Where is Gail?
RVtravel.com’s Gail Meyring is standing by a character that may look familiar to you. But, no, it’s not Snoopy! As we told you in the hint in issue 973, the statue is near where Peanut’s creator, Charles Schultz, once lived. It was his home for a short period during his childhood. But the area made such an impression on him he based one of his characters there.
So which one? Spike, Snoopy’s brother. You can tell it’s Spike by his whiskers that look like a mustache. If you would like to take a selfie with Spike, head over to the Subway restaurant on old Route 66 in the town of Needles, just off the entrance to east-bound I-40.
In the Peanut’s cartoons, Spike is usually standing by a cactus, usually in Needles, but sometimes in Bullhead City, Arizona, a few miles away across the Colorado River.
Spike once lived with coyotes, but they treated him poorly, so he moved to Needles. He sometimes leaves town to visit Snoopy.
One of Spike’s most famous sayings is: “Living in the desert isn’t all bad. There’s beautiful scenery and good conversation. Hi Rock.”
If you happen to be visiting the area with a real dog, head over to Spike’s Desert Dog Park. It’s big, with lots of grass and good smells for Fido.
Needles is mostly famous for being the first stop on Route 66 when entering California. It’s also famous for its frequent media attention as the hottest place in the USA, when summer temperatures can exceed 100 degrees for weeks on end.
If you’re in the area looking for a place to stay with your RV, head a few miles away to the Nevada gambling town of Laughlin, where literally a thousand (or more) RVers hole up free on any given night in a casino parking lot.
And to think that I traveled from Lake Havasu, Arizona to Pahrump, Nsvada in March, driving through Needles to get to US 95. When I do it this coming March I’ll have to stop and say “hi” to Spike – if I can find the right Subway shop.