completing a trip that relatively few ever will.

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