Day Seventeen: June 22, 2010

It was good to be on the Mother Road again! We needed to put a lot of miles on today if we are going to be in Saint Louis on Friday to drive across the Chain of Rocks Bridge, but there is still much of the Mother Road to explore! We got onto the National Trails Highway in Ludlow and found a great little diner near the Ludlow Motel with a memorial to the mining days of the area. This stretch of Mother Road that winds away from I-40 is one of my favorites; even it is really hot all the time! We did a bit more exploration at Roy’s (there are photo ops everywhere if you look for them!) and I showed Rich our deposit at the shoe tree.

We got back on I-40 in Needles and crossed into Arizona. We made plans to meet some friends of Rich, Erin and Dallas, in Oatman. They live near Las Vegas, and had never heard of Oatman so it was a good place to meet and check out some more of Route 66! Just south of Oatman are some very old ruins, one of which still contains a visible gas pump. Rich really loves those old gas pumps, and I promised him we’d see a few restored with the glass later in the trip!

We arrived in Oatman just in time to witness a gunfight. It definitely wasn’t a traditional gunfight, but it was cool and the actors inject some humor into the act. All the donations go to charity, so it was worth it! We met up with Erin and Dallas and told them all about our adventure. They are really cool people, and Erin found out why they don’t like people feeding the wild burrows! We ate a very forgetful lunch in Oatman and said goodbye to Erin and Dallas.

No one ever gets used to driving the Sitgreaves Pass alignment! Rich and I talked about trying to navigate this road back in the 1930’s! We found two sets of "ruins" near the top of the pass. One had what looked like a pipe coming out of the pavement and another contained a small stone foundation. At some point in time, some type of business rested on top of that foundation! We stopped by Ed’s Camp to snap a few photos and dropped by Cool Springs and got to meet George Chicago. He is another genuine individual who is passionate about the Mother Road and has a unique way of documenting where all the visitors to Cool Springs reside. You'll have to visit him to find out what that is!

As much as Rich and I wanted to explore more of the Mother Road, we were pressed for time and had to get back on I-40 near Kingman. We stopped in Seligman so Rich could see where the revival of the Mother Road all began. It would have been a pleasure to meet Angel in person, but he was not out and about. I am one among thousands who wish to say “Thank You!”

The forest fire near Flagstaff was much worse than it was when Mike and I drove by a week ago. You could see the smoke for miles in all directions. It was getting late and we needed to push forward, but we made time for Twin Arrows and Two Guns. We decided to stop for the night in Winslow, and took a gamble that there would be a room available at the fabulous La Posada Motel. Our gamble paid off and as we pulled in the parking lot, we were both amazed by the utter beauty of the historic landmark.

La Posada is a motel that everyone must stay at, even if it is just for one night. The structure was built in 1929 and the train still stops at the depot twice a day! We ate at the Turquoise Room, a dining experience many critics believe is the finest in the United States. It would be difficult to argue that point. The food was fabulous and our waiter was friendly as well as extremely knowledgeable on the history of the motel and the restaurant. We took out the tripod and Rich took countless pictures of the motel grounds. Pictures just can’t do this place justice! Tomorrow we need to make it to Amarillo if we have any chance of getting to Saint Louis by Friday morning!

Pictures from Day 17

Day Sixteen: June 21, 2010

I actually got to sleep in today! I also tried to catch up on the blog today, but that just didn’t happen. I know I'm going to fall so far behind that I end up posting when I get back. I did manage to re-organize/clean up the inside of the Jeep. The outside is filthy but that is what it's supposed to look like after 3,000 miles worth of driving! I checked out of the hotel around 10:30 and picked Rich up at the airport. He was in a good mood for someone whose plane broke down on the runway in Hartford, got put on a plane to Atlanta that didn’t land till nearly midnight, and got up at 5 AM to make sure he didn’t miss the connecting flight to San Francisco!

The drive to Barstow was long and uneventful, with the exception of the hundreds of wind turbines we saw on Route 58 on the mountain just before descending into the town of Mojave. We settled into the motel in Barstow and grabbed a nice dinner in town.

