Route 66

 Itinerary

1 Home to St Claire

2 To OK City, OK

3 to Edgewood, NM

4 to Petrified Forest to Flagstaff 

5 to Williams

6 to Grand Canyon and back

7 to Redlands

8 La Brea tar pits

9 to Morro Bay

10 - 15 Oakley 

16 to Utah

17 to Nebraska

18 to home

June 1

Left at 1 pm with Isabella Hamlin dog-sitting. Got gas in Hannibal. Drove to St. Claire on backroads we remembered from dropping off one dog and picking up Ronan. Got a hotel. Got dinner from Gibby's and a beer from the smoke shop next to the hotel.

June 2

Ate the hotel breakfast and took a short drive to Meramec Cavern. Had a tour with just us and the guide. Large rooms with lots of speleothems in the deeper parts. Shows sign of a long term private cave: broken straws, etc.

Drove to Uranus Fudge Factory. Bought some trinkets and took photos. Drove to St. Robert and ate at the Route 66 Drive-in. Very period appropriate. Good food. 

Drove west on I-44, exited onto the actual Route 66 in Oklahoma. Intended to stay at the hotel at Harrahs casino, but it doesn't exist because it hasn't been built yet. Ended up spending the night at a nice Sleep Inn in Oklahoma City. Saw the first scissortail flycatcher at some point.  Had dinner at Mexican restaurant next to hotel.  El Cuervero. Very good.

June 3

Drove I-40 west into Texas, where the environment really dried out. Stopped at Buc-ee's in Amarillo, had lunch and bought trinkets. Stacey drove for awhile and I woke up as we passed into New Mexico. Cholla and creosote bush, some pinon juniper woodland. Stopped at Comfort Inn in Edgewood. Hot tubbed. It rained and we went to pizza barn for dinner.

June 4

Drove west to Arizona. Stopped at the border for kitch Indian craft shops. Continued to Petrified Forest National Park. Ate at the visitors center.  Drove the route and saw long vistas, petroglyphs and fossilized logs. Many logs for sale outside park. Drove to Flagstaff with a big slow down for construction on the way. Checked in to Sleep Inn. Had dinner at Sizzler. Very disappointing. 

June 5

Had a nice breakfast at the hotel. Went thrift shopping. Bought some bike stuff. Drove to Williams. Huge car show in progress. I walked it and took many photos. Ate lunch at Subway and went to a garage sale. Back to the hotel to relax and prepare for tomorrow. Had a delicious dinner at Rod's Steak House across the road from the hotel. Walked the strip and bought a few things.

June 6

Breakfast at the hotel and drove to the railroad station. Saw the cowboy show.  Rope and whip tricks were good, but the rest was bad comedy. Took the train to the Grand Canyon. Saw a pronghorn on the way. Guitar player came through each car and sang a few songs. Got on the bus and went to the buffet. Bus took us to a couple of overlooks. Took lots of photos. Saw some mule deer and elk.  Walked to El Tovar. Took some more photos on rim. Then took the train back to Williams. Fiddle player entertained us a bit, then there was a literal train robbery, as the cowboys from the show shook us down for tips.  We got ice cream at DQ. Car show was still ongoing. Back to hotel. 

June 7

Breakfast at Carl's Jr. Terrible. Day old biscuits, buttered on top! Drove West on 40. Saw a 3-semi wreck. Another semi driven out into the desert. Just west of Kingman, Saw a guy lying on the shoulder face down. Stacey called 911. Got gas in Ludlow for $7.15/gal. Took 15 south at Barstow. Stopped to eat at In N Out Burger. Super crowded. Food was good but they got Stacey's wrong. Arrived at Dave and Evelyn's about 2. Hung out and talked. Went to dinner at State in downtown Redlands. Very good. Had ice cream at a liquid nitrogen place. Also good. Evelyn gave us a driving tour of Redlands architecture, including gnome houses.

June 8

Went to La Brea tar pits. Bad traffic on the way and a GPS diversion. Very nice museum and it was great seeing the actual pits.  On return did a lot of photography in Dave's yard. Had dinner outside. Smoked brisket.

June 9

Drove west to Ventura and up coast. Stopped at Carpinteria beach and got tar on our feet and shoes. Stopped at Morro Bay for the night. Motel 6. Drove down to photograph the rock. Dinner on the dock with sea otters.

