Route 66 in California, and a day off

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Lake Havasu City is right on the border, so on 1st October we crossed into California and picked up the old route 66 trail once again. The country around here is dry and arid (this is the Mojave Desert, after all) and there was not much to see in the way of route 66 memorabilia except for the odd derelict motel or gas station. We did eventually come across one working gas station and decided we had better top up; turns out the guy keeps his gas for emergencies only, and judged that our need was not great enough since we were only twenty or so miles from the next “proper” town (we did make it!)

We had planned to skirt around Los Angeles, but missed our turn and ended up on one of the interstates. We still avoided the centre of town, but even then the traffic was unbelievable - worse than anything we’d seen I think. Tom knows the area a bit since he studied prosthetics in Los Angeles - apparently nothing has changed in terms of the traffic. Once out of the city limits, however, the countryside changed dramatically as we entered the agricultural and wine growing zones.

By late afternoon the temperatures started to drop again so we decided, discretion being the better part of valor, to stay in a motel in Fillmore, just west of Santa Clarita (I was not about to argue!). It turns out that accommodation in California is very expensive!

We managed to pack in quite a few miles on 1st, and were very glad to have got through Los Angeles, so the next day we had an easier (but slower) drive through the Sierra Madre Mountains to Santa Maria. Here we stayed with Tom’s Aunt and cousin - it was nice to spend some time with relatives again, and we decided to stay an extra day and take a day off driving.

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Comments

[Scott Piotrowski]

Too Bad You Missed LA
It's too bad you missed Los Angeles' portion of Route 66. Within the Route 66 corridor in Los Angeles County there are 34 National Register of Historic Places landmarks. The only vehicular tunnels ever to a part of Route 66 are in LA County. The oldest in-use bridge anywhere on Route 66 is in LA County. The first freeway portion of Route 66 is in LA County. The oldest museum in Los Angeles is along 66. Needless to say I could go on and on about other sites, sounds, and smells along 66 in LA, but hopefully this will be enough to pique your interest and have you come back, and let everyone else know that skipping the end of the Mother Road is a bad idea!