Fleetline Fred's Route 66 Road trip: Viva Las Vegas. Day 9 on the Mother Road

Goodbye Arizona. So much for a quiet night in Williams, AZ. The Santa Fe line train drivers are a sadistic bunch, every train that trundled through Williams last night gave a long, loud, whistle to announce to the whole town that they were passing through. The 3.30am train seemed particularly loud. Hey ho though, We got through it, setting off towards Seligman and hopefully meeting Route 66 legend Angel in his Barber Shop. Angel is single-handedly responsible for bringing route 66 back from the brink and making it the fantastic journey it is today. We arrived at his place just after a coach load of tourists from Northern Britain, his shop was packed. We did manage to shake Angels' hand before he jumped on his pushbike and disappeared up the road. For a man in his 80's he seemed full of beans and enjoying life to the full.

Fred ouside Angels' place, Seligman, AZ

We left town shortly after Angel and left the hoards of Norhern tourists to buy their souvenirs and jump back on the coach. The next stretch of '66 is probably the most impressive of the whole journey. The mountain pass up through Oatman is amazing, fantastic views, massive drop-offs from the road edge, switch-backs and hairpins a-plenty. A truly brilliant ride.

Fred on the Oatman pass

And again

And one more.

Through Oatman and down onto the Colorado River valley in Needles, we left 66 behind us and headed north towards Vegas. A quick detour out to the Hoover Dam was pretty cool, impressive engineering always turns a bears' head.