Tomorrow we are going to take Route 66 from Newberry Springs to Hickman via the National Trails Highway and the Oatman Highway. We have a lot of miles to drive in just a few days, so we will be forced to take the interstate for long periods of time. Hopefully we will have enough time so I can show Rich a good sample of the Mother Road!

Day Fifteen: June 20, 2010

Today was a day of transition. It marked the end of one adventure and the beginning of another. Mike and I really enjoyed our stay at the Wig Wam, and I managed to find a few more photo opportunities before we checked out. It was time to leave the Mother Road and on to Forest Lawn Memorial Parks & Mortuaries to pay our respects to the godfather of heavy metal, Ronnie James Dio. Unlike the “dark” image he portrayed as the singer for Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and DIO, Ronnie was a Christian who was a strong advocate against child abuse, cancer, and many other issues/charities. Ronnie is one of my all-time singers (my nickname at ECS is…….DIO!) and Rainbow Rising is my all-time favorite album. Visiting his grave and saying a prayer was my way of saying thanks for the music. Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll.

The trip from LA to San Jose was long and boring. The journey took us through some breathtaking mountain peaks and then hours of straight highway with farms on either side. At least we got to go through Gilroy, CA. Gilroy is the garlic capital of the United States. We even saw garlic ice cream signs…..

I got a call from Rich just as we were entering San Jose. His plane “broke” on the runway in Hartford and he wasn’t going to be landing in San Francisco until tomorrow morning. That was bad news, but I assured him it wasn’t going to affect our adventure!

The time had come to drop Mike off. It was hard to believe that 15 days had gone by so fast. We had such a great adventure and met so many wonderful people and we now have so many memories that will last a lifetime. I drove north and spent the night near the airport. Tomorrow Rich and I begin the return trip (Dudes on the Mother Road Part II) in Barstow and will be in Litchfield by the 25^th for the Route 66 Festival.

Pictures from Day Fifteen

Day Fourteen: June 19, 2010

What a day. The traffic in Los Angeles is insane! Mike and I vowed never…….I mean NEVER to travel to and from Los Angeles between the hours of 9 AM and 6 PM ever again. It literally took us over four hours to get from the beginning of Foothill Boulevard in Rialto to the Santa Monica pier on Route 66 and almost three hours to get from the pier back to the Wig Wam! Talking about the stress poster child!! I could have been the spokesperson for Mylanta!

Although Route 66 has lost most of the old-time charm approaching Los Angeles, many cities along the way take great pride in their stretch of the Mother Road, and many modern signs/shields and businesses exist along with many former gas stations and many old hotels. We drove by the Sycamore Inn and found the giant Aladdin lamp at the Magic Lamp Inn in Rancho Cucamonga. Mike managed to snap a photo of the Madonna on the Trail Statue and a really quick photo of the Foothill Drive-In Theater sign in Azusa. We also took the earlier alignment in Monrovia to check out the vintage station on Shamrock Avenue.

Once we got on Colorado Boulevard, traffic really picked up and slowed us down. There is plenty to see on Route 66, but we just didn’t have the time or there simply was nowhere to pull over at each vintage motel/café to take pictures, so we decided to push on through Highland Park to Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards in time to make the pier and spend some time with Dan and Jessica at the 66 to Cali stand on the pier!

Jerry’s description of the end of 66 on the corner of Lincoln and Olympia is correct. It was truly unsatisfying. There is no “End Historic 66” sign like there is in Chicago. If one looks at the history of the western terminus, it changed a handful of times over the years. In recent history, one site near the pier did bring closure to the journey. Many people visited the Will Rogers Highway Marker in Palisades Park. It is an “unofficial End” of Route 66.

There is, however, an “Official End” to the Mother Road once again at the Santa Monica pier, thanks to people like Dan Rice and Jim Concle. Check out “The Story” http://www.route-66-to-california.com/the-story. We got to the pier, saw the sign, and thought it was great! Dan and Jessica were incredible hosts and are terrific representatives of the Mother Road. One can hear the passion of the road in Dan’s voice as he shares his 25 years of Mother Road experience. I had to buy the tee shirt Jerry was wearing when I got my EZ Guide autograph (I am wearing it as I write this)!

