Stop 13 - Santa Monica, California

In fairness to Pand she was the first up at 6am although she was not feeling too good. I got up shortly after and after the obligatory showers we packed up the cases and were on the road by 7.30 am. This was as intended as we had to drive down from Vegas back to Needles where we would pick up the 66 again and this drive alone was going to be an hour and a half. The plan was to then stop for breakfast before commening the final stage of our Route 66 journey proper.

All went to plan and we enetered California from Nevada on schedule and stopped for breakfast. We had actually stoppped already before that in order that Pand could feed the snakes if you know what I mean. Lets hope that they share her love for Electric Lemonade as that is what they would be feasting on today! Cory duly admonished with the expected "told you so" exhortations!

After breakfast we were on our way - back on Route 66. Despite all that Vegas has to offer, for me the simplicity and history of this road offers much more and I was really happy to be away from the playground and back here. I do love this road.

There is not a great deal to say about the road through California. It is almost totally desolate. Its hauntingly beautiful but its just miles and miles of desert. Make sure you always have plenty of fuel and water because on this leg of the journey you just drive and drive on never ending roads surrounded by never ending desert as far as the eye can see. Gorgeous.

We drove from Needles into Goffs, through Essex and Danby to the mountain pass at Cadiz Summit. We stopped at Fenner as it has the only fuel and food for miles so we topped up there. Between here and Amboy theere is lots of roadside public art (basically travellers stop and make messages on the desert from stones) so we stopped to add our own art. We just wrote C + P and S to represent our names. We were warned to be careful because of rattle snakes so we didn't take too long about it!

 

We passed Chambles and continued through Amboy towards Ludlow and on into Newberry Springs.

There were the odd few remnants of 66 and an indication of the desolation of this stretch but generally speaking we just drove and drove through this desolate land and it was everything I had hoped for.

From here it was past Daggett and into Barstow before passing through Lenwood. From here it was on through Hodge, Hellendale and Oro Grande. Of course we had to stop at the famous Bottle Tree Ranch in Helendale as it has been featured on so many documentaries! We put a dollar in the box left there for the purpose and marvelled at why anyone would do this! They did and ours is not to reason why. There are so many great characters and expressions of them along this road.

From Oro Grande we crossed the Mojave River into Victorvill, over Cajon Summit and down to Cajon Junction.

An interesting little factoid is that throughout the length of the Mother Road you will find the famous Route 66 logo in the concrete of the road and each logo has the name of the State it is in. Throughout these posts I have included a picture of the logo on the road from each State. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find one that has "California" written on it. They all just say "Historic" on them - which suggests the roads have been re-laid or renovated. Anyway this was the best I could do - pity not to complete the set!

We drove into Devore then into San Bernadino and then on through Rialto, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Claremont, La Verne, San Dimas, Glendora, Azusa, Irwindale, Duarte, Monrovia and into Pasadena, which is a very substantial and very affluent looking town. I'm not sure I'd like to shop there though. All of this section was done on one road - Foothills Blvd.


Don't ever assume that if you are given an address "Foothill Boulevard" in California that you could find what you were looking for. This road lasts for miles - I reckon about 40 miles and just crosses intersection after intersection, traffic light after traffic light. This was a precursor of what was to come as we drove towards Los Angeles. We drove right through West Hollywood and Beverly Hills (we saw the big letters on the mountain) and out of LA. Los Angeles is a HELL HOLE to drive through. It is congested beyond belief. There was a Dodgers game about to start as we arrived in it and no doubt that contributed significantly to the grid-lock although the "Anti Grid Lock" signs at the side of the road suggested this was not an uncommon occurence. It took us an hour to drive 300 yards (no exaggeration) and all in all the last 20 miles of our journey took us 2hrs 45mins all because of LA. Despite the fame that surrounds this part of the world I wouldn't want to live here for all the tea in China! It is a pity that this experience (which is the only one of its kind along the whole 3000 miles of the journey) somewhat detracts from the overall experience. Its a pity to end the journey this way. That said we eventually exited LA itself and drove down into Santa Monica. We crossed 9th street, got in the left lane, turned onto Lincoln Blvd following the signs for the I-10 until we came to Olympic Blvd.............and then we stopped. That was it. There is nothing official to mark the end of 66 in Santa Monica, not even a sign. In Chicago there were signs that denoted the start of 66 but here .......nothing. Just a map that told us that this very spot was where it stopped - at the intersection of Lincoln and Olympic. We had reached the end of 66.

We had done it. I've driven every single mile that it is possible to drive of Route 66 right across America from Chicago to Santa Monica. It is a drive I have wanted to do since I was a small boy. As such it has been a long standing ambition and I've achieved it. We drove all in all over 3300 miles including the detours up to Monument Valley, Los Alamos and Vegas and every mile was valued.

I feel quite emotional about the fact that this has all been done. And that I did it eventually with my family right there with me. There were two members missing of course. Ben and Sarah were not there and I know that they would have absolutely loved it. I hope they will do it one day themselves but a trip like this is too hard to plan with 6 people - a logistical nightmare with transport and rooms alone. So I am sorry they were not here to experience this and I did miss them - a lot.

But to be here in Santa Monica now, with Pand, Cory and Sean, having driven Route 66 together and having spent so much wonderful time together is a feeling best left not described. I need that poet again. Was this experience all that I expected? No. It was much more. The things we've seen and done. The laughs we've had. The challenges we've overcome. The pleasure that has derived from simply being together doing something so amazing. It has been without qualification the best adventure of my life. I will never forget it. As for these two little boys they have no idea what has really happened or how much they've seen. I know that one day they will. But for now the fun they've had in their own way (going up and down in hotel lifts, travelling on escalators, riding trains, trams, planes and helicopters) has only enhanced the quality of the 66 experience fior me. And as for the driving itself I can only thank those two little boys for NOT ONCE EVER complaining or moaning throughout the whole trip - even though we drove many days for 8, 9 or even 12 hours solid in a car they never complained once. They have been the most perfect travelling companions, the most fantastic company, the most accommodating little men and I have enjoyed being in their company throughout. In many ways I am not looking forward to coming home. As Thelma said to Louise (or was it the other way around?) "Let's just keep going". I wish I could. And if I could I would choose the same travelling companions all over again - they made all the difference for me. A good 50th birthday present? You bet.