Ramona, California to Kingman, Arizona

Select a Travel Leg to review my plans for that day. Leg 01: Ramona, CA to Kingman, AZ Leg 02: Kingman, AZ to Phoenix, AZ Leg 03: Phoenix, AZ to Tucson, AZ Leg 04: Tucson, AZ to Las Cruces, NM Leg 05: Las Cruces, NM to Sanderson, TX Leg 06: Sanderson, TX to Austin, TX Leg 07: Austin, TX to Houston, TX Leg 08: Houston, TX to Galveston, TX Leg 09: Galveston, TX to New Orleans, LA Leg 10: New Orleans, LA to Pensacola, FL Leg 11: Pensacola, FL to Tampa, FL Leg 12: Tampa, FL to Miami Beach, FL Leg 13: Miami Beach, FL to Key West, FL Leg 14: Key West, FL to Cocoa Beach, FL Leg 15: Cocoa Beach, FL to Orlando, FL Leg 16: Orlando, FL to Jacksonville Beach, FL Leg 17: Jacksonville Beach, FL to Savannah, GA Leg 18: Savannah, GA to Atlanta, GA Leg 19: Atlanta, GA to Knoxville, TN Leg 20: Knoxville, TN to Lexington, VA Leg 21: Lexington, VA to Washington, DC Leg 22: Washington, DC to Baltimore, MD Leg 23: Baltimore, MD to White Plains, NY Leg 24: White Plains, NY to Boston, MA Leg 25: Boston, MA to Bath, ME Leg 26: Bath, ME to Quebec, QU Leg 27: Quebec, QU to Montreal, QU Leg 28: Montreal, QU to Toronto, ON Leg 29: Toronto, ON to Cleveland, OH Leg 30: Cleveland, OH to Fort Wayne, ON Leg 31: Fort Wayne, IN to Chicago, IL Leg 32: Chicago, IL to Springfield, IL Leg 33: Springfield, IL to Saint Louis, MO Leg 34: Saint Louis, MO to Joplin, MO Leg 35: Joplin, MO to Oklahoma City, OK Leg 36: Oklahoma City, OK to Dodge City, KS Leg 37: Dodge City, KS to North Platte, NE Leg 38: North Platte, NE to Pierre, SD Leg 39: Pierre, SD to Underwood, ND Leg 40: Underwood, ND to Beach ND Leg 41: Beach, ND to Lewiston, MT Leg 42: Lewiston, MT to Great Falls, MT Leg 43: Great Falls, MT to Missoula, MT Leg 44: Missoula, MT to Kalispell, MT Leg 45: Kalispell, MT to St. Regis, MT Leg 46: St. Regis, MT to Spokane, WA Leg 47: Spokane, WA to Pateros, WA Leg 48: Pateros, WA to Seattle, WA Leg 49: Seattle, WA to Portland, OR Leg 50: Portland, OR to Grants Pass, OR Leg 51: Grants Pass, OR to Eureka, CA Leg 52: Eureka, CA to San Francisco, CA Leg 53: San Francisco, CA to Sparks, NV Leg 54: Sparks, NV to Fresno, CA Leg 55: Fresno, CA to Ramona, CA

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Expected Date of Travel: Wednesday April 11, 2001

Departing from: Ramona, California (my home)

Arriving at: Kingman, Arizona

Expected Mileage: 356.7 miles or 574.4 kilometers traveled in 9 hours 24 minutes. Planned route of travel is 11% on Interstate Highway, 0% on non-Interstate highways, 88% on state highways or minor roads and 1% on city streets. (Travel time does not include gas stops, food stops or any sightseeing).

Average Rate of Travel: 39.3 miles per hour or 61.1 kilometers per hour

Route Overview:

Depart my home outside Ramona onto California Route 67 north to Ramona.

In Ramona, California Route 67 transitions to California Route 78 toward Santa Ysabel

At Santa Ysabel turn north onto California Route 79

At Aguanga turn north onto California Route 371

At intersection with California Route 74, turn right (east) down Palms to Pines Highway to Palm Desert

At intersection with California Route 111 turn left (north) to Bob Hope Drive to Interstate 10

Enter Interstate 10 headed west to California Route 62

In Twenty Nine Palms, take Adobe Road to Amboy Road. Proceed north on Amboy Road to Amboy

At Amboy, turn east on National Trails Highway (old Route 66), cross over Interstate 40 continue through Goffs, Homer and Bannock before returning to Highway 40.

Continue on Interstate 40, cross into Arizona to Topock.

At Topock turn initially on to Arizona Highway 95 and then onto County Road 10 through Oatman continue to Kingman.

Arrive Kingman, Arizona

Comments

This is the first day and one of the most demanding rides. In terms of saddle time it is the longest planned segment. There is option to shorten the ride a bit without changing the end point, which would be to jump on Interstate 40 and pass up some of the miles retracing old US Route 66. I'm confident as I have covered these roads and they are generally in good condition.

The route takes me from my home through some attractive San Diego scenery and then up into higher ground around Anza. The route takes me even higher until I start an exciting descent to the desert floor outside Palm Springs. Across the valley to Twenty Nine Palms, known for its US Marine Corps base and the Joshua Tree National Monument.

From Twenty Nine Palms we cross a mountain range and then into the most arid parts of the Mohave Desert. My former employer used to use Calcium Carbonate that was extracted from this part of the desert. It is said that Patton trained here prior to the invasion of Africa in World War II. Just past the Amboy cinder cone and I meet up with US Route 66. This is one of the USAs most famous highways and calls up images of adventure and migration. The plan is to retrace 66 until I arrive in Kingman Arizona. The Colorade River, wrung dry by the use of Southern California, Nevada and Arizona marks my departure from California and entry into Arizona.

A stretch of old Route 66 exists off I-40 starting in the west at Ludlow and continuing as the National Old Trails Highway" through Bagdad, Amboy, Chmabless, Essex, Goffs and Homer. This is about a 75 mile stretch and it must conjure up what the early days of transcontinental auto travel was like at its worst. Of course, you need to be driving an unreliable 10 year old vehicle without power steering, air conditioning, rear brakes of any kind, get rid of the front disks and your ABS.

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State of Arizona CalTrans Highway Information Page

State of California Dept of Transportation Highway Closure and Restriction System

Historical Weather Data	Record Low	Average Low	Mean	Average High	Record High	Precip
Ramona CA (92065)	34F	46F	61F	74F	95F	Low
Anza CA (92539)	23F	36F	52F	66F	83F
29 Palms CA (92277)	38F	47F	64F	80F	98F	Low
Kingman AZ (86401)	28F	42F	56F	69F	88F	Low

Source: www.weather.com look for the Records and Averages area of the site.

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Rolling through but not stopping in Palm Springs, there is the Aerial Tram, Palm and Indian Canyon(s) hiking.

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve between I-10 and 29 Palms.

Roy's Cafe and Motel in Amboy, CA

Not sure if I will have time to visit, but here are some sites:

Joshua Tree National Park, official NPS site

Joshua Tree National Park, an unofficial site

Arizona Aircraft Spotter Page

AZ.gay, information for gays and lesbians in Arizona.

These guys inspired me to change my departure route and retrace this little bit of Route 66. Dave, Richard and Tony's Route 66 Trip of a Lifetime.

A gallery of photographs courtesy of synaptic and grey matter media of Whistler, Canada

Route 66 Motorcycle Rider Club in Kingman, AZ

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