Total Miles Traveled from Chicago to Santa Monica: 2,677
Total Travel Time: 80 hours, 21 minutes
Total Number of Pictures Taken: 1,042
Number of States Driven through: 10 (+2 more on the way to Chicago)
Number of State License Plates Seen: 46 (only missed Hawaii, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Washington D.C.)
Number of Native American Plates Seen: 2 (Miami Nation and numerous varieties of Cherokee Nation)
Number of non-USA Plates Seen: 5 (Canadian Provinces: British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec and Mexico State: Jolisco)
Number of Souvenir Pennies smashed and imprinted with a design: 5
Number of priceless memories: Too numerous to count
Final Day (Post-Route 66):
We made a surprise stop at the local Fry's Electronics - a store I've heard legendary stories about for years but have never been inside as the nearest one to me is a four hour drive. This particular Fry's was tricked out with a movie-set-like space alien theme - complete with 3-D UFO projecting out of the front of the building and a giant octopus inside (it's arms supported shelves). Very odd.
We then took a leisurely drive through Topenga Canyon out to Malibu for a delicious lunch on the beach at Paradise Cove. Everyone else was chilly - they'd even fired up the electric heaters on the beach dining area where we ate!) but I thought the weather was (finally!) PERFECT. The food was excellent (and large) even though the rice almost killed me. Who puts mango in RICE?? (Yes, I am allergic to mango, Yes I know that is weird.)
Spent some time walking on the beach and exploring the tide pools with their blue urchins, sea stars, and sea cucumbers.
The afternoon consisted of driving around the LA area and seeing the sights - Rodeo drive, Beverly Hills, etc... I had no real desire to get out of the car and actually walk around LA - not really my sort of town - I'd rather be on the beach with the sea life! But it was cool to see a lot of places I've only heard of.
We enjoyed a light dinner with a friend at the famed Canter's Deli - I swear the matzoh ball in the soup was the size of my head!
Then it was back to the hotel to pack for my flight home.
I haven't posted pictures I took today in this blog as they are not technically part of Route 66 (nor did I include any of today's numbers in the totals above). I will likely post a few in the coming days on my Project 365 blog.
It was a wonderful trip - one everyone should undertake at least once I think - it's a great way to see a great deal of the country!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Day 10: Victorville, CA to Santa Monica, CA
Miles Traveled: 108
Travel Time: 7 hours, 20 minutes
Pictures Taken: 74
While there aren't very many miles between Victorville and Santa Monica, traffic in the Los Angeles is indeed, legendary. Plus we took some time to walk on the beach and see some of the sights in the area. I did not take pictures of many of the cliche things most people take pictures of when in LA. I was more interested in the ocean!
However, one of the first things I saw was this sign on a building:
We stopped to see the LaBrea Tar Pits at the Page Museum.
I was a bit disappointed that they don't allow you to watch an active dig site, but they did have one pit "open" for viewing behind glass. I am going to have to re-watch the Dirty Jobs episode they filmed there! There are statues of mastodons outside in a tar pit:
Inside the museum are lots of skeletons dredged up from the tar pits. This one is a bison:
They also have a "fishbowl" where scientists and volunteers work behind sound-proof glass on cleaning and sorting bones that are found in the tar pits.
On the ledge of their workspace are several origami animals - my favorite is this mastodon:
After the Tar Pits we visited Farmer's Market. Which is also an outdoor mall with overblown architecture.
Then we drove to the ocean! The unofficial end of Route 66 is where Santa Monica Blvd meets the Ocean (or at Ocean Blvd). There is a statue of Santa (Saint) Monica herself in a heart-shaped grassy area.
The ocean was pretty and the seagulls were huge!
The buildings in the area are also pretty cool:
The OFFICIAL end of Route 66 is the corner of Olympic and Lincoln, which is sadly not marked with any Route 66 signage, but does have a sign with a large penguin on it. Sigh.
At any rate, the ocean was pretty despite the haze obscuring much of the surrounding mountains. It's been a great trip! Tomorrow we stay in the LA area and see some more sights.
Travel Time: 7 hours, 20 minutes
Pictures Taken: 74
While there aren't very many miles between Victorville and Santa Monica, traffic in the Los Angeles is indeed, legendary. Plus we took some time to walk on the beach and see some of the sights in the area. I did not take pictures of many of the cliche things most people take pictures of when in LA. I was more interested in the ocean!
However, one of the first things I saw was this sign on a building:
I was told there would be no math!
There WAS, however, a Starbucks on almost every corner! Yay! This one was the most ornate I saw:
I was a bit disappointed that they don't allow you to watch an active dig site, but they did have one pit "open" for viewing behind glass. I am going to have to re-watch the Dirty Jobs episode they filmed there! There are statues of mastodons outside in a tar pit:
The grounds are quite prettily landscaped and the surrounding buildings have interesting architecture. None of which mitigates the overwhelming scent of tar. Pee-yew!
"Rawr! I'm a Saber-Toothed Tiger!"
They also have a "fishbowl" where scientists and volunteers work behind sound-proof glass on cleaning and sorting bones that are found in the tar pits.
Beyond the mall is a more traditional market with vendors selling every imaginable comestible. Including a store that sells nothing but varieties of hot sauce, mustard, and marinade. From the level of the parking garage we parked in, I could see the CBS studios and one of their back lots. I'm not sure what show all the props are for.
Then we drove to the ocean! The unofficial end of Route 66 is where Santa Monica Blvd meets the Ocean (or at Ocean Blvd). There is a statue of Santa (Saint) Monica herself in a heart-shaped grassy area.
The OFFICIAL end of Route 66 is the corner of Olympic and Lincoln, which is sadly not marked with any Route 66 signage, but does have a sign with a large penguin on it. Sigh.
