Day 31 - America's Main Street.

As we sit here in our modern hotel with a room overlooking the mighty Pacific Ocean we are overwhelmed with the thought that we are home. Yes we still have the 400 mile trip to get to our condo, our couch, our TV, our bed and of course, our cat, but California really is home for us.

Beth was born on the San Francisco Peninsula and, although I was born outside of Chicago, where we began this crazy journey, my family moved from Illinois to California when I was 3 months old, so I've never known anything but this.

As you travel Route 66, The Mother Road, America's Main Street, you can't help but think about all those that traveled this road throughout the last century in a quest for a better life. We had watched "The Grapes of Wrath" before our trip and so many times as we were driving the old road we thought about that family in the Steinbeck novel and how hard, and HOT, it must have been in that old rickety truck they traveled in, with all their possessions tied to the roof and the hood. What a journey that would have been.

We also talked, many times, about what it would have been like to travel over the same terrain in a covered wagon and I always joked, "Well for starters, I'd stay in the slow lane". But the fact remains, we traveled in style and we traveled for adventure not because of necessity. In our little "spaceship", the Chrysler 300, we have had the benefit and the blessing of luxuries and technology that Steinbeck's family could only dream of.

I also couldn't help but think about the parallels of this journey and the journey that my mother and father made in 1963. My dad came to California for work and they packed up the kids, left Illinois and came to a new life here on the coast. What a pleasure it has been to go back to Illinois, see the old house I was born in, the small town my mom grew up in, and meet people that actually knew my family, my Great Grandfather Tipp and even my Great Great Grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Meade.

All too often, as an adult, I have made fun of "the fly-over states", the states you fly over when you travel between California and New York. All along the way we met people that were kind and took time to meet you, greet you, and in many cases assure that your memory of "their neck of the woods" would be a great one.

Route 66 is an intoxicating drug. There is an allure to it that is unmistakable. You drive it and you look back over your shoulder and,  in almost every instance, you want to drive it again. (Although the bumpy parts of the CA desert with a headache are pretty tough). And, you CAN'T see it all. So many times in the past weeks we would drive by something and say, "put that on the list" of things to see on our next trip.

We'll make this journey again and the one thing that Beth and I can both wholeheartedly tell you is this, make a point to get out there. See a bit more of the country that is not in your comfort zone. Stop at the smaller diners and make a point to say hi and introduce yourself. You'll meet some great people, you'll hear some amazing stories and you'll create memories that will last forever.

Oh, and one other thing… take a few photos, because you'll want to tell your story to others as well.

Day 30 - The Road ends at Dan Rice.

The day has finally come. The final day of our "drive". We will arrive at the Pier today for sure. As we were packing the car, which, by the way I'm getting really good at by now, Kumar came up to us to chat. Kumar's family bought the San Bernardino Wigwam hotel about 7 years ago. He told us that the drive to the pier would take us about 5 hours. He was almost dead on. You have to remember that the distance was only about 70 miles but you have to take into consideration LA traffic and the fact that you are driving on city streets the whole way. Well, that and, you'll PROBABLY stop to take some photos, which we did, on occasion.

The first thing we did, as usual, was a bit of backtracking. We headed back a bit to the McDonalds Museum in San Bernadino. It sits on Route 66 at the location of the very first McDonalds. It is a mixture of McDonalds and Route 66 Memorabilia. Its a very low key, mostly unorganized and free.

Leaving San Bernardino you head into the Fontana, Claremont, Uplands area of Route 66. In this area they have really embraced their Route 66 heritage. Some would say that its because they have nothing else to talk about but no matter the reason, they show a lot of spirit for the road.

Fair Oaks Pharmacy is on a corner where the LA Route 66 took a turn at one point.  The exact path thru the LA area for Route 66 is NOT EASY to find or to follow and many other resources cover it better then we could here. Which leads you into a real interesting controversy concerning the exact end of the road in LA.

Nearly the most expensive gas of the trip except for the middle of the California desert.

As we approached the 405 we stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. This was the first place that we had to ask for a key just to use a restroom. Definately a difference in "hospitality" than we saw on the rest of the trip.

