Day 25

Days 19 through 25

Ok so I haven't posted in a week.  I've been busy.  Last I left off I was attempting to get to the Grand Canyon and turned back by the monsoon.  The next morning success.  I can't really do it justice with words but it is far more amazing than any picture can really portray.  I was having a hard time believing that my eyes were actually seeing this for real.  This are some pictures but everyone should really go and see it for themselves.

So there's thems.  I'm not the meandering type.  Usually I'll see something like this, take a picture and move on with my life but it's so amazing I wandered around for hours.

That was a long day.  The plan was to drive all the way to Barstow California.  Adding on many many hours at the Grand Canyon left little time to see other things along that days.  Stopped at the Gas and Grub specifically because of these two signs which were originally together on the side of the road.  Now they serve to draw customers into the gas station.

Into California where the first town to see is Needles.  It's nice to look around at the different things here.  Wish I had a bit more time but Needles welcomes you to California with this - -

And into Barstow for the night. 

Day 20 takes me into LA.
The first thing I had to see was the Griffith Observatory.  This is the spot where you can see all of LA and most people's photo opportunity with the Hollywood sign.

It's a really fantastic place for a view.  There are a lot of hiking trails and such if that's your thing.  Just like pretty much every other tourist destination, there were soooo many people there.  And then on to Santa Monica, the official end of Route 66. 
Traffic in LA is as bad as you've heard, probly worse, so it took me a few hours just to get down to the beach.  The pier is a neat little place to walk around.  There's a small theme park on the pier and a bunch of restaurants and shops.

While at the beach of course I had to get in just because.  It looks really nice out there but surprisingly cold.

And so this is technically the end of the Quest Out West.  I'll still be blogging a little on the way back but there won't be quite as many things to talk about.

So then I met my friend Chris for dinner in LA.  I'm not sure but it seems like all the restaurants are trendy places.  Stayed at his apartment for a few days and it was exactly the R and R I needed.  Driving isn't exactly the most demanding of tasks but non-stop for three weeks gets exhausting.  Day 21 was mostly just relaxing and enjoying unbelievably great LA weather.  Met my friend Graeme to check out Pacific Rim.  Really fun watch in IMAX.
Day 22 Chris and I decided  to go to Disneyland and California Adventure.  What a fantastic day.  Chris is a pro at this so we had an expert game plan.  Well, he did.  Anyway we got on a ton more rides than I would've been able to on my own.  So much stuff.  Just can't even describe.  Yea there's a ton of waiting in lines and such but just being there the whole atmosphere was awesome.  You can't really ride everything in one day.  It's impossible. BUT we rode as much as we could.  The Star Wars ride we got on three times.  

One of their newest attractions is Carsland.  Despite how I feel about the movie, this place is pretty sweet.  On the plus side it is all taken from Route 66 so this was kinda the perfect place after driving all the way on the Route.  The line for the ride was enormous.  I wouldn't have waited but we took the lazy way and went as single riders.  We got grouped with strangers but the cars moved and talked like in the movie so it was a pretty fantastic ride.

So that was one of the best rides but the absolute best thing at Disney was the World of Color show after dark.  Essentially it's the Bellagio fountain show combined with a laser light show and a wall of mist that they project videos onto all set to a mashup of classic Disney songs.  It goes on for like 30 - 40 minutes.  Pure magic.  Stills are ok but there's no substitute for the real deal.

 If you can't tell that's the Genie being projected onto a wall of mist.  Just genius.

Pure greatness.  This is a must see.  If you co there at all don't leave before dark.  This is better than five rides put together.

That was a full day.  The next day what is it day 23 I headed north to see some friends in Sacramento. It took all day to get up there.  Day 24 I stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge before going to see Rob and Sarah.

And so I've turned back and am heading East today.  I'm not planning on stopping at everything again so my posts will be fewer.  I do plan on seeing the arch at St Louis cause I missed that last time.  Alright that's the week I just had fairly summarized.

Day 18

Day 15 through 18

It's been over two weeks already?  Man it's going fast. Ok so where was I last? New Mexico I think. Nothing's well marked in New Mexico so I spent far too much time on the modern interstate. Crossed into Arizona. They mark the Route decently but so much of it isn't drivable. Saw a ton more Indian trading posts. I'm not so sure about these places anymore. They price gouge like crazy. They all claim to be Indian owned and run. Ok I'll buy that but they also claim that their products are authentically Indian made. I turn over their wares and find made in Peru or china or wherever.

