Route 66

30 August 2018

No sleeptalking cuteness this morning, but we all woke late, obviously tired from the long day out yesterday (I forgot to mention that we were cycling for three hours in total, but out and about for five hours, including the lunch and rest breaks) and the late night. Still, we were in no particular rush, so had a relaxing breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and checked out at 11:00.

Our first stop was to explore Williams in a bit more detail. Williams, as mentioned, is on Route 66, and was the last town to be bypassed (before it then became the Historic Route 66!), so it should’ve been fun to walk around for a bit. But Cornelia lost it in the very first store, having asked “Can you buy something for me?” and been told “The only way you can have something is if we get rid of something you already have, because we literally don’t have any space for more stuff.” She offered up one of her T-shirts, but when that was rejected (I’m not throwing away her clothes so she can have a toy!!) she started howling at me, demanding that I buy something for her “right now”!! As you will know, that didn’t work, and she continued to scream at me, eventually hitting me, the consequence of which was losing her Kindle for the rest of the day, which obviously caused even more screams and cries of anger and frustration.

Eventually I took her back to car with me, insisting Ian should go and have a look around the little town in peace. It is much more his nostalgic interest than mine. While I was taking her back, she screamed in my face again and pinched my mouth quite hard, losing a second day of her Kindle. This unpleasant behaviour was replaced with sobbing apologies, but as soon as she realised I wasn’t giving in, resorted to yelling at me again, before FINALLY catching her breath and calming down. These tantrums only last a few minutes and at least I know they will eventually end, but she really does herself out of some nice experiences! I (mistakenly or otherwise) decided to let her know (once we had left Williams in the car) that she had ruined a lovely morning during which we would have gone for coffee and chocolate ice cream. She was distraught, of course, but I think she understood the point, even though it upset her. She asked if we could go back, but clearly we weren’t going to do that, and soon enough, she was playing happily with a sticker book and singing along to nursery rhymes, as we headed back west towards Boulder City, our destination for tonight.

We needed to stop en route for lunch and, having looked at the map, selected Kingman as a suitable place. What luck! We parked up beside the. Visitor Centre and crossed the road to Mr D’z Route 66 Diner in all its pink fabulousness! It was a very typical “good old” American diner, and we enjoyed our burgers while watching the endless rail carriages pass by on the opposite side of the road. Luckily for Cornelia, her meal came with an ice cream, and as her behaviour was now back to her normal gorgeous self, she was allowed to have it. Actually it was probably a good thing, as the car thermometer had read 104 as we left the car!

After lunch, we looked at the old rail carriage that was on display in mint condition, and posed for a few photos, before trying our luck again in the Route 66 Gift Shop. Thankfully there were no more tantrums and demands for presents, so we had an enjoyable browse around. If we’d had room, I suspect Ian would’ve bought a few original vintage licence plates and the like to adorn the garage… he did find me the perfect plaque though… (see below!)

Leaving Kingman, we retraced our steps from a couple of days ago, along Route 93 North, arriving at Hoover Dam Lodge around 16:30. It was blisteringly hot still, and as they had an outdoor pool, we dumped our luggage in our room and went straight there for a dip. The water was chilly given the outside temperature, and Ian (who isn’t feeling 100%) only lasted a couple of minutes, while Bugsy and I played and swam together for half an hour or so, before reheating in the hot tub. We had the whole pool to ourselves, so Cornelia could splash and jump as much as she wanted!

Once out of the pools and dry, we had a quick but thorough play of Cinderella (acted out mostly by Ian and Cornelia) before it was shower time back in the room. We have a great view of Lake Mead from our room on the 11th floor, as well as the helicopter tour start and finish points, so spent a short time watching them take off and land before it was time to eat.

There are several restaurants in the hotel, as well as a few casino halls, so there was no need for us to go out for dinner. We ate at the perfectly-pleasant-but-nothing-special Big Horn Cafe, after which I tried my luck at the pokey machines and electronic roulette, this time turning $20 into $65. It’s just as well we don’t have big bucks to spare, or I could see myself making much larger bets!!

After a well-negotiated ten minute mummy cuddle, an exhausted little girl was fast asleep by 21:00 (hurrah!) and Ian and I are polishing off our beers that we bought in Vegas, before tomorrow when we are taking a flight back to Seattle.