Farewell 2005, photo by Harold Davis. View this photo larger.

Leaving the family gathering near Phoenix, we drove home. We hoped to drive back a little more slowly than we had come.

We took a detour along old Route 66 in the Mojave Mountains over Sitgreaves Pass. Part of the point was to visit the ghost town of Oatman. For the record, this is more tourist attraction than ghost town like Bodie. Oatman was gearing up for a big New Year’s Eve party with fake gun battles and heavily made-up “Arizona cowgirls.” Nicky was scared of the (tame) burros wandering the street. We got out of Oatman fast.

Here’s a photo of the landscape along Route 66 (the first transcontinental road) near Sitgreaves Pass:

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Coming down from the Mojave Mountains on the Colorado River plateau between Golden Shores, Arizona (a rather large retirement and recreational vehicle community) and Needles, California (a dusty town beside the Interstate), I stopped to photograph sunset:

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The next day it was onward into the storm front blanketing California and a new year!