Day 34 Route 66

Dave finally persuaded me we can go north instead of south when we finish Route 66 in a couple of days so this morning he made appointments to get our solar panels and our anti-sway system installed in Oregon starting next week. Now we have deadlines to keep us moving. Still, by the time we got all that done, we didn’t depart Newberry Springs, California, until 10:45 a.m. 

Today’s train comment is about locomotive maintenance. The stack train had two shiny BNSF locomotives and a very dirty Union Pacific one. Does the BNSF not maintain borrowed power? Do they just want to look better than their competitors? I wonder why the difference?

There appear to be two items being harvested in this part of California. We went by an orchard with signs advertising pistachios for sale. Then we went by a field of solar panels with major power lines leaving it. I highly approve of harvesting the sun. We should be able to do that ourselves soon.

In Barstow, California, we stopped at the regional Bureau of Land Management office to see if we could get clarification about annual permits. The answer is no. Apparently each region is totally separate from the others and this region doesn’t have any permits other than charging $6 to stay in their official campgrounds. You can boondock (park off the road without any hookups) for free anywhere around here.  I expect to do more of that once we get our solar system.

Then we drove by the El Rancho Motel hoping to get a good picture of their sign. That didn’t happen either. A chinese restaurant has co-opted part of the sign which totally ruined the effect. And the really big sign way up in the air was backlit by the sun so that picture didn’t come out.

Then we went to the train depot hoping the Route 66 Mother Road Museum there would be open even though the literature said they wouldn’t be. They weren’t. But we did get these pictures of the former Casa Del Desierto Hotel, another former Harvey House.

Then we went to the Flying J and got fuel for the RV and for us. We spent time in their restaurant trying to blend my list of stops with Dave’s list of turns in the route. That should make things a little easier for me as navigator. Trying to bounce back and forth between the two lists has become too frustrating.

We passed a sign that said, “Buckboard Road” which made me wonder if the wagon seat known as a buckboard got its name from it trying to buck you off. We’ve been on some roads lately that tried to buck us off and those were “improved” roads.

We got to Victorville, California, in time to actually get into the California Route 66 Museum. They had a bunch of cool stuff including this teardrop trailer that was built by one of their board members from old plans. You used to be able to buy a kit to make these so the guy decided he should be able to build one. Inside the main body is all bed with a shelf at the head and a cupboard at the foot. The back hatch opens to reveal a kitchen.  Cool, huh?

We also saw this sign at the New Corral Motel. I’d like to see these neon signs all lit up at night but we like to be in camp and all hooked up by sunset so seeing them lit is not likely to happen.

We needed groceries again and there aren’t any WalMarts around here so we stopped at Stater Bros. in Hesperia, California, instead. They had a beverage container recycling center in their parking lot so we thought we were going to get rid of another bag of cans. But California refunds deposits on cans so the place is only open when it is staffed. Guess what? Right.

So now we are in the Desert Willow RV Resort in Hesperia where I plan to exchange my books before we leave. I hope they have some good ones here.

TTYL,

Linda