Day 9: The Mojave Miracle...Kingman, AZ to San Bernadino, CA (with a stop in Beaumont)

I thought about titling today's blog, "Mojave Madness" or, "Mojave Meltdown," but I've settled on "Mojave Miracle" for a variety of reasons. It truly is a miracle that we made it through the Mojave today! We started our morning off in Kingman with a dead battery. The cursed cooling fan thermostat was stuck and stayed running all night. A kind housekeeper from the Days Inn was willing to give me a jump, and rather than chance the battery charging and being fully functional the rest of our trip, I opted to just purchase a new one and stay on the safe side. We found a local parts store and swapped out the battery, along with a broken high beam headlight that took a piece of 2x4 from a passing truck.  Once these items were replaced, we were on the road! It was 90 degrees when we left Kingman at 8 AM.

On our way out of Kingman, we ran into a local hot rodder who was preparing for a 4th of July BBQ with a local car club. They informed us about "King man Rocks," a sort of "geo-cache" type of regional activity where people have painted rocks and have hidden them all over the region along Route 66. You'll see one of the rocks pictured below.

From Kingman, we headed over Sitgreaves Pass to Oatman, AZ. Oatman is a Western Themed town that has capitalized on Route 66, with Western gunfights that shut the highway down and today, on the 4th of July, it was the 27th annual sidewalk fried egg cooking contest. Participants have 15 minutes to cook a fried egg using only solar power. The yolk can't break and they are judged on most creative contraption and time. It was a hoot to watch!  After the fried egg contest, we witnessed the town gunfight, which was highly entertaining. Oatman is famous for the wild burros that roam the town...they are all over. The only drawback I saw to the burros was that the whole town smelled like a burro stall. But, what an experience Oatman was!

After leaving Oatman, we cruised through several other small settlements that are along Route 66 before reaching Barstow. Before Barstow, we passed through the Needles inspection station, and it was 115 degrees. The Dart struggled today...the climbs through the high desert really put it to the test. We pulled over a couple to allow the electric fan to catch up and cool things off, and then would hit the road again. Climbing a few of the steep grades, we just prayed out loud that we would be safe and make it...and we did! I have been pretty confident in the Dart's performance until today. Today's intense heat had me wondering if we were going to be 200 miles short of our goal. So...the fact that we made it out of the Mojave is truly a miracle!

We were originally planning to finish the route today and celebrate 4th of July in Santa Monica. However, after the intense heat and the extra time spent in Kingman and Oatman, we opted to swing off the route and visit my aunt and cousin in Beaumont, CA. We took in a local fireworks show with them and enjoyed some time visiting. Another cousin happens to be here from Alaska, so it's nice to see family! We will stay the night here and then get up in the morning to head to Santa Monica after the work traffic settles down. Enjoy some pictures from day 9! I think I'm as tired as the Dart, so I'm hittin' the hay.