Route 66 Barstow, CA to Upland, CA

Route 66 Adventure

Day 6 Afternoon

Barstow, CA to Upland CA

After Dennis and I had our yummy lunch at The Route 66 Pizza Palace in Barstow, CA, we headed West.

As we came to Helendale we saw Polly the Parrot. Polly was the mascot for the old “Polly” brand gasoline. Don't the prices make you want to cry for the days gone bye.

A little ways outside of Helendale we came across the “Bottle Tree Ranch”. The “Bottle Tree Ranch” is Elmer Long's artistic creation, composed of countless colorful bottles arrayed on “trees” mixed with 66 signs and other artifacts.

Next we encountered the “Iron Hog”.

East of Oro Grande was a tight squeeze thru a narrow 1925-era RR underpass.

Farther west but still in Oro Grande we came across the Cross Eyed Cow Pizza Restaurant  with a unique cow up on the roof.

A wonderful 1930 “Modified Baltimore Truss” Bridge carried us over the Mojave River. Did I ever mention I love bridges? Yep, I do. I think they are beautiful and fascinating.

 

 

 Continuing on through Victorville.

 Next we head west for the Cajon Pass. It was hard to take pictures of the Pass, but I tried the best I could.

 In San Bernadino we came across another Wigwam Motel. The California Wigwam Motel was built within the city limits of San Bernardino in 1949.

Dennis and I stopped for the night in Upland, CA.  We were hungry so went to Connals where we had a delicious turkey burger with all the fixins plus avocado.  YUM!

Be sure to come back for more of the Route 66 journey tomorrow.  Day 7 when we make it all the way to Santa Monica.


Have a wonderful day,
Charyl
My Web Page

Route 66 Needles, CA to Barstow, CA

Route 66 Adventure

Day 6 Part 1

Needles, CA to Barstow, CA

We were up early and headed out. 1^st I wanted to see more of the Needles murals. We had spotted them the night before but it was too dark to really see them or take pictures. If you haven't gathered it before I love murals on building and walls.

 

Next we headed West out across the Mojave Desert. The view of the mountains was beautiful.

Every so often we would see some desert flowers. Beautiful in the midst of sand.










It seemed like the road would go on forever.

Somewhere between Essex and Amboy we viewed 2 white Chinese type statues.  I have encountered an article about these statues.  The article actually uses the above video.  How cool is that.  Click to read the article HERE

This was in front of the statue.

 

Also between Essex and Amboy is the “Route 66 Public Art Corridor”. Hundreds of travelers have written their names with rocks, bottles and other various items on the dirt berm along the north side of 66.  The one to the right says my granddaughter's name Kyleigh.  Pretty cool.

More lovely mountains as we headed West.

I really wanted to see Bagdad Cafe. We tried 2 different roads trying to get to Bagdad but

both roads were closed. Since my son Jay was in Bagdad the very beginning of the war in Iraq I wanted to see the cafe to take a picture of it. Unbeknownst to us, the cafe had been moved to Ludlow and I was able to get my picture and text it to Jay.

Saw a few old run down places along the way.One motel pictured here.






Headed into Barstow, CA where we planned to eventually stop for lunch.

We spotted Roy's Cafe which our book said was in Amboy. What we found out was Juan Pollo Restaurants owns, operates and is in the process of restoring the historic town of Amboy. But at the moment the Cafe in located in Barstow. For more information about Roy’s Café, Amboy, Juan Pollo, and Route 66 visit the Juan Pollo Website.

 

Barstow had more murals. Love the murals. I should do a blog just about all the murals we saw on Route 66. A blog for another time.

We finally stopped for lunch at the Pizza Palace in Barstow.  Definitely good and we left all filled up!

Look for the next blog for the continuation of Day 6. Barstow into Upland, CA. Hope you are enjoying reading my blog as much as I am writing it.

Have a wonderful day,
See you next time,
Charyl
Mom's Web Page

Route 66 Kingman, AZ to Oatman, AZ to Needles, CA

Route 66 Adventure

Day 5 Part C

Kingman, AZ to Needles, CA

After lunch we again headed West towards Oatman, AZ. The drive was beautiful.

 

West of Ed's Camp the road got really hairy. Hairpin curves, switchbacks and sheer drops come quickly. There is a definite lack of guard rails. The drive made me a bit nervous.

Video taken at the Sitgreaves Pass. 3550 feet high.

After the top of the pass we drop back down to Oatman, AZ which is a town all of it's own out in the middle of nowhere. Again I wish we had time to just explore.

 Again we head West to CA.

Had this welcome to AZ sign as we left AZ. Go figure. 

On into Needles, CA where we spent the night.

I love My Murals~

We had a fun filled day. We were tired!!

More on our adventures tomorrow.

Have an awesome day,
Charyl
My Web Page - Check it out!