Chapter 275: Rushing on Route 66
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Under the persuasion from Li Du, Hans expanded the area of their operations. With that, there would be more storage companies for them to choose from.
It was nearing the end of July. After the heavy rains, Flagstaff once again returned to its warm weather.
With a back full of sweat, Hans found a new storage company. The location was in Kingman, a small city northwest of Flagstaff.
After having been free for a few days, Li Du commanded them to set off after receiving the info. Thus, the Iron Knight once again returned to the highways.
Kingman was about 150 miles from Flagstaff. With the speed of the Iron Knight, they would reach there in two hours.
"It’s a small place, brother. The population is only about 30,000, mostly white people. There aren’t many other races besides quite a number of people from the middle-east who immigrated here."
Along the trip, Hans explained to Li Du about the culture and history of Kingman.
"I know about this," Li Du exclaimed. "Allahu Akbar— if we respect their faith and culture, everything will be peaceful."
Hans shrugged and said, "Right, that’s how it is."
Kingman was in the center of Arizona, where Mohave County was. It was once thought to be the most barren area in West America; the landscape was wild and open, with little architecture.
It was due to these reasons, that some immigrants chose to live in Kingman.
Though it did not seem like a well-off place, the population was low. There was less job competition, so for immigrants that were lacking social networks after coming to America, Kingman was a great choice.
Many immigrants were tenacious. With their strength and knowledge, even a desolate place like Kingman could become a place of potential after their efforts.
To get to Kingman from Flagstaff, they had to travel on Route 66. The highway was about 2,500 miles long, and was famous all over the country, nicknamed the "Mother Road."
Route 66 started in Chicago, and went through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, cutting to Los Angeles and stretching to Santa Monica. Across eight states and three time zones, it was incredible!
As for the nickname, not only did the highway connect the east and west regions of the country, it had once saved the economies of the villages along it.
In the 19th century, Route 66 had just been a bunch of different roads for horse carriages.
In 1926, the American government’s investment had connected the roads together after decades of labor.
During this period, it had become the "Silk Road" of the Western World.
This engineering had created tens of thousands of jobs during a tough time in America, and construction on the road became a lifeline for the workers in nearby towns.
Many legends had spawned from this road. Hans told them to Li Du for the entire two-hour road trip, and time passed quickly. When Hans was about to stop talking, the city districts of Kingman had appeared.
Li Du looked out the window. The place felt like an ancient town to him.
Route 66 had penetrated the town and become an arterial road. Several rustic motels and gas stations were on both sides of the road, along with a multitude of antique buildings; Li Du guessed that they were possibly built in the 19th century.
He pointed them out to Hans, who replied with a laugh, "You’re correct. They are leftovers from the 19th century, national treasures now."
Amongst the old buildings, there was a museum, which was the Historic Route 66 Museum.
Li Du was exclaimed in amazement, "This highway is really popular. There’s even a museum for it."
Hans said lazily, "Of course, didn’t I’d just introduce it to you on the road?"
There were free parking lots in front of the museum, and Godzilla decided to park there. There were motels and restaurants around. Even the storage company whose auction they were going to attend was nearby.
Since they had parked here, Li Du went to purchase a ticket to tour the museum.
Since the last time he had been with Sophie, hearing her talk about the states outside of Arizona had changed Li’s work attitude.
Due to the nature of the storage auction business, treasure hunters had to travel all over America. Li Du wanted to learn more about the nation’s geography and culture while he was treasure hunting.
He was considering that perhaps, in the future, he could have a road trip around the western regions of America, or even the whole of America.
Although the museum was mainly about the highway, there were still quite a number of exhibitions.
Once he entered, he saw a bunch of manuscripts in a showcase.
"This is the manuscript of ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ by John Steinbeck," Hans introduced. "It was written in 1939, which he was then awarded the Pulitzer Prize for.
"The nickname of Route 66 also originated from it. Steinbeck was the first to call it ‘The Mother Road.’ Everyone started using this nickname after him."
Besides literary manuscripts, there was also a musical manuscript. It was a piece of work from Jazz composer, Bobby Troupe.
While driving down Route 66 to California, this composer wrote one of the most famous songs of his life, "Get Your Kicks On Route 66."
Through another famous singer, Nat King Cole, the song became an instant hit, and brought Troupe to the height of his career.
Besides literature and music, there were also other things relating to the highway in the museum.
CBS Station had once aired a television series called "Route 66," from 1960 to 1964. A television in the museum was replaying this series.
There were also some documentaries on Route 66. These could be recorded by visitors as long as they had a ticket, which was one of the ways for the museum to attract visitors.
Li Du burned some of the documentaries into some discs.
Before attending the auction, there would be lots of free time. Watching these documentaries would be a good way to pass the time.
"Where will we be staying?" Li Du asked as he packed up the discs.
Hans pointed to the south and said, "Neon Motel. If you want to properly experience the West, then you have to stay there."
The motel had outrageous neon lights on display; the whole motel was decorated with them. Although it didn’t look like much in the day, once night fell, it was an unimaginable sight.
However, the building itself was fairly aged. The renovation style seemed to be of the last century: rough, simple and practical, like the homes of cowboys from the West.
After Hans made the payment, they had lunch in the motel.
"The food’s pretty good, buddy. Neon Motel has been in operation for a century. They have been hiring cooks and waiters from the countryside since they opened, which has preserved the original flavor of the West."
As he listened to Hans’s explanations, Li Du flipped open the menu, and started laughing.