We parked our car at the hotel and unloaded. We chose a nicer hotel then the ones we had been staying at for the rest of the trip and yet... it was the smallest room we had the whole trip, it was nearly the most expensive of the trip, with the exception of the room on Michigan Ave in Chicago, and it was the first hotel on the trip that wanted to charge us for internet access and parking. Even the Munger Moss in Lebenon Missouri had free wifi.

Back in Paris Springs, when we met Gary Turner, Gary made sure to tell us, and drill into us the importance of finding Dan Rice once we got to the Santa Monica Pier. Dan, and his wife Jessica, runs a t-shirt concessions stand on the end of Route 66 and you have no idea how loaded that statement is.

First of all to call what Dan does "running a t-shirt concession" is like discribing Bono as a "song writer". Dan sells t-shirts... YES, but Dan sells T-shirts of his own design and will gladly tell you the story of how a couple years ago, as he took a buddy of his down Route 66 that he tried to find just one t-shirt that was made in America. 

He couldn't.

Dan, in a nutshell decided to try his hand at going into business making Route 66 apparel that is all American made. In 8 days of "sales meetings" (driving the road and stopping in on the best establishments) he had enough pre-orders to launch a new business.

Secondly, to even call the pier the end of Route 66 you have to credit Dan Rice. Dan is responsible for making the city of Santa Monica even acknowlege that Route 66 was worth promoting anymore. When he petitioned to get a vendor cart on the pier selling Route 66 stuff, they turned him down and told him that Route 66 doesn't even exist anymore and it didn't even end at the pier.

Lets just say, Dan knows history, he knows politics, he knows federal regulations for defining a highway, and he is PASSIONATE about this old road. The city of Santa Monica now recognizes Route 66 BECAUSE of Dan Rice. Go Dan!!

I think we took about 90 minutes of Dan's time, way more than was fair at the end of a long weekend of "Preaching the Road" to passers by, but what a joy. I now know why Gary Turner was so emphatic about making sure we met Dan when we arived.

Dan and Jessica, if you are reading this please contact us and let us know. It was such a pleasure to meet you and talk. And one more thing Dan... "DO TOURS!!!"

If you ever get a chance to travel the road with Dan... DO IT! Dan went on and on telling us stories of the road, places to see, people to meet, facts to share. FACINATING guy. A trip down the road is totally incomplete without a visit with Dan. (oh, and buy a shirt... they're the highest quality and made in the USA.)

We walked away from Dan and Jessica feeling complete... feeling like we had really truly made it to the end. Tomorrow, we begin our drive home to the Bay Area.

Day 29 - California has Wigwams too.

When we woke up in Needles it was already hot and on its way to being even hotter. Although we had coupons for free breakfast next to our hotel, we decided that since we had so much fun at the Wagon Wheel the night before, we would go back there for breakfast. As it turned out it was a great idea since, one, breakfast was great but two, we got to meet Mike, Susan's husband, and other owner of the Wagon Wheel.

Before we left town we headed back to a landmark that we had missed as we drove into town the day before. We've done a lot of this backtracking on the trip. Two miles here, 4 miles there, many times more than that. It really adds up after a month of driving. But the old wagon with "Needles" on it looked cool in the photo that we had seen at the Wagon Wheel so we got the directions to where it was from Mike and headed back that way.

There are definitely portions of 66 that are long gone in California but there are some real jems left too. We decided that today we would mostly keep to the old road. Heading out of Needles we took the 95 exit north toward Las Vegas and headed west at Goffs Road. This is an old portion of 66 that takes you to none other than Goffs California, known in the guide books as the home an old one room schoolhouse.

Goffs is an old railroad town with an old refurbished one room school house that was used in the early part of last century to teach the kids of the railroad workers. Like many Route 66 sites it was abandoned, fell in disrepair, and then restored over time.

As we walked up to the schoolhouse this old guy walked up and invited us in and he just walked to the front of the class room, sat down, and motioned for me to sit down with him. I didn't see an out so I just sat down and "went to school".

Another fun part of Goffs is that there are tons of old bits of machinery all over the place.

