Laughlin Tour 04-2000
By Richard Parrish
Thursday April 6th saw Ken Zittrer, Vince & Joan Mariola, John & Gwen Rigss and Richard & Jeanne Parrish set off for Laughlin, NV. Richard's counsel to turn off on Route 66 went awry and we lost the Mariola's. They were not to be seen again until Laughlin. Early in the tour Ken sent an S.O.S., "My overdrive quit working." The malady proved to be fatal and the rest of the trip was slower.
Janet Zittrer joined us in Barstow & continued on to find Vince & Joan. The group stayed at Janet & Ken's beautiful river front home "La Costa Lotta" and had a great time. A tour of the Gold Road gold mine was fascinating and we enjoyed a great dinner Saturday evening. Italian of course. Sunday, Mariola's and Zittrer's headed for home and the Riggs & Parrish's joined up with 8 cars from Harbor MARC for their Arizona Train Tour.
Carla Hibbard planned a great tour with the first day going old Route 66 through Peach Springs, Hackberry and a lunch stop at the Snow Cap in Seligman. We continued south to Cottonwood for the night. Those guys love to work on their cars and the motel sidewalk was an impressive display of Model A parts being repaired, replaced or restored. Monday broke bright and sunny with all the reassembled cars heading for the Verde Canyon Railway. A breathtaking ride along the Verde River complete with tunnels, high cliffs, birds and fantastic cloud formations. Off the train and a mad dash through Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon and Flagstaff , west to Williams. Our dash wasn't fast enough and we were driving in the dark with 2 cars without lights. Ain't Model A's fun?
Tuesday was another train ride to the Grand Canyon . The first visit for Gwen Riggs. A bus tour along the rim, buffet lunch and return to Williams. Monday and Tuesday nights were quite a worry with the temperature dropping into the 20's, but no freeze ups occurred because the temperature came right back up. It came up to 93 degrees the next day in Phoenix . Some scary times on the Phoenix freeway since one of the cars was acting up and we were traveling between 35 and 45mph. All that stress called for a cocktail party in Casa Grande that night. They're looking a lot more like Orange County already.
Toured the Casa Grande ruins Thursday morning, then Saguaro Cactus National Monument and Old Tucson movie studios. Another scary freeway in Tucson (same speed). Continued on through some fantastic " Arizona Highway " scenery to the town of Sierra Vista . Following day, toured the Queen Copper Mine in Bisbee on a small train. We were outfitted in hard hats, battery packs with lights, and rubber coats. Then on to Tombstone where the OK Corral shootout happens every hour on the hour.
Saturday called for a 7 AM start and the long haul to Yuma about 320 miles away. This called for another cocktail party and dinner at Shoneys. Sunday another early start and the final dash home. Highway 8 along the Mexican border, east of San Diego , is beautiful. A stop in Oceanside for lunch and a nice drive along the beach then we separated from the group at the 5/405 interchange. The old Tudor was finally able to break the 45 mph barrier. Home safe at 3:30 from a very enjoyable tour with new friends.
Picture Link.