Yesterday we took a drive to Kingman AZ. to do some sightseeing. The drive is about an hour and a half. How many people can say they truly saw "nothing"? Carol and I can. It is hard to see, but we are passed by "nothing", on our way to Kingman up Arizona 93. There was some construction for a short stretch around Wikieup attempting to re-direct traffic. When there wasn't construction, there were some beautiful rock formations and canyons. Unfortunately I was too much in awe to take pictures, shame on me. We arrived in Kingman and changed into our tourist clothes, first stopping at the Powerhouse building to get our bearings.
The Desert Power & Water Company powerhouse supplied power to northwest Arizona for several decades beginning in the late 1800's. From 1936 - 1965 the powerhouse was used for back up once Hoover Dam was completed. Once it was closed for good the state took the opportunity to make it into an information center and museums. The museums are split into the "Route 66" museum, and the "Electric Vehicle" museum.
For those of us too young to know the whole story about Rt. 66, it ran from Chicago IL. to Santa Monica CA. Over the decades there has been many items made to celebrate historic Rt. 66.
Route 66 was a major path out of the poverty of the dust bowl throughout the Midwest in the 1930's. The migration was so great that many families stopped along side the road or encampments, others drove out to California.
Decades later families were still traveling Rt. 66, mostly for fun. In the 1950's it was the "thing" to ride in a Studebaker.
This Studebaker was luxury, it had an air cooler to keep the occupants cool on the long drive. How many of you folks still own a Studebaker? Down stairs we watched part of an hour long video on the history of Rt. 66 in Arizona. Across the hall is the "electric vehicle" showroom.
How would you like to ride with Willie Nelson in his personal golf cart? One of several carts, along with an electric land speed record holder. 
You can see that there are some other special cars, like that yellow hot rod....it is electric.
Let me show you some real hot rods only the more mature speed demons can handle. Imagine zooming down the street/sidewalk at lightning speeds of nearly half a mile an hour.
Break time.... off to lunch, a place called Mr Dz across from the street from the Powerhouse building.
Be honest, how many of you out there were pulled over by a cop car that looked just like this?This cop car sits in the parking lot at Mr Dz Diner. The diner was originally a diner and gas station. The menu is a simple selection of hamburgers and hot dogs, with a choice of fries or onion rings. One of their big selling points is homemade root beer. Carol and I had hot dogs and root beer. Carol had the Harley Dog with fries and I had the Mac Dog. Carol enjoyed her dog with the exception of the jalapenos in the Thousand Island sauce. My dog had macaroni and cheese on it. It was cute that the fries were served in mini fry baskets, the larger baskets were guitars. What was cool was free refills of the root beer. Break over.
A short half mile walk from the diner is the Bonelli House. The Bonelli were a major community figure in Kingman. This is a picture of their second home, the first one burned down. It is suspected that the first house burned down caused by electricity, their house was the first house to have electricity. They had some luxuries not available to everyone. The reason for this was because of his various businesses ranching from ranching to a jewelry/clock store. The photo is the back of the house. From the Bonelli house we walked to the Railroad Museum. Only in America can you find signs like this...If you cannot read the lower side,
"no coasting vehicles" on city streets, meaning no skateboards as well. Again a short walk to the museum.
The museum is operated by the Whistle Stop Railroad Club. The station itself is an active stop off for Kingman. The club has three displays set up (H, HO, O), then of course there was the real trains passin' by. They have trains for all ages.
We left there and walked to the history museum. The history is as you expect, about history of the area. Once thing I didn't mention about some of the museums is displays about Andy Devine, on of the great actors, having been in over 400 movies. Andy came to the area as a child when his parents bought a hotel in town.
You may breathe easy, we are nearing the end of our day trip. Drove back to Wickenberg for dinner at the Oinery Hog BBQ shack. This little shack had meats that melted in our mouths...we will be back. The end is here, we are in our home for the night.
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