We left Goffs and got back on Goffs Road which eventually crosses under 40 again and heads south. This then merges up with National Trails Highway which you could call the prototype to Route 66. National Trails Highway was established in 1912 and we had some exposure to it before but today we drove on a lot of it. This next bit of Old 66 is a large loop that runs south of the interstate and it takes you toward Amboy, CA.

Amboy is nearly a ghost town but you can't have a ghost town if you still have a gas station and Amboy still has a gas station, and a post office, and all things considered, the gas is fairly priced. Amboy is also the home to Roy's. Well... its the home to the Roy's sign, a real icon on Route 66. The Roy's sign is a giant neon sign for a motel & cafe that use to be there. Its very photogenic and really fun to shoot. I'm not sure if it lights up at night but I would bet it is a real spectacle if it does.

At Ludlow CA the National Trails Highway comes back to the interstate and runs parallel for a while. Ludlow has a section of the road where every single building is either burned out or marked for demolition. Sad and unfortunate but very interesting views to shoot.

Just before Newberry Springs you come across the Bagdad Cafe. We have never seen this movie, but we will. It turns out that the French have a particular fascination with the film and apparently about 3/4 of the visitors here are from France. I will say this that there were 4 tables with guest at them when we were there... 2 of them were couples from France. I think the explanation is that there was a famous french actor in the movie. Bagdad Cafe was where we chose to stop for lunch. It was probably the worse meal we had had on the road and as we were leaving a huge tour bus was showing up and unloading. Could this be the end of the Midwest charm we had been enjoying during the trip. We're not sure.

After Bagdad Cafe comes Barstow. Barstow is a real Railroad town. What is amazing about Barstow was that Barstow has become the punch line to jokes about "being far away from anything" and yet we had already driven thru long stretches of the desert that were further from LA than Barstow and even more remote.

Beth had read about Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch in the guide books. In attempt to make some time on the road we decided that from Bagdad Cafe we would get on the Interstate, bypass the Bottle Tree Ranch and then backtrack from where the old Road crosses the Interstate again. This, as it turned out, was a waste of time. By the time we got to the Bottle Tree Ranch there was a family there already that we had seen at two other locations out on the National Highway. Oh well, so much for making time.

The group was what appeared to be a mother figure, an adult son and his niece. The niece was a photographer, the man was an ex news editor who had recently moved on and started a business doing videos for families telling their stories. We had seen him pulling out his camera at Roy's but I hadn't wanted to bother him and chat then.

We talked a long time about business, the road, video formats etc. before they moved on. I had enjoyed talking with him and since we were both on the same schedule I even briefly considered suggesting meeting up for breakfast but that would only delay us so didn't even bring up the idea to Beth.

Our next stop was the Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino. Yes... you have TWO chances on Route 66 and we may have made the right choice. The San Bernardino Wigwams had just been upgraded with new beds and new flat screen TVs. We met Kumar (yes, as in "Harold and...") whose family bought these Wigwams in about 2003. He told us that the Wigwams were a chain that had been built in the 50's and all used the same blueprints to save cost. Unfortunately Kumar's family suffers from being at the END of the drive and most people who wanted to stay in a Wigwam probably did so in Holbrook Arizona. HOWEVER... I want to encourage you to remember... San Bernardino is more than an "alternative" to Holbrook. Kumar's Wigwams are very well maintained and have VERY comfortable beds. Definitely give them a call or drop by. We had a pleasant stay.

Kumar also helped us find a great pizza place just down the street. We ate at Brothers which coincidentally is the name of a Pizza place we ate at with Scott and Cindi and the kids when we stayed in Tulsa. Pizza was great but we were tired and it was time to "hit the wigwam"... (seriously... how many times in your life do you get to say that?)

Tomorrow... we get to the Pacific!

Day 28 - 112 degrees is hot.

Route 66 is intoxicating and it has the ability to draw you into it. Today we were really happy that we let the road win.

