Dat 17 - 1st June

San Bernardino, Ca to Santa Monica, Ca

"All the way, from Chicago to LA"

Having had a thrilling Saturday night in San Bernardino (we stayed in), we managed to make breakfast for 9:30.

Only had 70 odd miles to do today so thought that we'd be in Santa Monica, LA by early afternoon.

I'd driven the first bit, out of Chicago, so I thought I'd let Boley drive the last stretch, into LA, as I didn't want him sulking.

Even though it was only 70 miles, it took us almost all day due to the traffic and traffic lights every third lamp post. And today is Sunday??

San Bernardino is basically a suburb of LA, but a very large city in it's own right.

The driving was steady through Rialto, Claremont, Pasadena onto Sunset Boulevard, through Hollywood & Beverley Hills into Santa Monica.

We saw (briefly) the Hollywood sign on the hill and arrived in Santa Monica @ 3:30 pm. 

Unlike Chicago, there isn't an official start/end sign.

The unofficial end is the neon sign at the entrance to the S. Monica Pier.

Gave each other a "high five", let out a holler and carried on.

Mileage: 3245 miles. 

Exactly 700 more than the official mileage. Strange, I wonder where those extra miles came from?

Booked into the hotel and went to look for a bar.

Walked to Venice Beach and Muscle Beach, took some pics and had a beer.

There is a plaque on the junction of Santa Monica Blvd & Ocean Drive which commemorates Will Rogers and R66 (also known as The Will Rogers Highway), but as we don't know who Will Rogers is/was, we took a photo with Arnie sat on his plaque (sorry Will).

Also took pics of the sign for S Monica pier, the pier & loads of police cars on the pier. I know we had done a Jake & Elwood, but we didn't expect this sort of reception.

Arnie's twin, the governor of California was there waiting, along with Paris Hilton, Tom Cruise and Will Rogers (whoever he is!) Unfortunately none of the photos came out, so you will have to make do of one of Arnie (the armadillo, not the state governor).

Went out for a few beers that evening and met 3 French people, Amandine, Guillaume & Alex in a bar. Naturally they hated us and we them. Took a photo, just to prove that the French and English can't get along (naturally).

Amandine & Alex live in LA while Guillame was there on vacation. We talked about all things British, French & American and realised that we Europeans, have very similar views on the States.

As we started the trip with a photo of beer, we thought it only right & proper to show a pic of our last beer.

Arrived back at the hotel about midnight & blogged 'til 3 am.

Final Mileage (again): 3245 miles

So did we "Get our Kicks on......................?" 

Final thoughts to come on the final (pro)blog..................

Day 16 - Sat 31st May

Loughlin, Nv to San Bernardino, Ca

"Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino"

After leaving the blue rinse brigade behind at Loughlin a around 12.00 off we set back to where we left off yesterday, just outside Oatman. (The western town with wild burros.) The route was very similar to the previous stretch wide, up & down single road with either very far  views of widely open country side or to the left rocks and cliff faces reaching to the sky. We crossed the Colorado river and into California towards Needles. They call it Needles because at this point its very hot and prickly. This is the starting point of the Mojabe desert. what can you say about the desert except its full of sand with small palm trees. Ok scrub, snakes, critters and in some cases people. What they do out here i have no idea. We stopped a number of times to take photos of the area.

On this part of the route passers by have left signs, I had picked up a few tips from the local indians. On a slightly ditch running parallel to the road messages had been left with the outline of stones. Some painted the majority not. Others had put their names from used coloured bottles that glittered in the sunlight. We decided not to leave a message as we wanted to stop further on and add our own type  of greeting.

Another shoe tree. Kev left one of his shoes and had to hop the rest of the way. I left my cap with written message. Sorry i can not tell you what it was you will just have to go see it for yourself.  A few miles further on we came across a tree full of Bra's. Wonders never cease. Mog and i left two pair of used skids.

Onwards to Cardiz Summit and down to Chambless, Amboy and Bagdad. The Bagdad Cafe is just a bit further along but we stopped at Ludlow for a bite to eat in a old road side dinner made some friendly talk with the waiter and off. We found a picture shot being completed at Roys Cafe & Motel with old classic US cars so we stopped and took pictures.

Then it came upon us like a mirage the legendary  "Bagdad Cafe". 

What a disappointment!

The waitress and cook we spoke to i found a little difficult to understand sometimes but the cafe could have done with a bit of work while retaining its character. But it was worth the stop.

Most of the rest of the miles covered were by Interstate as the road is not complete and we were running late, as usual.

We arrived in San Bernardino around 2100hrs found accom and settled in for the night. 

