The Road Goes On…

Category: California

Truckee, CA to Salt Lake City, UT

After a lovely breakfast and a bit more conversation we set out towards Salt Lake City. It was a driving day and we were lucky that the speed limit allowed for up to 130km/h in places.

We had a brief stop in half-forgotten Lovelock, NV for gas and lunch at a little pizzeria.

Before leaving Nevada completely we stopped in West Wendover where a large sign above the casino suggested we try their penny slot machines. A quick check of our pockets revealed we had 4 pennies so we decided to take them up on their suggestion. Unfortunately, the penny slot machines only accepted bills so we had to insert the smallest one we had handy – a $5 bill. The two of us ganged up on the machine and alternately played our best but ultimately the machine won. So much for the hoped for early retirement.

As consolation we had a nice Mexican dinner at the casino restaurant.

On approach to Salt Lake City we saw the Super Moon.

Note: No track data today either – also lost in the GPS hard reset.

August 10, 2014
Penryn, CA to Truckee, CA

Today was Martin’s day. We visited Morteza, Mandi and family at their gorgeous “cabin” on 40 acres in the Tahoe area mountains. We hitched up the Hobie 16 sailboat, put the paddle board in the RV and headed towards Donner lake for some sailing, swimming and paddle boarding and a picnic lunch.

It was already dark when we headed back to the cabin for dinner, wine and good conversation until 1AM.

Note: No track data is available as the GPS needed a hard reset to get it working again. This lost all track data that had not already been downloaded.

August 9, 2014
San Francisco, CA to Penryn, CA

Today was Ruth’s day in San Francisco. We took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train from Millbrae, near the airport, to Powell street in downtown San Francisco. First stop was Bloomingdale’s. Serious shopping therapy was exercised.

Next stop was Chinatown which looked really beautiful with its red lanterns decorating the streets since Chinese New Year back in February. We continued on our walk through Little Italy and then towards Fisherman’s Wharf. It was nice to see the well maintained buildings. We liked the humour in one shop window with the two frogs.

Fisherman’s Wharf was buzzing with tourists and a cruise shop towered over a good portion of the wharf. We stopped for coffee and tea and watched the ferries go by and had a great time at the market at the pier where we bought wine and cheese for our friends and hosts Mandi and Morteza whom we would visit the next day.

We left San Francisco around 7PM and crossed the Bay Bridge on I-80 which will be our path home for the next couple of days. The Bay Bridge is a “double decker” bridge and therefore seems low. About half way along one can still see the older bridge which is now being dismantled.

We made it to Penryn where we spent the night at a truck stop.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 8, 2014
Fort Bragg, CA to San Francisco, CA

It was a good thing that our campground was just across the street from the Ricochet Ranch where we wanted to go horseback riding. We didn’t have a reservation so we walked over first thing in the morning and were lucky to get two spots for the 10AM ninety minute ride along the beach. After a quick breakfast we galloped to the stable where we had to sign our life away, were fitted with riding helmets, watched an 11 minute video on mounting and dismounting a horse correctly and basic “steering” instructions. We then got to meet our horses – “Cowboy” for Martin and “Cloud” for Ruth. Our ride took us across the highway, through some forest and then along the beach. We had a wonderful time!

After lunch at Denny’s we continued on twisty and turny Hwy 1. We arrived in Mendocino where we visited the Mendocino Arts Center with its fine art gallery, many studios and workshop spaces. We were guests at a glass bead making workshop for a while and got to know the instructor and participants.

Hwy 1 continued to twist and turn almost making us seasick. We had to stop at one point because Ruth had to walk in the ocean amidst the high waves. What a delight!

The other highlight of the day was the drive across the Golden Gate bridge and right through San Francisco with the RV. Campgrounds are sparse so we stayed at a hotel in Belmont, just south of San Francisco. Pepsi, unfortunately, wasn’t welcome at the hotel so she was on guard duty to make sure that the van and contents were safe.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 7, 2014
Brookings, OR to Fort Bragg, CA

We slept in this morning and left without breakfast, driving to the town of Arcata in California. Here we had a fabulous Italian lunch at Mazzotti’s on the Plaza which won the reader’s choice award in 2014 for best Italian restaurant on the north coast. We think that they deserved it. After lunch we did a bit of shopping at Caravan of Dreams and several other stores.

Next up was Redwood park and the Avenue of the Giants. Here the road is lined with century old redwood trees that tower above you in this old growth forest. We did a short hike through the forest and to a nearby river.

We’ve now left Hwy 101 for Hwy 1 which runs along the coast and we will be following this highway for the remainder of our trip to San Francisco.

