Day 6: Canyons, Corrupt Charging Systems, and Car-Infiltrating Donkeys: Pushing West to Havasu
There is nothing quite like a 4:00 AM alarm in a national park lodge, but when the payoff is watching the world wake up over the South Rim, you don’t complain. Yesterday was a massive, cross-desert haul filled with bittersweet logistics, blistering triple-digit heat, aggressive wildlife, and a bizarre piece of British engineering hidden deep in the Arizona desert.
Here is how we conquered the run from the Grand Canyon to Lake Havasu City.
The Morning Log: 5:00 AM Majesty and Hard Calls
True to her word, Melissa had us up in the pitch black. We packed up our gear at the Aspen Lodge and made a break for Mather Point. The park shuttle buses weren’t running, but the short trek on our own was worth every second. Standing on the edge of the rim as the first rays of crimson light spilled over the canyon walls was deeply majestic—a perfect, quiet reminder of why we put ourselves through the grueling miles.
After soaking in the view, we grabbed a hearty breakfast at the main lodge with our friends, the Petersons, before saddling up.
Our first destination of the morning was Williams, Arizona—a gorgeous historic town established in 1881 that holds a unique title: it was the very last Route 66 town to be completely bypassed by Interstate 40 back on October 13, 1984.
While exploring Williams, we finally got the official word from Grand Canyon Harley-Davidson regarding Blake’s broken bike. The service department let us know they won’t work on Harleys built in the year 2000 or older. With our repair options exhausted on the road, we made the call to hand the bike over to a local cycle shop to have it safely crated and shipped straight back to my house. Blake is officially a passenger in the rental car for the rest of the leg, but the dream isn’t dead—we’re already talking about hunting down a replacement ride when we hit Las Vegas!
Mustard Gags and 115°F Mojave Realities
Kicking the stands up, we rolled into Seligman and pulled over at the legendary Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In. This place has been serving up burgers and practical jokes on Route 66 for 66 years, and it is pure Americana gold. Between the door knobs installed on the wrong side of the doors, the string that looks exactly like a squirt of mustard, and water spraying out of nowhere, it gave the whole crew a much-needed laugh.
[ ROAD CHEF REVIEW: THE SNOW CAP ]
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Location: Seligman, Arizona (Route 66)
The Atmosphere: A chaotic, brilliant shrine to roadside humor.
The Verdict: Go for the burgers, stay for the pranks. It’s a mandatory rite of passage for any true Route 66 traveler.
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Leaving Seligman, we hit the long, unforgiving stretch of Route 66 that cuts directly through the Mojave Desert. It is incredibly beautiful in its own stark, desolate way, but the elements were brutal. The thermometer on the bike climbed all the way to 115°F, blasted by a steady, blast-furnace crossbreeze.
We broke up the heat with a stop at the historic Hackberry General Store to admire their massive collection of vintage porcelain signs and ancient gas pumps, before rolling into Kingman to fuel up. While we were cooling down inside the Kingman Harley dealership, the lady behind the counter gave us a stern warning about the next leg over the mountains: “It’s incredibly curvy, tight, and watch out for the wild donkeys standing dead in the middle of the road!”
The Oatman Pass: White Knuckles and Wildlife Invasions
She wasn’t exaggerating. The climb up the Oatman Highway (Sitgreaves Pass) was breathtaking. It has a rugged, peaceful serenity defined by towering cacti, scrub brush, and wild sage. But with the blinding late-afternoon sun shining directly into our eyes, navigating the road was intense. It felt a lot like riding Beartooth Pass—rough pavement, zero guardrails, steep drop-offs, and punishing hairpin turns.
As we cleared the summit, the road leveled out into a spectacular desert sunset to our right. Behind us, Blake was piloting the support rental car with Melissa in the passenger seat. Melissa was so absolutely terrified of the cliffside drop-offs on the highway that she had her eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Suddenly, Blake brought the car to a sudden stop.
Without opening her eyes, Melissa asked, “Why are we stopped?”
Blake casually replied, “Because there’s a wild donkey just standing directly in the middle of the road.”
We rolled into the old mining town of Oatman to look at the famous local burros roaming the streets. While we were parked, Andy decided to stir up some trouble. He grabbed some food and shoved it through Melissa’s open car window. Smelling the treat, a massive donkey instantly thrust its entire head completely inside the vehicle! Melissa absolutely freaked out, creating a legendary road trip memory that we will be teasing her about for years to come.
Crossing the Haunted London Bridge
We left Oatman behind, caught Interstate 40 south for a brief run, and finally pulled into the Hampton Inn in Lake Havasu City after dark.
We specifically routed ourselves here to see a truly bizarre piece of history: The real London Bridge. Back in 1968, a wealthy businessman named Robert P. McCullough discovered that the original London Bridge spanning the River Thames was structurally failing and needed $1.2 million in repairs. McCullough offered London double that amount, bought the entire bridge, dismantled it brick by brick, shipped it across the Atlantic, and rebuilt it out here in the Arizona desert to put his newly founded town on the map.
[ THE HAUNTED LONDON BRIDGE REPORT ]
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The History: Rebuilt in 1971 with a massive ceremony attended by actor Lorne Greene and the Lord Mayor of London.
The Hardware: The historic iron cannons mounted along the bridge architecture were originally captured directly from Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Lore: Local ghost stories claim the bridge is heavily haunted, rumored to contain the spirits of 150 bodies embedded in the original construction. (Most likely just a wild roadside tale, but it makes for a fantastic night-ride story!)
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It turns out McCullough’s family was connected to the Briggs & Stratton fortune, and they went on to build entire master-planned communities across the West. I guess if you have enough money to build an entire city from scratch, you have enough money to buy a historic British bridge, ship it to the desert, and build a massive artificial lake underneath it.
We’re turning in early tonight, resting our sunburned arms, and dreaming of slot machines.
Next Stop: Crossing the Colorado River into California and making a run for the bright lights of Las Vegas! Keep the rubber side down.