The drive back to the Wig Wam Motel was also excruciating. A drive that could take an hour and half took nearly three hours, even by taking the interstate. The drive was worth it. You MUST stay at a Wig Wam! The teepees are cool on the outside and the inside. The grounds are well maintained, and there is Route 66 ambiance everywhere. I cannot describe it in words……….JUST DO IT!

We were both hoping we had more time, as we would have spent another night, but the end of the “Dudes on the Mother Road” westward journey on Route 66 had reached a conclusion. Tomorrow we are going to visit Ronnie James Dio’s grave (RIP Ronnie) and then it’s on to San Jose to drop Mike off and pick Rich up for the return trip to Litchfield, IL for the Route 66 Festival!

Pictures from Day Fourteen

Day Thirteen: June 18, 2010

Well today was day thirteen of the “Dudes on the Mother Road” journey down Route 66, and the one thing that stuck in my mind was “HOT!!!!!!!!!” The desert in California is really hot. It is like Africa hot. Tarzan could not stand that kind of hot! I know I stole that line, and I know I am simply grasping the obvious, but did I mention it was hot today? It was also one of the great days of exploration on the Mother Road. Mike and I like ruins. I mean barely recognizable ruins, and we saw plenty of that today.

Needles is another town that has plenty of Route 66 history. We were impressed by the sheer size of El Garces. We decided to take the Pre-1931 alignment through Goffs. Goffs is a lonely place in the middle of nowhere and was a scene that Mike and I would come to recognize in other places on the road throughout the day. Fenner was the last outpost of civilization for miles, and consisted of a gas station/convenience store. While I was going inside to purchase some fuel (I could not fill the tank because we had to get gas at Roy’s!) a guy came running out yelling and screaming. He was running after a tractor-trailer truck that was leaving the parking lot………..apparently without him. I still wonder how that turned out in the end!

Now we were on the National Trails Highway. This is a very barren stretch of the Mother Road, but one that is full of history, ruins, and surprises!!!! We found Essex, Danby, and Cadiz Summit easily enough, and Mike did some serious exploration of the Cadiz ruins. It was a very large site and must have been impressive in its heyday. We drove through Chambless and made our way to Amboy. We snapped some photos of the Roadrunner Café and sign and made sure we left two pairs of “Dudes on the Mother Road 2010” sneakers at the shoe tree (though I believe we left them at the shoe tree whose trunk is damaged and not the “new” shoe tree closer to Roy’s”. If someone can confirm which tree is the real shoe tree, I would appreciate it!

We stopped at Roy’s for some fuel and a shirt and continued on to the tree that marks the former site of Bagdad. The site we enjoyed exploring the most was Siberia. We found an immense set of foundations and ruins on the south side of the road. Mike noticed that there were rocks lining the entryway into what was probably a gas station and other foundations which may have once been a café, as well as smaller foundation slabs that appeared to be cabins. About a mile down the road on the north side of the road we found the remains of a “modern” gas station, complete with the bay beneath the garage. It was filled to the top with old oil filters! This site also had the rocks lined up, and we noticed this same pattern along the modern road and other “dirt” roads that seemed to criss-cross the current road. Was this the original National Trails Highway? It seems that there were alignments dated to 1917 (known as the National Highway) and even prior to that (known as the Santa Fe Trail).

We found the remains of the Ludlow Café and the Whiting Bros station in Newberry Springs. We arrived at the current “Bagdad Café” but just weren’t hungry to eat. There is another detour east of Dagget that takes you to the north of town, but the detour ends at the intersection where the uniquely shaped former café sits waiting to be rescued. We made our way into Barstow knowing that tomorrow may be the end our western journey. The Santa Monica pier awaits!

Pictures from Day Thirteen

Day Twelve: June 17, 2010

Although we are still in Arizona, we mentioned the “end” of the journey for the first time today. There was still plenty of Route 66 to travel though, so were ready to hit the pavement early. As we crossed the motel parking lot for breakfast, we recognized a vehicle in the parking lot, and sure enough, Gene and his wife had spent the night at the same motel! It was great to see the reaction on the faces of some of the people in the restaurant. Two dudes in leather vests yelling, “Gene” as they got up from the table shaking our hands and giving us hugs. They invited us for breakfast, where Gene told more stories of their time living on Route 66 in Arizona. We also got our pictures taken together. That’s what the Mother Road is all about!

