Addition

 

A muffler man + a sweet dog + a car picnic = fun fun! 

Hello, Mister

 Always a good day when a Muffler Man is seen...this is the only one in San Diego County, in Escondido. And yes, I have photographed him numerous times. Looking good, Mr. Muffler Man!

Quite the Catch

 

This Muffler Man is quite the catch because he is located on private property (technically) but is also right beside the very busy 405 Freeway in Carson (south of L.A.). Fortunately, he is beside an on-ramp AND I have the very best (and most patient) personal driver who goes out of his way to ensure that I get the shot. Yay!

Howdy!

 

Happy to have unexpectedly driven by this handsome Muffler Man this evening. I have photographed him before, but happy to see him again. (He is one of two Muffler Men in Tucson...)

Surprise!

 

HOW did I NOT know this Muffler Man was along the 405 Freeway in Carson?!? (For those not from SoCal, that's just south of L.A.). Not very good photos, obviously, as they were taken on the fly from the moving car, but quite exciting to all of a sudden see him! 

Big Josh

 

(Yes, that's his name, apparently!) He is, of course, in Joshua Tree. He is one of the most well-maintained Muffler Men we've seen...

Sign o' the Times

This muffler man is following the rules...unlike many people in the 'hood who seem to think they are very special and thus don't have to wear a mask. Grrr...

Muffler Men, Yee-Haw!!!

 It was a THREE muffler man day in Dallas, y'all! AND two of them are the semi-rare "happy half-wit" variety (not politically correct, but that's what they're called!). They are both at outposts of Ken's Mufflers.

 Here is the one at another branch of Ken's Mufflers. He needs some refurbishing...

 And this is the classic Muffler Man--and he's holding a muffler! He also needs some cosmetic work...

Three in one city! Woot!

Route 66 Road Trip Day 10: Homeward Bound

Kingman, Arizona, to Hesperia, California, then home (boo, but also yay!).

 Umm...why?

 On the road--a windy, twisty, two-lane road--to Oatman.

 We started off way down there on the desert floor...

 You climb up and up...and then wind back down to Oatman, famous for its "wild" (now exceedingly tame) burros. Allegedly these are the descendents of burros used by miners when Oatman was in its heyday. It is now a rather ticky-tacky touristy place...but the burros are very cute and quite sweet.

This burro did NOT read the message about staying off of the boardwalk.

 Fun with stickers...

 This is Route 66 west out of Kingman, one of the very prettiest drives, especially this time of year with the spectacular wildflowers everywhere. It is, in fact, a designated National Scenic Byway.

 All along the way there were hundreds of these stacked rock sculptures/cairns.

 This is a spot in the road called Goffs.

 Ludlow, where we stopped for pie (sort of good) and coffee (undrinkable, perhaps because there was a notice posted on the cafe warning of higher than normal levels of arsenic in the drinking water...).

 The world's largest fire helmet, in Barstow.

 Amazing amount of snow on the mountains in March...

 Muffler Man #10, in Mentone, in a yard with lots of stuff in it (it can't compare to the yard full o' stuff in Glendale, though...).

And so the trip ends...

It was incredibly fun--so many cool/wacky/beautiful/melancholy places! We hiked, we photographed, we ate ice cream, and we got to spend uninterrupted (relatively unplugged) time together. Heaven!