Tonight we are staying at a small campground behind a grocery store just across from the Ricochet Ranch where we hope to go for a ride with Shirley’s friend tomorrow.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 6, 2014
Death Valley, CA to Zion, UT

The alarm clock rang at 4:45am without any mercy. We got up, dog Pepsi was at first confused and then mad! We left right away for our sunrise shoot at Zabriskie Point. It was worth the loss of beauty rest for sure.

Then we rushed to Badwater area, the lowest point in Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level. It is a huge area of salt crusts. Water dissolves old mineral and salt deposits from the sandy soil, then the water evaporates and a beautiful field of salt crusts is the result. The salt is a sure sign that this area was covered by ocean water at one time.

Artist Palette was still on our wish list but the morning light was simply not good for this area.

Back at Furnace Creek Ranch, Restaurants, Hotel and RV Park we had a great breakfast and another swim. Despite the fact that we would miss out on an evening shoot again we left to make it further east to Zion National Park and escape the heat which didn’t even let up during the night.

We made it to beautiful Utah and the Zion National Park. We took a shuttle bus through beautiful sections of the Zion section of the park and decided, New Mexico and Utah are our favourite states so far which we will visit again, hopefully soon.

We were able to get a spot at a public RV Park for the night, the RV Parks within the park were all booked up.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 17, 2013
Malibu, CA to Death Valley, CA

We left the Malibu RV Park at 11:55 since check out time was noon, otherwise it would have taken us much longer to say good-bye to the Pacific Ocean.

I didn’t even get a chance to put finger and/or toe into the beautiful blue water. But the drive through the mountains and sweet fresh local strawberries were a good alternative. We made it all the way to Death Valley, the colours in the rocks that evening were magnificent. We had a chance to photograph the white Sand Dunes at 42 degrees celsius. We were too late for a big shoot.

We checked in at the Furnace Creek Ranch RV Park, had a great dinner at one of the ranch restaurants and then a moonlight swim at the huge pool, filled with natural spring water right in the hottest desert in the US!

Evening late in the evening it was so hot that the restaurant sprayed waiting guests at the veranda with water mist which dried in seconds. Thanks to air conditioning in the RV we slept well.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 16, 2013
San Bernardino, CA to Malibu, CA

It was indeed the last day on Route 66 and we are still not sure whether this is a good or a sad thing. On the one hand we are free to choose our paths now, on the other hand we do not necessarily meet people all over the place with the same interest to share. But today was a great finale, meeting great people, seeing familiar sites and finally getting into lush scenery and at the end the grand Pacific Ocean in beautiful early evening sunlight.

We started the day by visiting the first McDonald’s Restaurant, founded by the McDonald’s Brothers and opened as the McDonald’s Barbeque Restaurant at 14th and E St. in San Bernardino in 1940.

1954 Ray Kroc received the permission to franchise McDonald’s and eventually bought the rights to McDonald’s in 1961. The original place remained in the hands of the McDonald’s brothers up to their retirement in 1968. Today the location houses the unofficial McDonald’s Museum, a section on Route 66 and one of the offices of Juan Pollo owner Albert Okura, who is the owner of the town of Amboy with its Roy’s Motel and Gas Station.

We had a chance to enjoy a great tour of the place with curator and artist Rory Murray and got a lot of inside information from Route 66 CA Board Member, collector, owner of Route 66 museum San Bernardino and star in many movies and documentations on Route 66, Danny Castro.

After so much info it was time for lunch -a big one since we skipped breakfast- and it was only fitting to visit Juan Pollo for the first time, since owner Albert Okura bought the McDonald’s location a couple of years ago to preserve it. Chicken was great and a lot of memorabilia in the restaurant and the connected Museum Route 66.

Off we went to see the California Theater.

Next was the beautifully restored Wigwam Motel, owned by Kumar Patel and his mother. Kumar gave us a tour and next time we definitely will spend a night in one of these Wigwams with its cozy rooms.

Finally we left San Bernardino, saw on our way towards Santa Monica “Bono’s Historic Orange” in Fontana, since we are after all in Citrus and Wine Country. We saw the barrel at Rancho Cucamonga but we didn’t have a chance to stop. Traffic was becoming a bit too busy to make frequent unprepared stops. Therefore, I took the image of the 12th and final Madonna of the Trail (our first though) from the car driving through Upland.

We did make two stops in Monrovia. One was for the famed but not so great gasoline station on Shamrock Ave.

The other for the Aztec Hotel, which seemed closed, but maybe only for the day. The outside is interesting because of its “Mayan Revival” architecture. Inside in the bar the fans in the ceiling are connected via belts.

Unfortunately we only drove through very busy Pasadena, but it is definitely a city we would like to stay in for a couple of days next time! And then, out of nowhere, we were in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

There was no stop possible and therefore the photographic impressions were made out of the driving or better snailing car. Then we came to the intersection of Lincoln and Olympic and with this to the official end of Route 66.

