ROUTE 66

FEB 8TH THRU THE 11TH

We stopped for the night in Bakersfield at the Orange Grove RV Park which was great and is a place we would stay again. When we left the next morning, we stopped at a fruit stand nearby and bought some Jumbo Medjool Dates and some Navel Oranges. Fresh from the orange grove and the were scrumptious.It was interesting watching the two level operation of washing and sorting on the upper level and then sending them down a slide for the packers.

Heading east from Bakersfield we came upon a large wind farm in the foot hills.

 Once we got over the mountains we were in the Mojave Desert and started to see Joshua trees. The lush green is gone, although there is some green undercover.

 We were kind of thinking we might head up to Death Valley but as we were driving and checking out the weather we decided to head south to Anza Borrego State Park. We stopped in Hesperia for the night and decided to stay for a couple days and ended up to be 4 days at the Desert Willow RV Resort. This area is on the old Historic Route 66 and there are many areas of interest. 

Jerry L, Here’s one for you. Dave from British Columbia had this nice 63 Mercury Comet. I talked to him for a while. He looked to be in his early 40’s and said he bought the car when he was a teenager to fix up. The front end had been damaged in a crash. After he graduated he drove the car to Panama and back. He now has a gold mine in BC and spends his winters in the USA.

I had the RV washed one morning and then we went to the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville, CA. This is a small, free museum, but they will take donations. Lots of stuff to see and there are couple of hosts who spent some time with us and talked about the local history. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours there.

Route 66, “The Mother Road”, was established November 11, 1926 with the road signs erected the following year. It was 2,448 miles long running from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona before ending at Santa Monica, California. It wasn’t until 1938 that the whole route was paved. It was officially removed from the Highway System in 1985.
Only small portions of the original road remain since the Interstate  Road system made cross country travel faster. However, bypassing the small towns resulted in their demise and very few buildings still remain.

 Craig K., here is another stop on your Route 66 journey. Also, remember to stop at Flappy Jacks in Glendora.

Sandy the “Flower Child”.

It seems all she wants to do is eat.

I wonder what year this Big Boy menu is from with a .65 hamburger plate.

There was a small section of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans memorabilia. The Double R Bar Ranch is in the area next to Victorville.

After the Museum, we went to the historic Emma Jean’s for lunch since it was recommended at the Museum.

This time I was the hungry one.

 Sandy and I agreed, it was a good thing we ordered the smaller combo, and it was very good. Especially the thick sweet onion.

Some more unusual sights between Victorville and Barstow.

We even saw this older Lazy Daze in storage along the road. It looks like a 22-footer from the 1980's.

There are some Route 66 signs painted on the road. These don’t get stolen as easily as the road signs.

Bottle sculptures. There certainly were some strange concoctions made out of antiques and other assorted "junk".

The prices shown here are from the 1950’s although I remember these prices from when my dad had a gas station in the mid 60’s in Staples, MN.

One thing about non-interstate roads in the desert areas is that they follow the contour of the land. Some of the dips and rises can give you that light-in-the-stomach feeling--if you drive fast enough.

A couple days later we toured some more of Route 66 on our way to Flappy Jacks in Glendora on Route 66 on the north side of L.A. This is one of the last Wigwam motels which is located in Rialto.

There are still quite a few of these old gas stations along the road in San Bernardino, Rialto, Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga. This one has been turned into a gift shop and museum. None of them serve as gas stations anymore.

Stands like this first opened 10 years after Route 66 was established and this is the last one to survive, although it is no longer in business. 

Sandy keeps taking pictures of these old motels, saying here's another one for you guys on your motorcycle trips. Actually, quite a few of these old motels still exist and are still in business along Route 66 in northern L.A. and Barstow.

We finally made it to Flappy Jacks in Glendora for a late breakfast. Got there at noon and it was a 45-minute wait to get in. We ate way too much. We should learn to share a meal when we come here.

Until next time

Dave and Sandy

P.S.  We were just outside of L.A. when the Grammys were on and we did not see any celebrities in the RV park. They sure miss the good life!!!