 

Mileage: 3164 miles 

Day 15 - Fri 30th May

Las Vegas, Nv to Loughlin, Nv

We eventually managed to get out of Vegas by 12:00 mid-day.

Vegas is great, but we weren't used to the crowds and hustle & bustle. I know it sounds stupid, but we really did want to get back on the road. 

Maybe it was because in Vegas, you are just another tourist, whilst on R66 you are fairly unique and people are interested in you and where you are from. Not only the traders, (motels, bars, gift shops etc), who do rely on you for their livelihood, but also the everyday people who you meet in the motels, bars, gift shops etc.

Stopped at The Hoover Dam, took photos & grabbed a sandwich.

As we had left R66 in Kingman, Az to drive 100 miles north to Vegas, we had to do the return trip to rejoin the route. By the way, the yanks pronounce route 66,  "rout 66".

Arrived in Kingman @ 3:30 pm and started the "rout"

This is probably a good example of how we manage to do so little driving of the rout each day, as we don't get started 'til 3:30!

The drive from Kingman, takes you through Cool Springs, Ed's Camp and over the Sitgreaves Pass to Oatman. These are all in Arizona. The drive was as memorable as the drive through Monument Valley. Absolutely stunning! If Carlsberg did classic drives, this would probably be the best drive in the world. (almost!)

No other cars on a hilly, winding road through baking hot desert.

And then you arrive in Oatman. It's just the dog's testibules of wild west towns......and it isn't commercialised for tourists.

OK, they do stage a gunfight for the tourists twice per day, but luckily we missed this, and they do have many tacky gift shops, but many of the buildings are original wooden built structures with boardwalks. We arrived at 4:30, about 30 mins before the locals lock up and go to the bar.

Oatman was a wild west mining town (yanks call towns - "cities" and hamlets - "towns' - 'tis true). The descendants of the burros (donkeys) that were used in the mines, now roam wild in the town (hamlet). The first thing you see are the burros pestering tourists for carrots. You can buy a bag of carrots for $1 from one of the many shops. As soon as the burros see this they are after you and would come in the shop, given half a chance.

I bought a bag of carrots from a shopkeeper. He was a genuine old-timer who was keenly interested in us and where we are from. Sat outside was "Doc Holliday", chewin' tobacco. 

We fed the burros and fed them some more. They liked Arnie, but not as much as the stray dog in Monument Valley did (thank goodness!)

We had a drink in the Oatman Hotel (Est 1902) and asked the barmaid where we could stay the night. A biker couple, sat next to us at the bar, suggested Loughlin, about 30 miles away, in Nevada. We got talking to them (Hi John & Denise) and spent the next hour chatting away about all things American, soccer, Portugal, California, holidays etc.  John bought us a drink (cheers!) and we had a great time.

Afterwards we went outside and had photos taken next to their Harley which was beautiful. I thought Harleys were big, wide bikes that look like 3-wheelers. I couldn't have been more wrong. This one was fantastic. Max, you would have loved it. It was all black & chrome. John said that it is a "Valcera." (I think that's right). This is a particular style of Harley that the Hispanic/Mexicans like. Well the Irish/English in me & Boley like them too.

We left and bumped into John & Denise on the road 30 mins later. They gestured us to follow them and directed us to the hotels in Loughlin.

We arrived in Loughlin about 7:30 and booked into Don Loughlin's Riverside Hotel & Casino.

Now Loughlin is no Las Vegas.

It is a resort, next to Bullhead City, on the banks of the Colorado River. (Bullhed City has the record as the hottest place in the States.) There are about 8 or 9 Casino/Hotels along a 2 mile stretch. I guess Don Loughlin founded the place a good few years back. It is MUCH cheaper than Vegas, has a lovely setting, and caters for families. The Riverside has a pool, water activities on the Colorado, a cinema, bowling alley, 6 restaurants , many bars , casino & hotel. Loughlin lacks the glitz of Vegas, and could be compared to Benidorm, but has it's own charm and was an ideal stopover point for us on the night.

We checked in (£35 for the 2 of us for the night), had a great meal in the Mexican restaurant, and retired to the Loser's Lounge (bar) for the night.

There was live music from 2 bands and a DJ. The bands played rock n roll while the DJ played hip-hop. The yanks danced in their usual crazy, uninhibited way to everything.

The bands were still playing @ 3 am and the MC said that the DJ would be playing 'til 5:45 am. We retired early @ 5:30 (lol).

Mileage: 2852 miles

Day 14 - Thurs 29th May

Las Vegas to Las Vegas (part II)

As we got extremely burnt yesterday and were still tired from the drinking, sorry I mean driving, we decided to stay an extra night in Vegas.

