Day 20: I can't believe that tomorrow is our last day on Route 66 - we're almost at the end! We started today by visiting Lake Havasu (back in Arizona) to see London Bridge (the one that was sold in 1971). It is actually quite a good looking bridge! We then got back on the road to continue west to Barstow. Oh, I forgot to mention that yesterday we passed the 3000 Mile mark on our trip! Anyway, today was not the most interesting day from a driving perspective as a long stretch was on the I40. Sadly a big loop of old 66 was closed due to mudslides/flooding, which is a great shame. However, we did travel a few good stretches of the old road. One interesting stop was the Bagdad Cafe, the setting for the film of the same name (haven't seen it, so don't know anything about it). Apparently it is a Mecca for fans of the film, large numbers of whom are French for some reason! Interesting, but very weird. You can imagine it as the setting for a black and white Alfred Hitchcock film! Very "Hicksville", with no other sign of life within miles! It's worth a visit, though. Once again, we found our hotel without any problem (probably because it is on the main route through Barstow!) - we are staying in the Route 66 Motel, which is a marvellous old 1940s restored motel with lots of Route 66 memorabilia and old cars, etc. And round beds!! Fabulous and very quaint. So, tomorrow we head for Santa Monica and the end of Route 66.
Day 21: The end of the Mother Road! A long, very hot and in many ways quite frustrating day - we left Barstow and had a very enjoyable ride, stopping at the weird and wonderful Bottle Tree Ranch near Oro Grande. An amazing place, with a fantastic collection of bottles (obviously) and all sorts of other paraphernalia, including road signs, jeeps, rifles, machine guns and all sorts! The trip through the mountains was interesting. A lot of it was on the Interstate, which, as we were nearing LA was much busier than it has been so far (with the possible exception of Las Vegas). With some windy sections and many trucks speeding by inside and outside it required a great deal of concentration! We took a detour off the Freeway to do an old piece of 66, which was nice, but unfortunately the junction to get back on the I15 was closed so we had to go back the way we had come and get back on the Freeway where we had come off! The journey through San Bernandino, Pasadena, etc, to Santa Monica was very tedious and frustrating. We wanted to stick to Route 66 as much as possible, particularly as it was our last day on the Mother Road, but the last 50 or 60 miles must have taken close to 4 hours. The traffic was horrendous and virtually every traffic light (about every 300 yards or so) seemed to be on red. With temperatures in the mid-80s and the heat coming off the engine it was roasting! However, we got to the end of the road, eventually finding our way to somewhere near the pier at Santa Monica for the photo op, then made our way to the hotel. Tomorrow we pick up the car and say goodbye to our trusty 2-wheeled steed, which we have become quite attached to. In many ways, being on the bike has made it more of an adventure rather than just a journey and we shall be sad to return it. However, on to Road Trip Phase 2 and the Pacific Coast Highway!
Day 21: The end of the Mother Road! A long, very hot and in many ways quite frustrating day - we left Barstow and had a very enjoyable ride, stopping at the weird and wonderful Bottle Tree Ranch near Oro Grande. An amazing place, with a fantastic collection of bottles (obviously) and all sorts of other paraphernalia, including road signs, jeeps, rifles, machine guns and all sorts! The trip through the mountains was interesting. A lot of it was on the Interstate, which, as we were nearing LA was much busier than it has been so far (with the possible exception of Las Vegas). With some windy sections and many trucks speeding by inside and outside it required a great deal of concentration! We took a detour off the Freeway to do an old piece of 66, which was nice, but unfortunately the junction to get back on the I15 was closed so we had to go back the way we had come and get back on the Freeway where we had come off! The journey through San Bernandino, Pasadena, etc, to Santa Monica was very tedious and frustrating. We wanted to stick to Route 66 as much as possible, particularly as it was our last day on the Mother Road, but the last 50 or 60 miles must have taken close to 4 hours. The traffic was horrendous and virtually every traffic light (about every 300 yards or so) seemed to be on red. With temperatures in the mid-80s and the heat coming off the engine it was roasting! However, we got to the end of the road, eventually finding our way to somewhere near the pier at Santa Monica for the photo op, then made our way to the hotel. Tomorrow we pick up the car and say goodbye to our trusty 2-wheeled steed, which we have become quite attached to. In many ways, being on the bike has made it more of an adventure rather than just a journey and we shall be sad to return it. However, on to Road Trip Phase 2 and the Pacific Coast Highway!
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