CA to MA day 3- Pasdena CA to Needles CA

Today we left Pasadena and joined route 66. We are following a combination of an open street map with a GPX of route 66 on it, a paper map especially for route 66 and a book because there are several iterations of the route, as it changed over time.

The drive out of LA from Pasadena towards San Bernardino started off really well, and we already saw lots of iconic signs. However, after two hours of constant traffic lights, we ended up cutting off a short section of that part of route 66 to keep our sanity, and joined I15 for a short distance, unfortunately, we also missed another short section of route 66 which we should have joined.

Our first actual stop was in a tiny town called Victorville where we stopped for lunch at an old route 66 diner called Emma Jean's Holland Burger Cafe. We shared a 'Brian Burger' which was recommended in the book we have. It was a great recommendation! It was a really well cooked tasty burger - so glad we shared it as it was enormous! There was a typical bar to sit at and an open cook area. The staff were super friendly too.

This was the original soap dispenser in the bathroom (which you could only access from outside)

Only a short distance up the road, we stopped at Elmers Bottle Tree Ranch, and wandered (with Dot) amongst the eclectic collection of 'bottle trees' adorned with all kinds of antiques. It's one of those places you could take hundreds of photos because they are all so delightfully 'odd'

I'm sure Dottie wondered what on earth was going on!

Our next stop was only 10 miles away at the Calico Ghost town. This gave us a proper opportunity to walk Dot a bit further, and although it was a bit cheesy, Dick took some great photos.

The next stretch is where the landscape changed most significantly as we drove through the Mohave Desert and hardly saw any cars at all on route 66. Just like in the 'Cars' movie, the Interstate 40 runs parallel to it in so many places. We also came across the Amboy Crater , and Dottie got yet another walk. I love this photo of her:

This was also where we saw the first of many double-decker trains with probably 100 cars on them, and had to play a bit of a game of 'chase' with them as route 66 crosses the tracks in several places, so you have to hope you don't get there whilst one of the truly long ones is passing through.

Unfortunately, we also came across a section of route 66 that was closed- we think due to bridge repair, so we were forced back on to I40 for about 30 miles. It had also started to rain, so it wasn't a huge hardship, but we have been disappointed that we have missed three small sections of the road today, although there are still many more miles to go.

Dottie is coping really well, she has had several walks today and seems happy so long as she is with us. Tonight was her first night in a hotel! Here she is eating a chew...