Route 66 - Part III - End of the Trail

Desert Route 66 Signage

The final four states on our journey were Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Some of the weirdest stops we made were in these states, there was everything from dinosaurs eating mannequins to Cadillac's half-way buried in the ground.

The landscape changed throughout the trip and each state had it's own charm. From the lush green states of Illinois, Missouri and Kansas; we entered the plains of Texas, deserts of New Mexico, red rock of Arizona and ultimately the Southern California desert and beaches. All had their own beauty and it would be difficult to pick the best state on the route.

After leaving Oklahoma and the Big Blue Whale we headed into Texas...
 
Texas: Cadillac Ranch, The Route Midpoint, and Bates Motel Signs
Texans most certainly have a sense of humor; we found giant roosters, Bates Hotel signs, and a "ranch" full of Cadillacs buried half way up in the ground. Shamrock, is the first town you enter when you cross the border from Oklahoma. Shamrock is the home of a restored Conoco Gas Station, this station was the inspiration for Ramone's Body Shop in the movie "Cars". It has a great art deco look and is now home to the Shamrock Chamber of Commerce. 

Patrick and I at Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch is located outside Amarillo, where it has a number of Cadillacs buried half way in the ground. Visitors are encouraged to spray paint the cars so they are continually painted and repainted. The area is a sea of empty spray cans and wet paint, the amateur artists don't always keep to the buried Cadillacs, so if you ever go, be careful of the fence, gate and trash cans, nothing is off limits to the painters.  Cadillac Ranch also provide the inspiration to the Cadillac Range backdrop to Radiator Springs in the movie "Cars".

Adrian, Texas is the midpoint of the route. We stopped in hopes of having some pie at the Midpoint Diner and meeting Fran, the inspiration for Flo in the movie "Cars", but they were not open. They did have an old truck you can sign, although there isn't much room for new signatures.

New Mexico: Capitol Building, Neon Signs, Giant Dream Catchers, Desert Sunsets
On the route there are a few sections that branch off and you can take a couple different routes. In New Mexico the older portion of Route 66 travels through the state capitol, Santa Fe. This route was removed early in the life of Route 66 and diverted for a more direct route through New Mexico. We opted to include this section because Santa Fe looked like such an interesting place to visit and is home to one of the oldest buildings in America (500 years old). 

A dear friend of mine went on countless family road trips with her dad who took his family on a journey to visit every state capitol in America. I can't say that I've visited every capitol, but I have visited a number of them and I must say that the Santa Fe Capitol building is incredibly beautiful and unique. It is built true to the state architecture in adobe style. The building is circular and we were able to walk completely around. The grounds are green and lush with Native American artwork placed throughout. Just seeing the capitol building and local adobe architecture made the detour worthwhile.

Tucumcari Classic Neon

We spent the night in Tucumcari which is a town that is working to revitalize their main street. The Blue Swallow Motel with its murals and striking neon sign were a memorial to years gone by. That night we cruised the main street, had a wonderful dinner at Del's Restaurant and watched the Disney "Cars" movie in our motel room. I must say it is moving how breathtaking the New Mexico desert is at sunset. 

Arizona: Oatman Burros, Bed Bugs, Dinosaurs, Mannequins
The Arizona portion of the route is alive with funky towns, Burma shave signs, giant dinosaurs and wild burros. Again we opted to take an older route through the Black Mountains that started in Kingman and ended in the old town of Oatman. Patrick definitely talked me into taking this road, it's a narrow road with a shear drop off, not my favorite type of road, but I must say we were rewarded by some amazing views. Additionally, on this stretch we saw a giant tiki head, an old ghost town and a family of wild burros wandering the freeway outside of town.

We had our first (and hopefully last) experience with bed bugs in Flagstaff. When we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express, Patrick sat down on the bed only to notice a strange bug on his pillow. After we caught the bug in a Ziploc bag and searched the Internet, we confirmed that the bug was indeed a bed bug. This was a first for us, and I'm grateful that Patrick saw it immediately upon entering the room. We quickly "bugged" out and headed over to another hotel. I did take a picture, but I won't post this to the blog - because they're yucky.

Patrick & Caitlin at Snow Cap Drive In

Probably one of the most famous towns on the route is Seligman, Arizona. Seligman has the famous Snow Cap Drive-In with its funky artwork - toilets with flowers, a vintage car decorated for Christmas with the top down and Santa riding in it, and  a number of vintage automobiles. We loved it all!

Yes, we did stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, just like the old Eagles song "Take it Easy." They have a guy with a guitar statue and a flatbed Ford. Eagles music plays from the gift shop on the opposite corner and t-shirts, signs and trinkets are available for sale.
 

The London Bridge, Lake Havasu

We took a side trip from Route 66 to visit the London Bridge. Yep, the real London Bridge can be found at Lake Havasu, Arizona. It was sold in 1967 to Robert P. McCulloch for approximately $2.5 million and he brought it over piece by piece. We heard in London that it was in Arizona, so we drove off the route to check it out - an interesting landmark in the desert of Arizona.

California: Bottle Art, McDonald's Museum, Wigwams, End of the Trail 

Our Wigwam, San Bernardino

We spent the initial leg in California traveling through the Mojave Desert. There are interesting man made items in the desert including shoe bushes, rocks shaped into names and old gas stations. Probably the most intriguing is "bottle ranch" which is the home of the artist, Elmer. He created bottle trees all over his property, each pays tribute to a variety of themes. I can't even imagine the hours he spent to creating his art.

After the journey through the desert we stayed in San Bernardino at the Wigwam Motel. We enjoyed our stay at the motel which was a group of tee pees. The decor inside the tee pees was western with stagecoach wheel headboards. The next day we headed over to the McDonald's museum before making our final trek to the Santa Monica Pier.

You travel through some of the most beautiful southern California towns on the route including Pasadena, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. In true Southern California fashion, we spent quite a bit of time in traffic. We found the End of the Trail sign at the pier, visited the Route 66 shop and enjoyed the amazing beach scenery. 

Closing

Santa Monica Pier!

We ate at some fantastic restaurants, met some wonderful people, and saw some beautiful country. An interesting fact is that the majority of the Route 66 travelers are foreigners. Apparently it is very popular to come to America and journey the route. Not something I would've expected, but at various times through our trip we found ourselves surrounded by foreign travelers. 

They come from all over the globe, in Seligman a bus pulled up and a group of 30+ folks got out all speaking French, in the Mojave Desert at a little diner, we counted five different languages being spoken at the various tables (none were English) and upon arriving at that diner we had to navigate through a biker group from Brazil. Such a funny fact that just added to the richness of the trip!

It is too bad that Americans don't travel the route more and I encourage anyone that finds themselves in Route 66 area to take the slower route, even only for a portion of the journey - you won't be disappointed.  While there are a number of good books on taking the route, our recommendation is "Route 66: EZ66 Guide For Travelers" by Jerry McClanahan.  Done in a triptych style and very easy to follow and find all those cool sites.

You can find our photos from Texas to California along the route here: Final Photos.

So as quickly as it started, our journey along Route 66 came to an end... but oh what a journey it was and one we won't soon forget.