Dear Folks, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, PART 4 January 28, 2004 February 13, 1952 continued. Outside of Bakersfield, California, we drove through Tehachipi, California, and headed into the Mojave Desert. There the scenery changed drastically. There were cacti and tall spiny Joshua trees all over the landscape. Other than that, it was a barren landscape with snow on the distant hills. Nonetheless we had to stop on the side of the two-lane road and take pictures of each other against the background of big cacti or bigger Joshua trees. We stopped at Barstow for what I had described as "a very poorly tasting lunch." I wonder if that was where I had that HOT, HOT enchilada?? The temperature had warmed up to 62 degrees even though it still felt a bit chilly. Leaving Barstow, we picked up Route 66 and arrived in Needles, California, around 5:00 and stayed in a real nice motel, the El Rancho that actually had an outdoor swimming pool. Wow! After we ate supper in town we settled in for the night ready for the next day. February 14, 1952. After some maintenance on the car we crossed into Arizona only about fifteen miles outside of Needles. We soon took a smaller road heading north parallel to Route 66 where we found ourselves driving through the most desolate countryside this side of a moonscape. There were only huge boulders and rock outcroppings. It seemed we were on different planet with virtually nothing surrounding us but rocks and the only hint of civilization was the view of the narrow winding road ahead. During that stretch of the road, we passed through several deserted old gold mining towns. One of them was Oatman. We stopped to look down the deserted main street of Oatman and we knew we were looking at a real ghost town right out of a Western movie, complete with weather grayed buildings abandoned and falling into decay and tumbleweed blowing down the middle of the unpaved street. The only sound was that of the wind and the faint whisper of the tumbling tumbleweed. We joined back with Route 66 at Kingman and as we headed east again toward Seligman, Arizona, we began to realize that we were in Navajo Indian country. Little souvenir shops lined the route advertising Navajo jewelry and we eventually stopped somewhere near Seligman to buy some of their beautiful silver and turquoise jewelry. Everything the Indians had for sale were so beautiful and there was no doubt but what every piece was handmade. Not long after passing through Seligman, Daddy veered off again due north. He told us that we were going to visit the Grand Canyon!! Of course I knew my geography and I had been taught how grand the Grand Canyon was, but unless you stand at the rail at the rim, look over the canyon and then straight down into it, there are no words to adequately describe it. It's like you're looking off forever to fix your eyes on the other side of the canyon. I can still remember my looking down into it to the bottom. I had to focus my eyes and then refocus them a couple of times more before I could actually see the Colorado River so far below. What a pity we didn't have color film back in the 1950s! It might have helped me remember the many vivid colors that I saw there. After we had soaked up our share of magnificent scenery, we drove back south to Flagstaff, Arizona, where we stayed the night and ate dinner at the Grand Canyon Café and went to bed shortly afterward.

Oatman, Arizona is not so deserted now. It's known for tourists and semi-wild donkeys, both of which wander by the dozens through the streets. You can usually tell which are the donkeys as they have tails. Ha! Vee, you are so fortunate if you bought Navaho jewelry back then. The real Navajo jewelry is sky-high, now, as are their rugs. When I first arrived in Arizona back in the mid-1950s, I had a chance to buy a beautiful. large Two-Grey Hills Navajo rug. I thought that at $80.00 it was more than I could afford. I could almost cry every time I think about that opportunity I missed. Faith