 I intended to eat at a little Route 66 Diner mentioned in a guide book but when I got there it was really just someone's mobile home converted into a "diner".  I decided that the only thing on the menu there was hepatitis so I bailed.  I got to pass through a small portion of the Petrified Forest.  Interesting sight.  If I had more time I would liked to have explored the park.  After here there's a ton of stores that just say "ROCKS!!!"  I'm not too interested in buying rocks so I never stopped at these places.  Into Holbrook crazy dinosaur statues line the road all over the place and in the town they are literally everywhere.  Some of these places charge you to take a picture so here's a link to people who paid to take pics. http://tinyurl.com/mnjg39k
From here a little side trip.  My grandma lives in Tucson Arizona so I decided to go down to see her.  Straight down from Holbrook to Tucson is about the most dangerous driving I've ever done.  The narrowest two lane road weaves along the cliff sides in the Arizona mountains at 65 mph.  Plus it was raining.  So I was pretty much terrified driving but after I stopped being a puss it actually really fun in the oh my god we're gonna die way I imagine skydiving is fun.  And the mountains are incredibly beautiful too.

So I got to see my grandma for a day which was great.  On my way out of Tucson I swung through Tombstone which was always a place I wanted to visit.  Kinda sad really.  In my head it's the coolest badass Western town but now it's really just a bunch of shops.  I did see a reenactment of the OK Corral shoot out.  It wasn't exactly Broadway but still pretty enjoyable to watch.

So that was pretty cool.  Tombstone is close-ish to the border so I was stopped by Border Patrol on my way out of town.

Back north it took most of the day so I stayed in Winslow made famous by that one song... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzC7_im4_ac  yea that one.  And here's the monument to being mentioned in a song.

Which brings us to today.  Only a few stops today.  I scheduled a short day so I would have time to see the Grand Canyon in the evening.  There's a good long stretch of 66 to drive today.  I found a couple of iconic spots but they're unfortunately no longer in operation.

You can't even get out of your car at the Twin Arrows anymore.  It's all blocked off and the road is linked up to the Interstate off ramp so you really don't want to park on it.
So I'm staying at the Stagecoach 66 Motel.  Pretty cool little joint. Wanted to see the Grand Canyon but as soon as I hit the highway a full blown monsoon hits Arizona and I was forced to turn around.  Going to try again in the morning.

Day 14

Day 13 and 14

Wow a ton more driving with very few stops in between.  Left Texas and stopped at the Midpoint Cafe.  Good food.  Several places claim to be the midpoint of  the Route and I guess since it's been
realigned so many times all of them could be telling the truth.  But this place has a sign.

 

So enter New Mexico.  Beautiful mountains and completely unique landscape from every other place I've been to so far.  Not many stops to see.  There are a lot of trading posts with the same souvenirs and stuff.  Went to another car museum.  Pretty decent collection but for five bucks the DX in Afton definitely beats this one.

 Then Tucumcari.  This place has the most tourist places in one town.  Cool neon signs everywhere and murals and all sorts of crazy stuff.  I only took a few pictures cause how many signs can you really take pictures of, but you get the point.

Somewhere in between all these places I met and Italian tour group, a Spanish family, an elderly French couple and a German couple.  I also met a young Australian couple.  Australians are crazy about the Route.

Here's more of the awesomeness http://tinyurl.com/ofe98td

And more and more and more driving.  Hundreds of miles with nothing to see... well not nothing, the nature is gorgeous.  Pictures don't do it justice but here are a few anyway.

The bad thing about New Mexico is that 66 is very poorly marked.  If  you happen to run across two consecutive 66 markers it is coincidental.  The worst part is that most of the road is gone now.  I kept trying to get on where I knew 66 ran but there were Road Closed signs everywhere.  

But just like every sign that tells me not to do something, I ignored it.  Don't feed the bears?  But they look so hungry.  

I ended up in many dead ends.  Alas I had to jump on the highway for many many miles the past few days.  At the end of yesterday I was pulling into Santa Fe.  Santa Fe was part of the original 66 route but was bypassed pretty soon after.  I can see why.  Santa Fe is way way way out of the direction 66 goes and is a pain in the ass to get to.  The mountains are nice though.

Today.  More driving and on the Interstate too.  Pretty lame.  Passed through Albuquerque.  Neat town.  These places are now in full Latin swing.  Very colorful everything.  Back to the highway and into Gallup.  On the way there I passed the Continental Divide.  Of course there's a gift shop there too.  

More cool signs in Gallup including the famous El Rancho.  Tons and tons of movie stars stayed at El Rancho.  And this cool overpriced trading post.

Just today was something like 400 miles of driving.  I'm almost out of New Mexico.  Here's some more landscapes cause that's all I got left.