We had fully intended to keep up with our faster pace to keep on track but we had a big decision to make today. When we got to Seligman we had to decide. Do we take the old Route 66 or the new Interstate 40. Luckly Beth had done some reading and knew we really would like Seligman. Frankly, we could have probably spent a day in Seligman. My friend Tad who wrote "Listen to the Rain" had told us we had to stop in at  Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In.

As is the case on Route 66 you let the road tell you what you want. I had NO INTENTIONS of getting ice cream when I walked into the Snow Cap... I'm so glad I asked for a scoop. You go for the food, you leave after the show.

The town of Seligman is dominated by the Delgadillo dynasty and perhaps one of the most important people in all of Route 66 history is Angel Delgadillo. Unfortunately Beth and I didn't get a chance to meet Angel and he is probably one of the main reasons that we will return to the Arizona portion of Route 66.

Angel has a facinating history when it comes to the old road. When the State of Arizona was putting the interstate thru Angel approached the officials and told them, "Route 66 is America's main street and the new interstate will kill America's main street and if the main street dies the side streets will go next". They didn't listen to Angel and very shortly after the interstate was completed they realized that state tax revenue was falling off drastically.

Knowing that something was wrong they approached Angel and asked what could be done to fix things. Angels solution was to tell the state to create the Arizona Historic 66 Association, put Angel in charge of it and to leave him alone and let him run it as he saw fit. Soon after the formation of the Association all the other states followed suit.

We just so happened to take a photo of Angel and Vilma's gift shop but we failed to go in and say hi. Next time, we'll make sure to make a visiit. If you read carefully on the side of the Green truck you can see their names on the door.

We stopped in Kingman for lunch at Mr D'z Route 66 Diner which has a really cool vibe and great art direction. Even though it was 1:30PM I ordered breakfast. They had great hash browns, just the way I like them.

Mr. D'z was an old building with new art direction and had a great 50's vibe to it.

After you leave Kingman the road turns into Oatman Highway and eventually leads you to Cool Springs which supposedly is the inspiration to Radiator Springs in the "Cars" movie. When you leave Cool Springs (after hearing all about the Claude Van Damme movie that was shot there) you take on the most windy part of Route 66 thru the high desert.

Cool Springs was once a stopping off point for travelers that had to make it thru the desert without the benefits of a Chrysler 300 like we have. They would arrive and rest up in small cabins during the heat of the day and then, when night fell, they would head out to cross the desert. WOW... I can't even imagine what that would be like.

As a matter of fact on this trip I  have become a bona fide gas user. We often will leave the car running at stops so that the AC will continue to run, I'm somewhat surprised we haven't had any problems with the car.

After the windy party past Cool Springs you come into Oatman. This town is like Frontier Land in San Jose use to be, but its all real. Wild burrows wander around on the road and walk right up onto the sidewalks. All over town you can buy a bag of carrots for a $1.00 to feed the burrows. Just don't spend anytime standing behind them... they DO kick on occasion.

Sometimes the burrows just don't want to believe you are out of carrots.

Oatman pours out of the foothills down to the Colorado river and that means CALIFORNIA... thats right, we're home, at least, we're back in California.

When we pulled over into Needles to spend the night, the temp on the car gauge... 112 degrees.

We went to dinner at the Wagon Wheel and Tiffany, our waitress, told us that the locals don't even really consider 112 to be all that hot... Many talk about the 128 degree days and Tiffany claims it has been over 130. The internet on the other hand says the hottest day on record is 125... I don't care... I don't really want to experience anything over 112 again.

We had a nice chat with Susan, the woman who owns The Wagon Wheel. I got to give her a tour of the iPhone and what that's all about and we even gave her a little lesson in how to white balance your camera to shoot interiors of her resturant. we'll have to watch and wait and see if the input helped...

http://www.wagonwheelneedles.com/

Oh, by the way, the food was great and the company was awesome... we'd go back there anytime.

Check it out when you are in town.

Day 27 - Winona is small.

For some reason there are a lot of dinosaurs in Holbrook... you can't leave without getting at least one picture... this tall one was at a Rock Shop or something, they have a bunch of them in the front yard and a sign that said, feel free to take photos for your personal use only.

We left Holbrook and continued to sort of abandon the old road. We felt bad but we really had to make some headway.