A couple of minutes later we drove along the beautiful Pacific on Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu, where we were lucky enough to get a spot at their RV Park. Even more lucky, we had a very nice young couple, Samantha and Chad, as neighbours and we spent a great evening with conversation and wine. They own a textile business and we can’t wait to try out their jeans: CRATE of California!

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 15, 2013
Fenner, CA to San Bernardino, CA

Could it be that last night was the last night we spent with the big boys at a gas station? Just in case I ventured out this morning to take a couple of pictures of the scenery.

We then we hit the road for a full day of desert sites in California. In Cadiz area we photographed graffiti on the remaining walls of a former tourist complex.

In Chambless the beautiful huge sign of a former restaurant called The Roadrunner.

In Amboy we visited Roy’s store and gas station and took a look at the small cottages under reconstruction. A man in the chicken business had bought the entire town and is trying now to revive the business.

We missed Bagdad, if it still exists, which gave the name for the German movie from the 80’s “Bagdad Café” or “Out of Rosenheim” but we did see the location where it was filmed after our lunch break. We had lunch in Ludlow at the Café with the former mining company town’s name.

Newberry Springs is the place where the movie “Bagdad Café” was filmed. The restaurant was the former “Sidewinder” but changed its name because of the movie to “Bagdad Café” in the 90s. We had a chance to talk to the very nice owner of the café, Andrea Pruett, who had bought the place together with her husband in the 90s. She is a screenplay writer herself but has little time to pursue this line of work because of her ostrich ranch and the café.

We continued through Barstow where we visited an antique market and stood in front of the already closed Route 66 museum. But we were tired anyway and proceeded to an RV park right in the city of San Bernardino. Since this part of the city is not one of the safest we decided to stay at the gated park, have a home cooked dinner in our RV and go for a walk. Tomorrow the trip from San Bernardino to Santa Monica will be our last day on Route 66. We are not sure whether this will be cause for celebration or whether it will be a sad farewell to a dear friend of 3 weeks.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 14, 2013
Williams, AZ to Fenner, CA

We left the RV park, drove one more time through Williams without stopping and went right on to Seligman with only one short halt to photograph a neat hair salon.

Seligman is as much alive as Williams but without the Grand Canyon action. It’s claim of fame is the fact that it is situated on one end of a 150km stretch of old Route 66 Mother Road from Seligman to Topock. Furthermore it is home to yet another Harvey House -now the Black Cat Bar- and to two iconic brothers, Angel and Juan Delgadillo.

Angel had a barber shop and is well respected for all his efforts to keep Route 66 alive.

Juan, who died a couple of years ago owned the Snow Cap Drive-In, which is still open, now run by his son who has a great talent to make people laugh, just ask for some mustard and you think you will be wearing it … and it was only some string popping out of the mustard bottle.

Well fed and happy with our little purchases we went on, passing through some remnants of villages, laughing foolishly about signs declaring these dusty valleys as flood zones and began climbing into mountain areas. At Cool Springs Camp, a neat store next to a camper with fake palm trees on its roof, we met George who is the distributer for Arizona of our favourite Route 66 Soda. Besides this job he is the man behind the counter of the Cool Springs Store with the pink cap.

The building was rebuilt for a movie set at one point and is now a great place for a chat, some ice cream but -at least when we were there- not for Route 66 Soda.

Off we went to climb the steep and narrow road through beautiful mountains to Sitgreaves Pass. What a beautiful view.

We then saw our first real former Gold Rush town, Oatman, or so we thought. There were buildings like in a Western movie, some for sale, the others open for tourists. Donkeys were walking through the street. The reason for this was, that once the Gold Rush was over, the working donkeys were let go and they took to the desert to live but come to town to be fed. The people who stayed after the gold mine closed tried their luck with catering to tourists. But at 6pm the bustling town became quiet. Donkeys and people left the place to go home and now it really was a movie set after the lights went out.

The gold mine is back in business though. We saw the operation and the warning signs that tresspassing was strictly forbidden when we came down the mountain on the other side.

We couldn’t believe it, we did make it to California, the land of milk and honey after all. But we really can feel for the Okies (refugees from Oklahoma, seeking work in California after the Dust Storms in the 19th century) who found yet another desert, the Mojave desert, after crossing the Colorado River. Their track through heat and desert would continue for a long time.

Needles, the first city we reached, is one of the hottest cities in the United States with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit frequently. When we drove through in the afternoon it was 42 degrees Celsius. Gas, which had been in the $3.59 to $3.89 range throughout our trip, was $4.99 in Needles.

We had enough for today. With no RV park in sight we stayed at the gas station of Fenner -the only thing left of this town- and even this gas station, close to the Interstate 40 but still on Route 66 is fighting for its life, as their signs made very clear to their customers. Gas was over $5.00 here.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 13, 2013