The alarm goes off before the sun rises… We have 700 miles
ahead of us and a deadline to get there… my nephew is throwing a party, and we
are invited… We are due at 6:30… This
gives the trip a sense of urgency… It becomes a time and distance problem…
We are mostly packed, so throw the things in the Jeep, and
head out… it is exactly 6:00 am (or not…) We travel approximately 1,500 feet
and pause at the Starbucks for coffee and food…
then east on Hwy 46…
Within a mile of Hwy 101 we pass a sign saying no services
for the next 50 miles… 25 miles out of
town we pass through the “James Dean Memorial Intersection”… We would have paused for a photo but it was
still dark… Sunrise comes as we start over the top, and head into the Central
Valley… we pass through the Lost Hills oil field, a industrial wasteland in the
style of Mad Max… Here we pause for a photo.
Soon after we reach Interstate 5 and turn south… There are wisps of valley fog, most rising
from irrigated fields or in one case from an irrigation ditch… It is wonderful and a bit surreal… We pause
for gas in Buttonwillow… someone figures
out the Jeeps clock is 4 minutes slow, and we accept the first of the time
penalties of the trip…
Soon we pass the sadly misnamed Best
Western Hotel (More on them in a later blog)while
before climbing the Grapevine, out of the Valley.
After miles of hypnotizing straight rcads, climbing up the grapevine, with extra lanes, very slow trucks and RV’s and curves is its own form of excitement. We passed but didn’t pause to visit Fort Tejon, a 19th century cavalry fort, with a stable for camels. Once upon a time the US Army had a Camel Corps, traveling and patrolling the southwest. Also on site is the grave of the fur trapper Peter Labec (more likely Lebecque), with“PETER LEBECK / KILLED BY A X BEAR / OCTR 17 / 1837” carved into an oak tree. Most of us don’t associate southern California with the Cavalry, fur trappers and such, but this if fact was the history of this place.
After miles of hypnotizing straight rcads, climbing up the grapevine, with extra lanes, very slow trucks and RV’s and curves is its own form of excitement. We passed but didn’t pause to visit Fort Tejon, a 19th century cavalry fort, with a stable for camels. Once upon a time the US Army had a Camel Corps, traveling and patrolling the southwest. Also on site is the grave of the fur trapper Peter Labec (more likely Lebecque), with“PETER LEBECK / KILLED BY A X BEAR / OCTR 17 / 1837” carved into an oak tree. Most of us don’t associate southern California with the Cavalry, fur trappers and such, but this if fact was the history of this place.
Beyond the Fort and the mostly abandoned
town of Lebec, we reach the pass at Gorman
and drop down the ridge route past the Pyramid Lake full of Northern California
water, while reservoirs in Northern California are dry…
We take I-210 around LA, pausing
at San Bernardino, to visit We could stop at Original McDonald's Site, Museum…
It is a privately run museum (by
the gentleman who founded the Juan Pollo chain), honoring both McDonalds and
Route 66 (its located on Rt 66) It is pretty silly… the original building is gone, but the sign
remains. Inside the building is a miss-mash
of McDonalds and local memorabilia. Outside are some wonderful murals, more memorabilia,
and behind are a couple of Juan Pollo gag delivery cars. The Museum is free… I don’t know if I would
visit again, but I am glad I have visited… Address: 1398 North E St., San Bernardino,
CA
Back on the road, we climb towards Beaumont
Pass. We are now checking the phones
(our Android phones are smart, and will calculate and re-calculate the time
from where we are to Tuscon… ) to check progress… So far the phones say we are
good for an on time arrival.
At the top of the pass at Cabazon,
Steph snaps a photo of the Dinosaurs of Cabazon… said to be the world’s largest
dinosaur statues… The place has changed
greatly over my life time… it once was a deserted bleak place with only a
Hadley’s Nut store… Apparently Hadley’s
is still there, but overwhelmed by an Indian Casino, wind mills and other
development.
By now its 1:00 and we needed to stop for lunch so we get off the freeway and head for Shields Dates… It is pretty old school, with hand painted signs and a dirt parking lot, now surrounded by subdivisions… a little island of the past… We have lunch in the café… then buy a date milkshake for the road and a box of dates… pick up gas and hit the road eastward.
By now its 1:00 and we needed to stop for lunch so we get off the freeway and head for Shields Dates… It is pretty old school, with hand painted signs and a dirt parking lot, now surrounded by subdivisions… a little island of the past… We have lunch in the café… then buy a date milkshake for the road and a box of dates… pick up gas and hit the road eastward.
Traffic is heavy, with trucks passing trucks and trucks
passing RV’s… the phones continue to say
we are doing well… We pass General
Patton Memorial Museum… Chiriaco Summit, CA we didn’t stop… Note… if driving this way,
this is the last gas before Banning…
We cross the Colorado River, and
the border with Arizona at Banning… at take a 1 hour time penalty as we enter
the Mountain time zone… The phones
still think all is well…
We leave I-10 at Buckeye, and head
south towards Gila Bend and I-8… The route is a bit longer but you avoid Phoenix
and possible traffic issues… We picked
up gas in Gila Bend, then headed to Tucson…
We arrived almost 5 minutes early at 6:25… after 702 miles and 11 hours
and 29 minutes on the road…
We were here for a family
gathering… Starting with my nephew’s
party that evening… followed by a birthday party for a sister in law the next
day…
The ladies had responsibilities
associated with the party. This left me
Saturday with the nephew to explore… we hit a used bookstore on 4th
street with success… we went in search of John Dillinger’s tommy gun… Dillinger
was arrested by the Tuscon Police at the Congress hotel… the gun is on display
in the lobby of Police Headquarters… sadly this was a Saturday, and the Police
Headquarters were closed… but we could see the tommy gun on display through the
window… Having seen (at a distance ) the tommy gun, we headed south to Mission
San Xavier, one of the most beautiful of the Spanish Missions which are found
across the southwest… Then, with time running out we stopped for a beer at
Thunder Canyon Brewing before heading to his place to pick up his mom and head
for the party…
Now Sunday… The party over, we got up a bit later, took Steph to the airport to fly home, and hit the road north on part II of our adventure… We stop for gas Picacho Peak, so check out the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Farm… It was not inexpensive, so we skipped it… I note that Picacho Peak is the site of the western most battle of the Civil War, but we didn’t go in search of evidence of the battle either…) then through Phoenix, through Glendale (where the 49er’s were playing the Cardinals in the last game of the regular season… and a win would get us into the playoffs…) We may have seen people and cars in red, for red is the color of choice for fans of both teams… People were starting to arrive as we passed the stadium… tailgater’s were in evidence…
Now Sunday… The party over, we got up a bit later, took Steph to the airport to fly home, and hit the road north on part II of our adventure… We stop for gas Picacho Peak, so check out the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Farm… It was not inexpensive, so we skipped it… I note that Picacho Peak is the site of the western most battle of the Civil War, but we didn’t go in search of evidence of the battle either…) then through Phoenix, through Glendale (where the 49er’s were playing the Cardinals in the last game of the regular season… and a win would get us into the playoffs…) We may have seen people and cars in red, for red is the color of choice for fans of both teams… People were starting to arrive as we passed the stadium… tailgater’s were in evidence…
Beyond Glendale (and possible
traffic issues) we stopped for lunch… then continued North arriving in Kingman
about 2:30… we checked in to our motel, then headed up to the Powerhouse/Rt 66
museum. The neighboring Mohave Museum
was closed (yes, there are two local museums within a block of each other…) The
Power house museum has the famous (if strange) “3,333.33 Feet Above Sea Level Marker Afterwards, dinner, and to bed… with bloging…
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