Day 1
Los Alamitos, Calif. to Winslow, Az., via Desert Mountain, Calif. and The Mother Road through Ariz.
Distance: 583 miles / 938 km
Olivia plays along for the CB radio photo shoot before leaving for an event before I depart.
As I left, I taught Lana and Zeke the way my Grandpa DeBacker used to say goodbye every time I left their house: Watching you leave through binoculars. Turns out it’s a long way for binoculars…
First stop – Eagle Mountain Mine, near Eagle Mountain, California. Eagle Mountain has always fascinated me. Deeded by Private Law (we used to do thousands of these! Bring it back!) 82-790 passed by Congress to Kaiser Steel, Henry Kaiser promptly went to work turning three mountains into three huge holes in search of iron ore. The ore was railed to foundries to make warships and all manner of steel in the post-war years. The mine is witnessing a revival as a rock quarry with billions of tons of overburden in mountain-sized piles and tailings that contain precious metals. The town hospital is also where the Kaiser Permanente business model was originally developed. Huge new machinery is being installed to process tailings and overburden to extract iron and precious metals.
After crushing, washing, processing, and magnetically sorting materials, custom-built shaker tables will sort precious metals from other materials by gravity in a stream of water.
Here, a prototype machine shows iron ore in a freaky porcupine wrapped around a giant magnet. The number of huge magnets in this facility is very impressive. You can wipe your phone if you stand in the wrong place.
Flecks of precious metals…
A newly re-graded mining road provides access from the town of Eagle Mountain into the mine, with billions of tons of overburden piled about.
In the bucket of a giant front-end loader… Back when I could wear shorts on this trip. It was about 103 degrees Fahrenheit while I was there… As I write this I’ve not been south of Alaska or out of the clouds and rain for the last two weeks… I miss these days.
Standing next to huge, chained Goodyear Tires. Possibly made in my home town of Topeka… [Holy Crud! Two days after I was in Eagle Mountain Goodyear agreed to sell the plant my grandfather and dad worked in!]
Moving billions of tons of rock requires big machines…
Gary and Christina at Eagle Mountain have always been incredibly welcoming hosts and good friends. This is a huge piece of infrastructure they have poured their lives and fortunes into to bring back to life. I wish them ridiculous riches.
After leaving the mine, I headed towards Winslow, my first goal.
The desert is vast… and hot… it was 113*F out in the desert this day. It’s in the 30’s right now as I write this in Northern BC.
And then the Shoe Tree. A former gas station…. imagine all the beef jerky and corn nuts once purchased here. This was cool. I had to stop. It’s right beside the Arizona & California Railroad right of way (see cars at left). An interesting railroad that I once represented. I got out of my car in the oven heat to take pictures, and then it struck me how weird this trip would be. I looked around. Someone put these shoes here. Where were they? And where are the people who once stood in those shoes? No one was around. The radio was static. No cell service. Not for the last time on this trip I said, “One more picture,” and then quickly got in the car. I joined I-40 at Needles.
Then to the Mother Road. Route 66. I got my kicks by exiting the interstate. I exited I-40 at Kingman and took the old Route 66 from Kingman to Seligman. It’s easy here to see why this drive could inspire songs and mass migration. Here, an access tunnel under BNSF…
Thunderstorms threatened, but rain seldom fell. Here, a rainbow, and the stock fence infrastructure that feeds America…
Rain falls around the Hualapai Indian Reservation…
Storms and the sky darkens…
And then, at the end of a 584-mile drive, La Posada. Another great piece of railroad infrastructure. The last Harvey House built. Check out the link. The first Harvey Houses were built near my hometown of Topeka, KS. A perfect symbiotic relationship: The railroad delivered passengers to the House, and the House provided food and lodging for passengers. The front door of the hotel faces the BNSF mainline. People came to La Posada by train, and so the front door is oriented accordingly.
Harvey Houses were renowned for the food. I had the last reservation of the night. The food was colorful and delicious.
A Viking’s Walkabout: | Prologue | Day 01 Calif. to Az. | Day 02 Az. to N.M. | Day 03 N.M. to Colo. | Day 04 Colo. | Day 05 Colo., Kan., Neb. | Day 06 Part 1 Neb. | Day 6 Part 2 Neb. to S.D. | Day 07 S.D., Wy., Mont. | Day 08 Mont. to Alta. | Day 09 Alta. (Banff) | Day 10 Alta. (Grande Cache) | Day 11 Alta. to B.C. | Day 12 B.C. to Yukon | Day 13 Yukon | Day 14 Yukon to Alaska | Day 15 Alaska (Coldfoot) | Day 16 Part 1 Alaska (Atigun Pass) | Day 16 Part 2 Alaska (Deadhorse) | Day 17 Alaska (Prudhoe Bay) | Day 18 Alaska (Fairbanks) | Day 19 Alaska (Anchorage) | Day 20 Alaska (Anchorage) | Day 21 Alaska (Tok) | Day 22 Alaska to Yukon | Day 23 Yukon | Day 24 Yukon to B.C. | Day 25 B.C. (Prince Rupert) | Day 26 B.C. (Prince George) | Day 27 B.C. (Vancouver) | Day 28 B.C. to Wash. | Day 29 Wash. to Or. | Day 30 Or. | Day 31 Or. to Calif. | Day 32 Calif. |