One of the most amazing golf trips of my life ended two years ago. I played all 43 golf courses on Route 66 in 19 days while driving my restored 1966 Mustang. Oh, and I was in my 66th year!

Here's the quickest way to read about this adventure...and you will find it was much more than just a "golf trip." Click on the link below and then click on the link at the bottom of each day's wrap-up to quickly move to the next day.

Start reading here:
http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-trip-begins-saturday-morning-44-courses-in-19-days.html

And listen while you read:

Bobby Troup (the writer of Get Your Kicks On Route 66):
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLUYf6cekMA

Nat King Cole:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCYApJtsyd0

Asleep at the Wheel:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vifUaZQL8pc&index=3&list=RDBgeVx8QoVaQ

Diana Krall:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgeVx8QoVaQ&index=1&list=RDBgeVx8QoVaQ

Rolling Stones:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc8_Qs_y-xs

Today was the longest day of my Route 66 Trip. I started before sunup at 5:45 A.M. in New Mexico, drove the entire width of Arizona, and ended the day in California at sundown. In between, I spent some time Standin' On the Corner in Winslow, AZ, visited the Meteor Crater 20 miles west of Winslow, didn't forget Winona, ate a late breakfast in Flagstaff, played the most enjoyable round of the trip at Elephant Rocks Golf Course in Williams, and drove 159 miles of one of the nicest stretches of the entire Mother Road from just west of Williams to Topock near the California border.

I was out of the Hotel el Rancho by 5:45 to begin a long day on Route 66. I gassed up the first time in Gallup, NM and drove 22 miles to the Arizona border.

You can't miss the Yellowhorse souvenir stand. It is right on the border and there are countless signs advertising the place leading up to it.

Driving Route 66 in eastern Arizona often requires significant stretches of driving on I-40 because what remains of the old road is no longer driveable.

As I made my way to Winslow, AZ, I passed through Holbrook, AZ and saw an interesting mural on the side of Joe & Aggies Cafe. A few miles down the road, I saw the Wigwam Hotel in Holbrook. It is one of two left on Route 66. I will be staying in the one in San Bernardino, CA on Monday evening.

I was certainly interested in making my way to the "Standin' On the Corner" artwork at the corner of Kinsey and 2nd that pays homage to the classic Eagle's song "Take It Easy." It was pretty easy to find. When I got out of the car (and it was only 7:00 A.M.), Hotel California was playing. There is a statue of a man standing on the corner and there is a mural on the building behind it showing a reflection in a window of a girl in a flat bed Ford. Across the street is a pub or restaurant called "Take It Easy." Of course I used it as a photo op for the Mustang. 

My next stop was going to be breakfast in Flagstaff, AZ. But I kept seeing signs for the Meteor Crater and I had read about it Route 66 guides. It is six miles south of Route 66 but thought it was worth a stop.

The crater is too large to get a good photo from the observation decks. The crater was caused by a meteor traveling around 26,000 mph some 50,000 years ago. Its size is estimated at 150 feet across and weighed several hundred thousand tons.

The crater is 700 feet deep and 4000 feet across and pushed the surrounding ground around it up 150 feet. Pretty amazing and I'm glad I made the side trip.

Just for the record, on my way to Flagstaff, I didn't forget Winona (although there is nothing there).

I bought gas a second time in Flagstaff before my next stop at Miz Zip's. It's a diner that belongs on Route 66. It has been a staple in the city of Flagstaff since the 1950's. The restaurant is famous for its burgers and its pies.

Since I was there for breakfast, I didn't try either a burger or the pie. I had a very good bacon and cheese omelet with a side of hash browns and was capably served by Moe.

I was at the diner about an hour earlier than I had planned. I simply forgot that Arizona's time does not change like most of the rest of the nation and gained an hour when I crossed into Arizona.

So I did what I always do on my trips. I drove to Elephant Rocks Golf Course in Williams, AZ and tried to have my 11:30 tee time moved up.

Lucky for me, they were able to accommodate my request and paired me with a couple from Maricopa, AZ, Stan and Missy. We teed off around 11:00 A.M.

We had a blast!

Elephant Rocks Golf Course was originally a nine hole course built in 1920. It had sand greens up through 1990 when Gary Panks was hired to redesign the nine. He did such a fine job he was brought back in 2000 to design a second nine.

The course is in beautiful shape even though it gets a great deal of play. It was really crowded and it took us nearly five hours to play. There are considerable changes in elevation and the last three holes are as good as any three finishing holes on Route 66.

The ancient volcano rocks in the shape of elephants guard the entrance to the course and give the course its name.

Missy and Stan were both very good golfers. In fact, they met on a golf course. Missy was a blackjack dealer at the Flamingo in Las Vegas and Stan and a friend were paired with her. Missy likes to bet and Stan won $35 from her that day (which he insists she never paid). They were married less than a half year later.

We started talking about our careers and I learned Stan's dad had worked for IBM and that Stan grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY, once a hotbed of IBM manufacturing. I also learned Stan has the exact same ancestry as I do (Polish and Slovenian). No wonder we had such a good time.

Missy grew up in Chicago, worked at a casino in Joliet, IL and moved to Las Vegas when the Bellagio was being built. She can play golf and even birdied the second hole. And Stan had two birdies.

Their home course is Duke at Rancho Eldorado near one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Courses, Southern Dunes.

Elephant Rocks came through with a logo ball so the count now stands at twenty-three for thirty-four.

It was beginning to rain when I left the course. I was facing about an 180 mile drive to Needles, CA and drove through rain for the initial 15 miles. From Williams, Route 66 is both on and off I-40 until Exit 139 when it becomes the best section of road I've driven since I started. There are about 159 miles of the road which ends in Topock near the California border.

I bought gas for the third time in Kingman. The final 48 miles are white knuckle driving with many hairpin turns, steep inclines and downhill drops. I was going to eat at the Oatman Hotel and Cafe but it was getting late and I needed to get to the hotel in Needles so I skipped dinner.

From Topock, I drove on I-40 over the Colorado River and through the California Inspection Station before leaving I-40 about 5 miles into California. Needles is about 15 miles into California.

Tomorrow will be three rounds of desert golf beginning at 5:45 A.M.: eighteen holes at Rivers Edge Golf Course in Needles, nine holes at Tees and Trees Golf Course in Barstow and eighteen holes at Green Tree Golf Course in Victorville. I will end the day at the Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino, another 235 miles down Route 66.

The forecast high for tomorrow is 108. But it's a dry heat.

Day 16: http://logoballtraveler.com/1/post/2016/07/route-66-day-16-45-holes-in-the-california-desert-and-a-mustang-that-beats-the-heat.html