June 10

Great breakfast at a donut shop. Drove up 101. Stopped at a couple of places to take photos. Moonstone drive for tidepools and seals. Pulled over for elephant seals. Video of fighting. Squirrels everywhere.  Herd of elk on east side of Highway 1. Turns to narrow 2 lane. Got flipped off. Stopped 4x for construction. Saw an eagle. Ate in Pacific Grove. Up the 101 to San Jose, then over to Livermore. A whole bumper in the road. On to Brentwood. Met Savannah and family at the Airbnb. Mike and Cindy came over. Ordered Red Robin delivery. Grocery shopping. 

June 11

In the morning Stacey and I went thrifting, but the stores were pretty bad. I got a couple of LPs and a plastic container to keep them in. 

In the afternoon I went out to the ranch with Mike, Marlene and Racin. Many of the buildings are in disrepair. A hawk made a nest in the rafters in the middle of the hay barn. I collected many owl pellets. The figs were not yet ripe. We went to see uncle Ray and heard many of his stories. 

That night Stacey made spaghetti. Racin, Rebecca, Mike and Marlene came over.  

June 12

We went to the Fitzgerald Reserve just south of San Francisco. It was essentially closed, so we went south to Moss Beach. Mike, Cindy, Racin and Rebecca met us there. Walked down to the beach. There were some tide pools with periwinkles, sea anemones, limpets and hermit crabs. I fed a periwinkle to an anemone. There was the decaying remains of a whale on the shore. The kids played in the sand. We ate at the Moss Beach Distillery. I had cioppino for the first time in over 40 years. It was amazing.

I fell asleep on the way home. Woke up with a strong urge to poop. We pulled over in some neighborhood and I shat between the van and a hedge. Much hilarity ensued. 

June 13

Bike ride with Mike and Jacob. Big Break and John Marsh home.  Took a dip in the pool. Mark and Mike came over and we talked. Ate leftovers. Took a short nap and went to Mike's for waffles and beans. Kids played with bubbles.

June 14

Relaxed in the morning and went over to Mike's for a BBQ. Mark and Alex came, Tim and his family, Marlene & Melissa, Racin & Rebecca. Ate well while the kids and dogs played. Went back to the air BnB. Mike, Racin and Rebecca came over to eat leftovers. We played games like Thanks a lot!? And laughed hard. 

June 15

Took another bike ride with Mike, Jacob and Racin. Rode the big overpass and a lot of other little trails for 26 miles. Came back, showered and Mike drove me to El Gallito to pick up lunch. It was great, except there was salsa on Stacey's tacos, ruining them. 

Anthony Roza came over and we had an informal ranch meeting with Mike and Marlene.  I learned some interesting things about ranch history and a potential mechanism for cashing out.

June 16

We got up early, went to a donut shop for breakfast and hit the road. Ran into some traffic in Sacramento, but otherwise a lovely drive through the Sierras. We made it to Salt Lake City.

June 17

Got breakfast at the hotel and drove into the Rockies. GPS routed us around a traffic jam on 80. Saw pronghorn in Wyoming, a fox in Nebraska.  Great scenery, but windy as hell in Wyoming. Stopped in Sidney, Nebraska for Cabelas, but it was disappointing. Nearly ran out of gas after we left. Made it to a gas station in Chappell with 15 miles to spare. Passed the Sram truck and trailer.  Spent the night in North Platte.

June 18

Drove through the outskirts of Omaha, through a tiny bit of Iowa and into Missouri.  Ate at a McDonalds.  Driving west on 36, I had to poop pretty badly.  We stopped on a side road and I befouled a corn field.  Judging by the underwear lying in the ditch, I wasn't the first.  Turned north on 15 then west on 156 to get home.  Dogs rejoiced. 

Midamerica road trip bingo card

Ozark

Hillbilly

Heartland

Jesus

Going to hell

Ambulance chasing lawyer 

Gun rights

Armadillo roadkill

Adult store

Megachurch with huge cross

Bible verse on truck

Vehicle in ditch

Trailer missing wheel

Antique mall

Religious radio station

Candy or fudge shop

Roadside memorial

Sketchy gift shop

Sketchy zoo

Giant statue

Mullet

Cowboy

Bo

Buc-ees or Wallys

Out of context reference