I was burnt from Tuesday when we had the accident. As exchanging details at the side of the road had taken so long, I didn't realise how hot it was and got burnt on my shoulders.

Boley hadn't realised the strength of the sun yesterday and was burnt on his important little places - his legs, as he's not very tall!

So we kept out of the sun all day. I caught up with the blogging and Boley caught up with his sleeping.

I mentioned right at the beginning of the trip how Boley, in Egypt 25 yrs ago, had slept all the time with a pair of underpants on his face. Then in Chicago, with a marshmallow in his mouth.

Well now he has regressed to his childhood and sleeps wearing a nappy! (He doesn't know I took this pic).

Went to the pool about 4:30 and left at 6 pm.

Walked down the opposite side of the strip from last night.

Saw The Belaggio fountain display.

Went to the Luxor and had a photo of us doing the Sand Dance in front of The Sphinx just like we did 25 yrs ago in front of the real one. We were so much slimmer then & with real hair. Unfortunately the person taking the photo chopped Boley's legs off.

Ended up in the cocktail bar in Treasure Island again, but it was much quieter than the previous night. Still had 2 vouchers  for free drinks , so used them up.

Lots of very attractive young ladies were dressed to the nines to go clubbing at The Venetian. Noticed all the fellas were wearing suits. Didn't think we'd get in wearing Gucci shell suits & shades.

Most of the hotel bars have live band and/or DJ's so you don't have to go to a club. 

All the yanks like r & b and are really good at dancing. Me n Boley thought we'd sit this one out, and all the rest.

Met 2 Welsh women (Pam & Marian) who were really nice. Marian had booked a week in Vegas with her boyfriend of 10 years, but they split up a week before the trip, so she invited Pam. We had a few drinks with them and they taught us how to insult the English in Welsh.

They left & we stayed at the bar 'til very late.  Met a very drunk Hispanic chap called Joe. He was great and like many yanks, had a fantastic "couldn't care less" attitude to life. 

Realised that we hadn't eaten so found a 24 hr restaurant, but they didn't do kebab or pie n chips. Had  something else but can't remember.

Went to bed.

Day 13 - Wed 28th May

Las Vegas to Las Vegas

Didn't do much today. Went to the hotel pool, sunbathed and got burnt.

Didn't blog as the hotel charge for internet access @ $14 per day. This is really annoying. In nearly all the motels and hotels we have stayed in, there is free internet, but in Vegas, where most of the hotels on the strip are relatively expensive, you have to pay.

Decided to blog from 7pm today until 7pm tomorrow for $14. That must be the tight Yorkshire man in me.

In the evening, walked down the strip to see all the hotels. Ate in The House of Blues, Mandalay Bay Hotel. The food was rubbish and the beer very expensive.

Went to the cocktail bar in Treasure Island where the cocktail barmen throw the bottles & mixers around like circus jugglers. We only asked for a rum & coke! 

Were given vouchers - 2 drinks for the price of 1. Had six! Carried on drinking 'til very late.

Boley took 2 photos. One with the Eifel Tower coming out of my head. As I'd been to Vegas before, I didn't take any.

It felt strange being among so many people and not being on the road.

Day 12 - Tues 27th May

Flagstaff, Az to Las Vegas, Nv

"Flagstaff, Arizona and don't forget Winona" (Again)

After missing breakfast at the Monte Vista Hotel, Flagstaff, we bumped into Pete & Lynda in the lobby. They had been up & about and saw Max (the car) in the car park. They also saw Arnie guarding it. Lynda remarked on how she thought that he was much bigger than what she imagined!

We said goodbye again and set off.

As we had departed from R66, "Main Street America" (as us R66 anoraks also call it), we had to drive back to where we had left it west of Gallup, Nm.

We decided to interstate it east to Winslow & R66 it west back to Flagstaff. Understand? Look at a map!

I was driving east on the interstate and we had an accident. Well, we didn't but the 20 wheeler truck next to us did!

I was overtaking the truck, about to pull alongside, when one of it's tyres blew. It exploded and threw large pieces of rubber at us. Luckily the truck didn't swerve at all. I swerved a little, then both us held steady, slowed down and pulled off at the next exit.

The driver, Paul Thompson, was very friendly and before anything else asked if we were OK.

We were, of course, so we went about exchanging insurance details etc. He phoned his company & I phoned the car rental company. At first we thought that there was no damage apart from black rubber marks on the front and side of Max.

 Then on closer inspection we realised that there were two small dents on the passenger door where the black rubber marks were.

The driver, Paul took lots of pictures and so did Boley. Paul's were for insurance purposes, Boley's were for the blog! All of this took about an hour and it was baking hot.

