The End of the Trail

The last 175 miles between Barstow, CA and The End Of The Trail (Santa Monica Pier) was bittersweet for us.  Once we hit San Bernadino, the sprawl of LA was evident and fewer and fewer old 66 can be found hidden amongst the stop lights, endless strip malls, and many cars.  But let's begin at the beginning of our last day on the Route (May 23). 

Casa Del Desierto, Barstow, CA

Before leaving Barstow, we visited the Casa Del Desierto.  Formerly a Harvey House, it has been beautifully restored by the community and houses the Chamber of Commerce and a Route 66 Museum.  Sadly, the Museum was closed (weekend hours only), but we did chat with a friendly Chamber staffer and wandered around the building.  We also tried to visit the Route 66 Museum in Victorville, but alas it too is only open on weekends.  A goal was to visit all of the Route 66 museums as each has unique perspectives - we were sorry to miss the California 66 museums.

A favorite stop of the day was at Elmer Long's Bottle Tree Ranch which defies description, but I loved the craziness and creativity of Mr. Long.  Quite windy as we drove south of Victorville through the San Gabriel Mountains and along the Swarthout Canyon - dang, the yuccas are massive here!

Just a few of the bottle trees!

We stopped for lunch in Rancho Cucamonga (just because it's fun saying that), admired the very cool neon in West Hollywood, cursed the hundreds of stop lights, and arrived at the Pier about 6:30 pm.  We celebrated our accomplishment with a hike down the Pier, a chat with Mat at the Route 66 kiosk, and a photo op.  Whoo Hoo, we made it!

3,074 miles; 20 days; 30 giants; 5 Rt 66 museums; 20+ historic bridges; 19 geocaches; great eats (a horseshoe at The Ariston, Cozy Dogs; catfish at Clanton's, green chile cheeseburgers at The Owl Bar; The Turquoise Room's chocolate souffle; carne adovada at Joseph's); and 7 exceptional Route 66 motels - all add up to an adventure we'll never forget.  The wonderful people we met along the way (Visitor Center volunteers, motel owners, shopkeepers, wait staff, and fellow travelers) contributed to the uniqueness of this trip.  Thanks aren't complete without mentioning our trusty EZ66 Guide for Travelers by Jerry McClanahan - an excellent turn by turn guide.  Our Route 66 experience was greatly enhanced by our side trips to visit friends and family, and our heartfelt thanks are sent out to Sue and Don Gardner, Becky Angell-Borowski, and Tony Stefani.  We loved visiting with you all!  

As of today's date, our blog has had 1,368 views.  We send out our sincere thanks to all of you in the US, Switzerland, Taiwan, Russia, Germany, UK, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore who have traveled along with us to see our great country.  We also appreciate those who have patiently waited through The End; as I said in the beginning, it's been bittersweet.  Sad that it's all over but a trip of a lifetime for a mother and daughter.

 

Happy Trails and Until We Meet Again! 
Susan and Caitlin