At any rate, the ocean was pretty despite the haze obscuring much of the surrounding mountains. It's been a great trip! Tomorrow we stay in the LA area and see some more sights.
Day 9: Williams, AZ to Victorville, CA
Miles Traveled: 411
Travel Time: 8 hours, 58 minutes
Pictures Taken: 66
Today was a rainy day in the morning. We went back to Route 66 for a while and stopped at some small towns that try to capitalize on the Route 66 phenomenon. Case in point is Seligman,CA. There were a couple of incredibly cheesy stores with Route 66 memorabilia for sale and incredibly tacky displays.
Travel Time: 8 hours, 58 minutes
Pictures Taken: 66
Today was a rainy day in the morning. We went back to Route 66 for a while and stopped at some small towns that try to capitalize on the Route 66 phenomenon. Case in point is Seligman,CA. There were a couple of incredibly cheesy stores with Route 66 memorabilia for sale and incredibly tacky displays.
We needed gas, so stopped at Kingman, AZ. The gas station with the best prices was a place called Terrible's. It must be a regional chain, but still. Who calls themselves Terrible's?
While in Kingman, we HAD to stop and try the famous Mr. D'Z Route 66 Root Beer. The diner was a bit full of itself and also full of not-quite-sane people. At $2.50 a bottle, however, one would have to be insane to buy it very often. We each tried a bottle - the jolt from the high-fructose corn syrup was quite the energizer!
There wasn't much to see for most of today. Just lots of desert and mountains and trains.
Since we were passing through, we decided to drive into the Mojave Desert Natural Preserve. There were some caves there to tour but as we'd already done caves on this trip and the tour was 90 minutes, we decided to pass. There were a ton of cacti and stunted palm trees and it was VERY windy!
The wind even scours the rocks!
On our drive out of the preserve, we saw some longhorn cattle just munching away on the side of the road. There were no fences and we'd seen signs warning of cattle crossing, so it shouldn't have been such a surprise. But it was! They were a little spooked when I insisted on stopping to take their photo. The one on the far left is hiding - it was very scared and ran away.
We stopped for the night in Victorville, CA which is a bit north of the LA area. Tomorrow it's a fairly short drive into LA and on to Santa Monica to find the end of Route 66 and the Pacific Ocean.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Day 8: Williams, AZ to Williams, AZ via The Grand Canyon
Miles Traveled: 160
Travel Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes on the road; 11 hours at the Canyon
Pictures Taken: 255
The one and only thing we did today was see the Grand Canyon! It was hotter than expected (though much cooler than the canyon floor). The heat, combined with the altitude meant we were exhausted very quickly. Water was available for purchase (and at $1.99 for a 1.5L bottle it was a bargain) but it was room temperature, which quickly warmed to near-boiling.
We were at the South Rim of the park, which appears to be the more popular rim. I assume that the pictures I took below look nearly identical to everyone else's photos of the canyon, but it was my first time there and I was in awe. I just kept snapping away. (I'm writing the summary first then just posting the pictures below so you don't have to wade through them if you don't want to.)
We took shuttle buses for the majority of the time, which was fine until the late afternoon when they were standing room only. The main thing we learned on the buses is that the ratio of Americans to non-Americans at the Grand Canyon is approximately 1:1. At one point on the bus, we heard conversations in no less than five languages at once (none of them English)!
Because I had toted along my tripod, I was asked at almost every viewpoint to take someone else's picture - I need to start charging! We did see some wildlife along the rim - including a cute little squirrel and a very nonplussed deer.
At the end of the day, we drove about 36 miles beyond the entrance point to the Eastern entrance point to the Watchtower area to watch the sunset. The guidebooks all claimed it would be less crowded. They lied. It was quite crowded and VERY noisy - although we noted that the only loud, obnoxious children running around were the American children. Sigh. But the sunset was beautiful! There were clouds and a far-off storm across the canyon which made for some glorious colors!
We arrived back in Williams at 9:30 pm and pretty much crashed. Tomorrow we're off to California!
Deer!
Travel Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes on the road; 11 hours at the Canyon
Pictures Taken: 255
The one and only thing we did today was see the Grand Canyon! It was hotter than expected (though much cooler than the canyon floor). The heat, combined with the altitude meant we were exhausted very quickly. Water was available for purchase (and at $1.99 for a 1.5L bottle it was a bargain) but it was room temperature, which quickly warmed to near-boiling.
We were at the South Rim of the park, which appears to be the more popular rim. I assume that the pictures I took below look nearly identical to everyone else's photos of the canyon, but it was my first time there and I was in awe. I just kept snapping away. (I'm writing the summary first then just posting the pictures below so you don't have to wade through them if you don't want to.)
We took shuttle buses for the majority of the time, which was fine until the late afternoon when they were standing room only. The main thing we learned on the buses is that the ratio of Americans to non-Americans at the Grand Canyon is approximately 1:1. At one point on the bus, we heard conversations in no less than five languages at once (none of them English)!
Because I had toted along my tripod, I was asked at almost every viewpoint to take someone else's picture - I need to start charging! We did see some wildlife along the rim - including a cute little squirrel and a very nonplussed deer.
At the end of the day, we drove about 36 miles beyond the entrance point to the Eastern entrance point to the Watchtower area to watch the sunset. The guidebooks all claimed it would be less crowded. They lied. It was quite crowded and VERY noisy - although we noted that the only loud, obnoxious children running around were the American children. Sigh. But the sunset was beautiful! There were clouds and a far-off storm across the canyon which made for some glorious colors!
We arrived back in Williams at 9:30 pm and pretty much crashed. Tomorrow we're off to California!
This is Kolb Studio - once a haven for artists, now a gift shop.
The Colorado River looking a bit muddy.
Squirrel!
Hopi House
The Watchtower
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)