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Emma Jean's Holland Burger
A diner built in 1947 in Victorville, CA just off Route 66. Featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Nancy's Entry: It was with a heavy heart that I left Southern California today. We sat around the house until about 10:00 a.m., when we pulled out and stopped at the Starbucks -Country Mart one last time. As a person who is affected by weather, the 338 average days of sun (as opposed to Chicago's average 84) with temperatures in the 60's and 70's year round and the added bonus of the ocean, to me it is the perfect place. It seems that the weather allows people to really live and enjoy life here year round, rather than watch it on TV from inside most of the year.
Though I was sad to be leaving, we had a lot of fun ahead of us. First on our list was stopping in Victorville, Calfornia along U.S. Route 66, where Kevin's parents lived for two years back in the 1950's when his dad was stationed at a George Airforce base there, and where he worked for Chuck Yeager. We first stopped at "Emma Jeans Holland Burger Cafe," a diner on a truck-stop route. Built in 1947 in Victorville, Kevin's parents were sure to have eaten here -- and I don't think it
George Air Force Base
The once lively air force base is now a ghost town has changed much since! The diner was one that was featured on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," and we got a kick out of it. Kevin had country-fried steak and I had a patty melt. It was a fun trip back in time. George Airforce Base was closed in 1992, but we drove around the deserted property and imagined Kevin's dad there. We took some pictures to send to his family before we got on the road again headed for Sedona, Arizona. We were very much looking forward to visiting Sedona for the first time. It was a long day of driving and we didn't arrive at our house until 9:00 p.m., so it was dark. Not much to see until morning.
When we awoke we drove into town, and even though it was only 9:00 it was already getting extremely hot. We drove back to our house which was about 7 miles outside of the downtown area to take Bentley back home -- there was no way we could leave him in the car while we ate breakfast. We drove back into town and had breakfast at a little local bakery, then walked through the town
Red Rocks of Sedona
The view driving into Sedona of Sedona. It is a funky place with lots of new age healing centers, psychics in the form of palm and tarot card readers, and stores that sell books and gifts on the mystical and metaphysical. There were tons of stores that sell rocks and crystals with supposed magical powers.
The sun was beating down on us. Sun exposure on my skin is something I avoid like the plague, so Kevin poured out a sunblock that we rubbed on our skin, not realizing beforehand that it was going to make us look like vampires. It must have been zinc-based because we then had milk-white skin as we walked around looking like we were straight out of a Twilight movie. It seemed everywhere we went someone was aggressively hawking activities and especially time-share visits. They try to get you by offering something "free" (which is not-so-free afterall) and then reel you in for a strong-armed sales pitch. This was so pervasive everywhere that we actually got turned off to Sedona. One place fooled us by posing as a free museum dedicated to movies that had been filmed in Sedona over the years, including old John Wayne and Elvis movies. Once
Shop in Sedona
A cute shop located in the heart of downtown Sedona. Love all those old signs! inside, it was a trick to hawk a timeshare. We ran out of there like our pants were on fire.
After we were done browsing the shops, we took a drive through the picturesque canyons with our convertible top down. I now understand why the call the mountains "red rocks." They are a very deep red and are in a lot of unusual formations. It is absolutely gorgeous. There are many hiking trails, but we did not have clothing or shoes appropriate for hiking, so we stopped in the scenic overlooks where the hiking trails began and took pictures.
We went back to the house after our drive. It was in a pretty subdivision that shared a golf course and privileges with the attached Hilton Hotel property, so we went to the Hilton Spa and enjoyed the facilities there including having a couples massage together. We figured Sedona is the spa capital of the U.S., so we better have a spa experience while we're here! Of course it was wonderfully relaxing. After so much driving it was nice to get a back and neck massage. After that we ate dinner at one of the hotel restaurants on their
Scenic Overlook
A scenic view of the Sedona mountains patio with views of the red rock mountains. We took Bentley for a walk when we got home, then fell into bed. Tomorrow will be a long drive to New Mexico.
Kevin's Entry: Day 11 Leaving Malibu and starting the trip home
On Tuesday morning we got off to a leisurely start to give the LA traffic a chance to pass by. We packed up and said a very sad ‘goodbye’ to the beach house. We stopped by the Malibu Market one last time for coffee and then headed east. Our main destination today was Sedona, AZ. But along the way we had planned a stop up in the high desert of southern California in the Mohave town of Victorville. Victorville was the once the home of George Air Force base where my father was stationed in the late 50’s. My dad served with famed test pilot and WWII Ace Chuck Yeager there before he separated from the service. My folks had often talked of their time in the desert and I was curious what it would be like. We climbed up into the mountains again as we cut across the top portion of LA through San Bernardino. Victorville
Hiding from the Sun
I don't like sun exposure -- the floppy hat helps! is also home to a restaurant from Diners Drive Ins and Dives on old Route 66 called Emma Jean’s Holland Burger which had been there since the late 40’s. We stopped for lunch there and managed to find the one tree for miles to park the car under to give Bentley a little shade and respite from the heat. After lunch we drove over to what was left of the air base. The base itself had been closed in 1992 but the runways were still used by an air freight company. The base was weird looking in that it was just closed and left to rot away. It was truly just a ghost town. We drove down to what must have been the base HQ building and past rows and rows of housing that were in various states of decay. The mountains surrounding the base were barren wastelands of sand and scrub grass. I can’t imagine how my folks must have felt seeing it for the first time in comparison to the fertile green hills of southeastern Kentucky.
Along the way we passed through a couple of interesting places in northern Arizona. The first was the town in the famous Eagle’s lyric from Take It Easy, Winslow Arizona. So I had to have a picture of standing on a corner… The next one was interesting because we drove the town where my Trans Am came from, Holbrook, AZ. It was a tiny town in the high desert that was split in tow by the highway. I cannot believe anyone ordered a black car in this place, but I do understand about the cloth seats! The place looked pretty rough and tumble and I’m not sure it had ever seen better days.
Having seen what we came for, we continued further east on our way to the red rocks of Sedona. It was a long day of driving and we finally passed through Flagstaff and 7500 feet. We found our house with ease and after a stop for a late snack and a couple of drinks at the only place open that night, we crashed. We got off to an early start for exploring Sedona and walking around and seeing all of the shops and sightseeing of the brightly colored mountains. Sedona is kind of small, so it didn’t take long to see it all. We had a nice relaxing day of lounging around the townhome and taking it easy. Later in the day Nancy had scheduled some time for us at the spa which was a great way to massage away sitting in a car all day the day before. We left there and headed for drinks and dinner…ok, mostly drinks.
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