Day 1 - Marin to Grand Canyon

For our second annual Mother/Daughter road trip, Lauren and I planned a route that would take us through some of the most deserted parts of the Western U.S. Hopefully we'll see some of the most interesting sites as well. We've got 6 days on her Spring Break, and we've chosen a rather aggressive driving plan, but we are road warriors at heart. We decided to take my car, since I thought a convertible would be a good road trip ride, even though Lauren really wanted to take her little Honda Civic. We had fun in the Civic last year in Death Valley, and it was a real trooper, but I had visions on this trip of the wide open road, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, all viewed without the inconvenience of a roof.

Day 1. We decided to just chew up the asphalt today and make tracks for somewhere interesting. Trying to get out of California always means a long slog on Interstate 5, incredibly boring but at least fast-moving. We headed south for several hours, then cut across through lovely Wasco to get to 99, heading east for the hills.

We had a very uneventful morning drive, except for the occasional bad driver, and decided to stop to change drivers and have lunch at the biggest dot on the map: Barstow. Ever been there? Picture sand, wind, no trees, barren monochrome landscape the same color as the brown, dust-filled sky. We found an oasis of gas stations and fast food eateries, and decided on Bob’s Big Boy diner. It just seemed fitting, somehow.

After an entirely UN-memorable meal in an entirely forgettable place, we headed back out on the highway - only to get stuck in a traffic jam. What’s this about? Stop and go traffic, never going over 5 mph, in the middle of the desert! Good thing we have that meal in our stomachs, digestion is something to keep us occupied. Where are all these people going? Is there a Spring Break special in Vegas?

Finally we make good headway through the rest of eastern California, Mojave was interesting in its own stark way, then into Arizona. Lauren really wanted to drive a portion of the old Route 66 (thank you, Pixar and the Cars movie), so we left the main road Kingman and put the top down on the beemer. By this time it was getting close to sunset, there were very few cars on the road, and we were able to zoom down the road past deserted little towns, imagining what a booming route this used to be in its heyday. We made a stop at an outpost called Hackman, a small museum and store where there was an incredible collection of memorabilia. We would have loved to trade our car for the little red Corvette out in front! Lauren made friends with Rudy and Jenny, the resident burros, with her offering of baby carrot snacks. Then we were off to finish our stint on Route 66 and finish the drive, in the dark, out to our hotel at the Grand Canyon.