At one point we decided to get off the main highway and take a bit of the old road... I was navigating and I'm not as good with the EZ-Guide as Beth is. To be fair, as valuable as the EZ-Guide is, there are major problems with it. The problem is that to edit the book you have to take the drive and frankly it would take a LOT of time to go and make all the notes to fix it and make it more accurate and fix the bits that are missing. Oh and... what in the world does "Stay Ahead" mean??? Who says that?

I missed a turn and took us about 2 miles down a dead end that ran parallel to the highway. Oops.

So these bunny signs used to be all over New Mexico leading up to the bunny roadside attraction. The mileage markers are gone, (10 Miles to the bunny) but the "Here It Is" sign is an icon... You'll have to go find it yourself if you want to see the bunny.

Today was a bit of a challege because in an attempt to document all the cities in the famous "get your kicks on Route 66" song we have been working very hard to take some sort of photo or video at a sign for each of the cities mentioned in the song. The lyrics say, "Flagstaff Arizona, don't forget Winona...", well let me tell you something WINONA forgot Winona.

First off, Flagstaff is west of Winona so if you try to capture the cities in the order of the song you are gonna have to backtrack to Winona. Ok thats problem one. Problem two?? Winona has no "town" at all... there is a colleciton of homes and some assorted buildings but the only SIGN that says Winona is basically on the off ramp.  Oh, we got it alright but we had driven down that stretch of road for 8 miles before we figured out that we had missed our only "Winona" opportunity.

There was a big fire right out side Flagstaff.

This old bridge was in Winona but had no markings or signage that said "Winona", we needed a marker for our video...

So we back track, which gets really frustrating after a while, we got the shot and we headed down the interstate to Flagstaff. At this point we are tired, hungry and frustrated so we decide to break down and go against our "no McDonalds" rule for the trip and we grab a fast lunch and get back on the road. HOWEVER... much later in the day we realized... we NEVER SHOT A FLAGSTAFF shot. Beth was really mad.

We pull into Williams Arizona, a cute little town with tons of fun neon and old motels. More than one old gas station that has been converted into something or other. We pick the Travelodge near the east end of town and we unload and nap before we head north to go see the big hole, most people call it The Grand Canyon.

I'm not gonna complain about The Grand Canyon but I will say this. I find it inherently difficult to swallow when you have to PAY to see a NATURAL phenomena. Think about it for a minute. I know what the first response to this complaint is. "Well they have to pay to maintain the park". Really? Why do we NEED a park? Why do we need a visitor center? To sell "I saw the big hole" T-Shirts? Better bathrooms? Better parking? Maybe something that is so far away in nature doesn't need a visitor center or a bathroom or a parking lot.

Look at how well and how successful Burning Man has been with no government agency to facilitate it. I know they charge an admission fee (which is also weird) but seriously. When does it stop?  Will a ranger come and ask me to pay a fee to take a photo of the moon on the horizon someday? Sounds obserd doesn't it. Now go back 100 years and try to collect a fee from settlers as they stand on the rim of The Grand Canyon. They would probably pull a 6 shooter on you and tell you to move along.

Now, all that "grumpy old man" stuff being said, the view was amazingly beautiful if not a bit TOO amazing. We chatted breifly with an old dude who reminded me of my brother in France and he told us that from where we were sitting we could see something like 42 miles to the far rim. That is beyond comprehension. You look down and you think are you seeing moss on the rocks but then you realize, "oh that is WAY down there... thats not moss thats trees and bushes. So to an extent... The Grand Canyon is too big. (hows that for "grumpy old man" insite?

A word about Williams Arizona. Williams is a good city to go see the canyon from. If you are traveling Route 66 it may be the best to go from. Its about an hour south of the canyon and you need to allow yourself time to get thru the fiasco that is the "park gate".

Since we wanted to be at the canyon for sunset by the time we got back to Williams it was dark. You could easily spend a day in Williams especially if you are like us and have a fondness for the old neon and nostalgia of the old road.

Back to the Travelodge and rest up for tomorrow. Things are gonna heat up.