We had a nice drive through Flagstaff. It is a city rich in Route 66 culture. We found the last Bunyan giant on the west side of town and then headed toward Bellemont/Parks and the Brannigan Park Auto Tour signs. We found the entrance to the walking trail on the Post-1939 alignment and walked (hiked) all ¾ of a mile and back. We also found the remnants of the 1931 alignment. We stopped at the Parks Store for a refreshment before taking the Deer Farm Road alignment back to I-40 before making our way to Williams. Williams is a really cool place (Mike and I would have loved to stayed overnight) and is bustling with businesses selling Route 66 and Grand Canyon gifts.

There are signs of earlier 66 (some of which is now a bike trail) west of Williams as I-40 descends toward Crookton Road and Seligman. I had my heart set on meeting Angel, but there was no sign of him anywhere in town. Seligman was the busiest small town we’ve seen yet. There was a bus tour in town, along with countless other tourists in cars and on motorcycles. It was too busy for my liking. It is difficult to take in the experience when there are people everywhere!

From Seligman, we took old Route 66 through Peach Springs, Truxton, Valentine, and Hackberry, where we visited the Hackberry General Store. It provides many photo opportunities, and was a great stop before the stretch to Kingman. We ate a late lunch at Mr. D’s before taking the Oatman Highway. Our first stop was Cool Springs. We met the gentleman who did a majority of the restoration with Ned. He had some interesting stories for us! The road really is crazy after Cool Springs! For those of you familiar with the road to the summit house on Mount Holyoke (Skinner Mountain), that is nothing compared to this. The view at the top was worth it though. The landscape here is simply amazing!

Oatman may be a ghost town, but is now lined with every type of gift shop imaginable, and the burrows are wild but very friendly. We just had to watch where we stepped! There were also many ruins from the mining days on both the west and east sides of Oatman. The ride to Topock was uneventful and really kind of boring. Before we crossed the Colorado River into California, I showed Mike the Old Trails Arch Bridge, which used to carry Route 66 across the river. We decided to crash in Needles (we covered a lot in one day!) and continue the journey in the morning.

Pictures from Day Twelve

Day Eleven: June 16, 2010

Today we said goodbye to New Mexico and hello to Arizona. Gallup was a good Route 66 town, and if I had thought about it, I would have gotten a room at the El Ranch Motel! On the way to the AZ state line, the main route takes a detour as a bridge is closed and we were forced onto I-40 at exit 8. We entered Arizona on the interstate and made our way to the 269 foot Querino Canyon Bridge (1930). The real prize of the morning was the ruins of the Painted Desert Trading Post. Isolated on a remote dead-end alignment, this fragile relic was once a main stop on the Mother Road. We took pictures, paid our respects to the past, and headed to the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park.

Route 66 used to travel through the park, and of course it was well marked and provided a great photo op. There seemed to be this crow that followed us from stop to stop throughout the park (that’s what we told ourselves) but at least one didn’t follow us once we left. Much like in New Mexico, we were forced to drive I-40 almost all the way to Holbrook, where we ate lunch at Joe & Aggie’s Café. We also drove by the Wigwam Motel. Luckily, we will be staying at the one in Rialto later in the trip!

I wanted to pick up some gifts for the kids, and what better place than the Jackrabbit Trading Post. The two old dudes even climbed onto the big rabbit out front for a photo! We had to stop in Winslow for the “Standing on the Corner” statue, and of course, the business across the street was playing………The Eagles. It was cool to see it, and I will make sure that Rich and I stop on the way back. Our next stop was Meteor Crater. For me, it is one place that I had to see in my lifetime. Carl Sagan is still one of my heroes and to visit a place that he and some of the greatest minds of our age studied the mysteries of our universe was incredible. What made the visit even better was the fact that we ran into our friend Gene and his wife again! What were the chances of that. After we left, Mike and I said we should have gotten a photo with them.

We explored Two Guns and Twin Arrows from a far (Bill, the restored arrows look great!) and visited the old iron bridge on the Pre-1947 alignment in Winona. We called it a night on the East side of Flagstaff. Tomorrow it’s on the higher elevations of Arizona and maybe the Oatman Highway!

Pictures from Day Eleven