Boley heard Paul tell his boss that these were good guys (us) coz we were doing Route 66. 

The car rental company offered us a replacement car but we said that it wasn't necessary coz we liked Max, (even more so now that she's into rubber!)

We'd like to say a BIG thank you to Paul Thompson of Freshpoint Transportation. Obviously it was just one of those things, but Paul was very professional and helpful throughout.

 

Safe Trucking, Paul.

We carried on and Max performed with a new lease of life.

We arrived at Winslow, Arizona and sought out Kinsley & 2nd. Made famous by The Eagles/Jackson Browne song "Take It Easy".

So we took pics of me then Boley "Standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona".

We had already called in at one gift shop & bought some things. We wandered over to another and the lady in there, Sandra, was very much taken with Arnie. She takes photos of (almost) everyone who calls in and puts them on a large digital photo frame hung up from the ceiling.

So she took photos of us and we took photos of her! 

We then hit R66 back to Flagstaff and on to Seligman, Az.

There is a stretch of R66, starting east of Seligman, that is continuous original R66 for 159 miles. 

We stopped in Seligman at the Snow Cap Cafe, a R66 institution, for a brunch of hot dog & shake. 

The late Juan Delgadillo, owner of the Snow Cap, would play practical jokes on his customers. His son, continues in this tradition with squirting mustard, false door knobs and "slightly used" napkins amongst many other jokes and tricks. These are the toilets!!

The food was great too!

We continued on and in Kingman left R66 to branch off to Las Vegas, which is 100 miles away.

I've been to Vegas many times but Boley hasn't so we couldn't be so near & not spend  few days there.

We drove over the Hoover Dam and arrived in Vegas at 8 pm.

Drove down "the Strip" with Max's top off and checked into our hotel.

Went out, got something to eat and had a few beers in various bars 'til 2 am.

Mileage: 2678 

P.S. We forgot Winona!

Day 11 - Mon 26th May

Monument Valley to Flagstaff

“Flagstaff, Arizona and don’t forget Winona”

We rose early the next day (6 am) cos I wanted to take pictures of the sun rise over the valley, Kev was not pleased. Job done back to sleep ‘til 10 am. Boley woke me up at 6 to take pictures of the sun rising over the valley. I was not too pleased. Back to sleep ‘til 10 am.

We visited the original Goulding Lodge. The Gouldings, Harry and Mike (Harry’s wife!) started a trading post here in 1923. In 1929 they built the lodge, which is now a museum. It’s really interesting, full of Goulding and Indian artefacts and one room dedicated to the films that have been made at Monument Valley. Lots of pics of John Wayne and John Ford.

We took loads of photos and eventually left the valley about 11:30.

It was much further than we realised to The Grand Canyon. We stopped at Tuba City for food and fuel and sped on. We passed a sign for The Navajo National Monument so we thought we'd take a look. 18 miles later we reached it. I thought that it would be a monument, but it is a canyon with ancient Navajo dwellings in it. As we didn't have much time and as it was cold, due to the altitude, we had a quick look and left. 

We reached The Grand Canyon about 4:30. Paid our $25 and stopped at most of the viewing points along the south rim.

Arnie made some new friends in the gift shop.

Mmmmm nice Canyon, Arnie. You're looking the wrong way!

We took loads of pics (again) and left at about 6pm. I had arranged to meet up with an old school pal from Nottingham, Pete Lusczack and his wife Lynda, in Flagstaff.

Pete has lived in Phoenix, Arizona for the past 15 years. He met Lynda, who is from New York, in York. I’ve only seen him

once since leaving school. I thought that it would be nice to meet up in Flagstaff as it is so near to him (only 140 miles).

We arrived in Flagstaff at 7:30 pm. I was a little concerned as it was late and we hadn’t been able to contact Pete & Lynda for the past 2 days due to no mobile phone network out in them there hills.

We checked into the Monte Vista Hotel, a R66 institution, and were told that it was 6:30 not 7:30. We had gained an hour two days ago, but never realised it.

The Monte Vista Hotel is quiet famous. It is very old and many film and rock stars have stayed there. The hotel names the rooms after whoever has slept in that room.

We had the Humphrey Bogart room. It was nice and dark with a poster of Bogey on the wall. It had two double beds and Boley kept saying “Why did Humphrey Bogart have 2 beds?”

We met Pete & Lynda (Hi!) in the hotel bar at 7:30 pm, had a drink and went to a local Mexican restaurant for a meal. Afterwards we went to The Beaver Street Brewery Bar, at my request, won the quiz, caught up on old times and had a thoroughly great time.

