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.