It's been a few years. Things have happened. A flirtation has developed into a marriage and when that happens, travel can sometimes slow down. Well, I'm back baby! (Babies if anyone has joined my mother in reading this silly thing.)
This summer's first trip is down memory lane for American travel enthusiasts. I speak of the Mother Road - 66! This is my first time attempting the whole thing though I have done bits and pieces of it at other times. Since I have hit a few of the highlights before I will be skipping them this time around. I have a deadline and life is too short to repeat stops. Unless you really want to.
It's been awhile since I hit the road alone and it was a bumpy start. I didn't get out the gate until LATE. I accidentally left my wallet and "work bag" (filled with my computer, guide books, chargers, etc.) at home. I managed to lose my parking garage ticket almost as soon as I got to my first destination - the Santa Monica Pier. This is the official "unofficial" end to 66. The technical end point is a little farther north because highways tend to end in other highways and not just drive off into the ocean. However, as Ian at 66 to Cali pointed out to me today, most of the people who drove '66 back in the day had never seen the ocean before. They weren't about to turn north to hit the official end when the beach was so close at hand. And what a beach it is.
Today Santa Monica (the pier and the beach below) was exactly how it is in the movies. Full of families out for an afternoon. Kids shrieking as the waves rolled in. Kites stock still in the air as though they were hung on invisible pegs. A violinist playing Yesterday between a street preacher and a tamale vendor. The ocean sparkled. I kid you not - sparkled. Everything was perfect - including the lime phosphate I got at the soda fountain on the pier. It made me feel so much better about the bumpy start.
Leaving the pier there was an awful lot of '66 ground to cover before I even got out of LA. On the edge of West Hollywood my husband was kind enough to meet up with me and bring me all of the gear I left behind. He is kind of awesome that way.
LA doesn't really honor '66 much. It is one of the few towns that thrived without the road. Swallowed it up and made it mundane. In this respect you have the one case where it's not until you get outside of LA that you get to experience the weird and wonderful. Neon. Oversize statues. Mom and Pop shops with gimmicks galore and everyone knows everyone else. People who know the road call it a linear village. I have a feeling that by the end of all of this I will know exactly what they mean.
I am starting at the end. Traditionally people drive '66 from Chicago to LA. It gives you something to look forward to - the beach, the warm, the glamour. That's not how I am doing it. Instead I am leaving LA behind and heading to Chicago. I've never been there so its a fun place to head toward. I am also heading toward home. Family. Friends I haven't seen for far too long. And I'm leaving LA behind for a bit. I know it'll be okay. My husband is keeping it warm for me.
Sometimes what a girl needs is a big bag of cameras.
My mother would be very upset if I DIDN'T take this photo
Seriously beautiful day
The End...or is it The Beginning?
Hhmmmm...don't think that dirt is really that appetizing
Madonna of the Trial. There are 12 of these across America. You'll be seeing at least 1 more.
Yes, this neon sign does have a live flame.
There was a rooster statue inside the ladies restroom. Clearly, that needs to be documented.