As Flagstaff is at 7,000 feet, it was really cold outside. We said goodbye to Pete & Lynda back at our hotel and me n Boley had a few more beers at the hotel bar. The bar was meant to stay open until 2 am but closed at 1 am. Shame!

A quick thanks to Pete & Lynda for driving 280 miles to meet up with us for a beer (or four).

See you in Nottingham or Yorkshire in July.

Mileage: 2287

Quiz Score:

Brits (including Lynda): 11387

Others: Not as many as the Brits  

Day 10 - Sun 25th May

Albuquerque to Monument Valley

“Gallup, New Mexico”

Managed to make breakfast for the first time in over a week.

Left A’que about 11 am and hit the “Mother Road” (as us R66 anoraks call it).

We had a long drive today as we had to make up time due to the extra night’s stay in A”que. We had 160 miles to Gallup and another 179 to Monument Valley.

R66 was almost entirely off the interstate. We were making good time when we suddenly realised we were missing the Leeds/Donnie game. We switched channels on the radio only to find the “phone in” discussion after the match. Boley was inconsolable after he discovered the result. I couldn't keep Max (the car) on the road with laughing. (Mighty Leeds???)

After about about an hour we came across a cowboy event in the middle of nowhere.

They were roping steers (not queers!) We took lots of pics and got on our way.

Shortly after that stop we diverted off R66 to visit Acomo Pueblo, “Sky City”. This is an ancient Spanish/Mexican city perched on the top of a Mesa (large mountain outcrop). To gain access you have to pay for a guided tour and must buy a permit to take photographs. We didn’t have time for the tour, so used the visitor centre’s facilities (very clean and very very nice) took some photos without a permit and sped away.

The weather by this time was hot, so we had Max’s top down.

Roadkill Alert:

I inadvertently hit a bird. Sorry, little bird.

We reached Gallup mid afternoon and had a food stop. It was in Earl’s Family Diner run entirely by Navajo Indians. Gallup is the unofficial capital of the Navajo Nation.

While we were eating, there was a constant supply of Indian vendors. Unlike on the continent, there did not hassle you, but politely walked away if you weren’t interested. We bought a couple of gifts.

On leaving Gallup, we had to leave Route 66 to head north to Monument Valley. 

At this point we left New Mexico and entered Arizona. You could tell it was Arizona because Boley nearly hit a stray dog that was crossing the road, followed by a stray horse! Now that WOULD have been a high scoring roadkill!

Music On The Move:

Before we set off a few people had asked if we’d got our tapes or playlists ready for the trip. I had sort of sorted a playlist on the ipod to play through the radio, but we haven’t used it once.

Driving through Illinois and Missouri we listened to a Rock station, but since Oklahoma we have been listening to Country. So much so, that we have begun singing along with the songs as we’ve heard them that many times.

During this part of the drive (Sunday evening) the top 30 chart was being run down. It was quiet exciting (sad??) A current hit is a version of Life In A Northern Town. Who did the original?

We arrived at Monument Valley at 6:15 pm. We paid our entrance fee and were told that the “park” closed at 9 pm.

First we parked at the visitor’s centre and took some pics with and without Arnie. It was at this time that a local stray dog first took an interest in me by chewing my shoes and then took a VERY strong interest in Arnie. At first I thought that he wanted to chew him, but soon realised that his interest was more of an amorous nature. So much so, that he became aroused, much to our amusement but totally confusing the Japanese tourists. Some good pics though!

We drove Max, with her top down, around Monument Valley. Boley was driving, I was stood up, filming on the camcorder and taking pics. We were shouting and waving to all the other tourists as they drove past us and making them cheer and wave as I pretended to film them. Oh what fun!. One lady shouted “You’ll get dirty” to which we replied “We’re dirty anyway”. We later found out that the wind blows the sand and it gets EVERYWHERE.  Max is now covered in a thin film of sand, inside and out. (Take note you plumbers, Max is very dirty)

We took loads of pics including the elephants butt and the camels butt (honest) and before we knew it, it was 8:45 and almost dark. By the time we found our way out, it was dark.

We had nowhere to stay, but thought that we’d try Gouldings Lodge, which is about 2 miles away. They had one room available with one king bed & a pull out sofa. We decided to take it as we would be struggling to reach anywhere else before total darkness and not knowing the roads it could be dangerous. We just managed to get something to eat and settled down for the night with ghosts of John Wayne, Lee Marvin & John Ford. 

By the way, Monument Valley was absolutely fantastic. The highlight of the trip so far along with The Detroit Cobras and Boley losing his sunglasses.

Mileage: 2004 miles

Roadkill:

Boley: 2

Moggy:1