Flagstaff, Arizona, is the home of Northern Arizona University with a college town vibe and lots of watering holes. Follow 66 out of town and back onto the slab. About 12 miles out of town you’ll come to the Belmont exit with a Pilot Truck Stop and Mickey D’s on the north side or cross over to the south side where there is a great Harley dealer that went the extra mile to save my ass when the bike lost a valve guide. Or stay on the interstate all the way to Williams, Arizona, where you can go north to the Big Hole In The Ground Caused By the Eroding Action of the Colorado River Over Millions Of Years (aka The Grand Canyon) or make a stop in Williams still at altitude. Once you leave Williams you drop rapidly to the desert floor at Ash Forks and temps can get toasty.

Exit I-40 at the Seligman exit and then jumping on Historic US66 heading West through Seligman and some old by-passed towns like Peach Springs, Truxton, Valentine, and Hackberry, and eventually ending up on Andy Devine(US 66) in Kingman. The local combination Yamaha, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Polaris dealership is right off of Andy Devine on the frontage road if you care. Following that out of town on US 66, you’ll pass the downtown area to old Route 66. The old road to Oatman reminds me of the scary roads up in the Rockies that are narrow and twisty with no guardrails and a drop over the side that will make you real dead. Traveling over these very narrow eight or so miles of this piece of the original Route US 66 one thinks back to the travelers in the Great Depression and the overloaded vehicles overheating and breaking on this stretch of road.

We finally arrive at the historic former mining town of Oatman with wandering begging donkeys roaming the streets. FYI, The town’s old hotel is owned by the present owner of the Glenco Campground in Sturgis South Dakota, which he purchased a couple of years ago. Oatman is a tourist attraction with most of the stores peddling souvenirs and donkey food for the panhandling donkeys. Then it was time to head west on US 66 until it dead ends at AZ 93. This section of downhill road was relatively easier then on the east side of Oatman. Take a right and ride through Bullhead City and a left at the bridge built by Don Laughlin over the Colorado River into his namesake Laughlin. A great ride but twisty in places and can be cop-infested during the River Run.