Saturday, 6 June 2009. Over the continental breakfast in the lobby I had a lovely chat with the young couple from Italy. They were heading for the Grand Canyon, and I suggested, they drive route 66 all the way to Williams before heading up to the Grand Canyon.
Taking Route 66 I wended my way through Needles, up I-40 for short while, then off onto the old road. It was warm but not hot under a mostly sunny skies. I turned off US 95 and headed down Goffs Road. While this was not quite as lonely as I expected, it was pretty empty. Nothing but desert for miles in all direction.
I stopped in Goffs to take a couple photos of the restored schoolhouse which was built in the mid teens. I believe the town has 13 people living in. From there I drove to Fenner where I got some gas, a full tank is a good thing in the desert, and had a nice chat with a couple from just outside of Sydney, Australia. The wife enjoyed not only The Lord Of The Rings but the Upfield novels as well. Obviously, they’re very nice people. The husband had to take a picture of me with my car and license plate.
I pressed on to Essex for a few photographs but along the way I did stop and if not smell the flowers at least photographed them. Haven’t the faintest idea of what they are but they’re quite pretty. Maybe somebody can take a look at my picture and tell me what the flower is other then some flowering weed along the road.
From Essex it was a long slow drive over a low pass and then a straight shot into Amboy. I did get a nice photo of the road stretching off into the far distance as they came around the bend down from the pass. There is a lot of lot of nothing out there. However, it is still very pretty in a desolate way.
I stopped that Ray’s in Amboy for a snack. I learned that it was open seven days a week and I could’ve gotten gas there rather than in Fenner. However, I spent a delightful period there chatting with the various people who had also stop there. There was a couple from France, a number of people from within 100 miles who decided to drive or bike out, and an American taking a couple friends from Germany out to see the desert and Roy’s in Amboy. This was topped off when about 25 biker showed up in the were doing a bike tour from LA to the Grand Canyon and back. Members of the tour were from all over Europe and the UK. I gave the tour leader the e-group card and mentioned this company should take an advert in the Route 66 Pulse.
I had decided to make this a short day and headed back around 1:30. Back at the motel I watched the Belmont, to some e-mail and relaxed. I eventually wandered over to the adjacent Denny’s for dinner. My motel key got me 10% off the price. After dinner I puttered on the computer for a while and made a couple phone calls. I was able to contact my friend Kim in Mira Loma and arranged to crash there on Tuesday night. From there I could backtrack and finish off a portion of 66 I still needed to cover. This also means that the meeting of the “Tasty Mongols’ Horde” would be on Thursday evening, 11 June.
True to my intent I actually not only got into bed but turned off the light well before midnight. Tomorrow more desert, the Bagdad Café and Barstow, California.