We were back on schedule staying at Barstow and we were looking forward to finishing up the 66 Tour. 2 weeks prior - we never thought that we would of finished (or even on time) and now the end was in sight.
After breakfast at IHOP, we checked out and headed out of town. The next 35 miles or so were along side the Santa Fe Railroad and went through the towns of Hodge, Helendale, and Oro Grande. The drive was fairly uneventful as we headed into Victorville. There, we stopped at the California Route 66 Museum. It was a really nice museum and had preserved signs and relics of not just Route 66, but the town of Victorville as well.
At this point, we ended back on the Interstate for the last time heading over the Cajon Summit and Cajon Junction. There are older 66 segments around this area; however, they are difficult to get to. We then drove into San Bernardino and took the turn West on Foothill Blvd.
We stayed on Foothill and drove through Rialto, Fontana, and Rancho Cucamonga; taking a break for lunch at In-n-Out Burger (first time ever for Ilana... YUM...). Except for a loop tour of Glendora... we basically stayed on Foothill to Pasadena. On Foothill, we started to hit our first taste of LA traffic... mainly due to the timing (or lack thereof) of traffic lights.
In Pasadena, after a stretch on Colorado Blvd. (which is also where the Rose Parade floats), we turned on the Arroyo Pkwy/Arroyo Seco Pkwy. The Arroyo Seco (1940) is a really nice parkway; however, since it was built for slower speeds... it can make it a very interesting ride for today's vehicles.
Luckly, we hit this at a good time and got off at Sunset Blvd which took us to Santa Monica Blvd. Once again, we hit multiple traffic lights and increased traffic flow as we went through parts of LA, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills (catching a glimpse of the Hollywood sign through some light smog/haze).
The last stretch was on Santa Monica Blvd. into Santa Monica proper and ended the trip at Olympic and Lincoln Blvds. This definitely felt like the longest day on the road... especially when you consider that we were on 66 for about 7 hours today (including lunch) and only drove around 150 miles!
After a quick drive south, we parked and took a quick walk along the beach here. It was quick because the weather here was fairly cool (upper 60s) and windy. We then got back in the car and headed north to our hotel near LAX. For $99 per night, this suite room is really nice... and will be our home for the next 3 nights (leaving on Monday morning).
Oh yeah... one other thing occurred that evening
I figured that, if she could put up with me for 2 weeks on the road... :)
We'll post some thoughts on what we did and think about LA... and then some final thoughts about the trip.
5 comments:
CONGRATULATIONS
what a fabulous way to end your route 66 journey
Congratulations!
Congratulations on the unique way to propose! You make a very nice couple. All our love here in the southwest.
much love and happiness
never did hear your final thoughts on the road trip ????
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