Wooden Sleepers

Oh! It’s over. Three years planning, two weeks travelling. 2448 miles and ‘suddenly’ we are at Santa Monica Pier and the sign saying end of trail.  ‘Trips of a lifetime’ are like that.  Brilliant in preparation and execution but a bump at the end.  Always a good idea to have another project at some level of preparation. 

The trip has been wonderful . The friendships excellent. The banter unmatched.  The relaxation - as  you have witnessed – just what the doctor ordered.  We have stories now to bore you with for years to come. We have experiences that will last us a lifetime. We have adjusted our ‘concepts' of Route 66 and all it entails to reflect the travelled reality.

Virtual reality has moved on too. We each recall how, as I mentioned, we pondered in San Francisco in 1999 how electronic media would develop. Twelve years on the reality of having virtual travellers with us on this trip has been a unique experience. Thank you for sharing the trip with us.

Who knows where we will all be in another twelve years. How far will the virtual travelled have progressed by 2023?  

We know at least one virtual traveller on this trip stayed rooted to Spot despite the fact that today was a long journey and we did not reach the end until  about 8pm  this evening. This was due to extraordinary traffic for over 50 miles into LA, and a diversion to Hollywood that took longer than we expected.

Today was again one of many variations. And for clarity, can I say we have been through the desert on a horse with no name. Indeed 288 horses in the GMC Acadia: which we resolutely refuse to call anything other than ‘the car’. Sorry Sandra!

The Acadia, though, was excellent: really did a great job. Excellent choice, not one complaint. Even managed to squeeze it into the Hilton garage tonight when we set the alarm off for having a ‘too high’ vehicle. Again Seamus' quiet assurance that these are only suggestions and not requirements helped.  I ducked down and kept moving slowly forward. Brendan was not  entirely reassuring when he recalled a black Mitsubishi with a roofbox getting wedged in an underground car park. Anyway we got parked  tonight no problem.  Checked in.

Jill got smart too at the finish. Though it was  hoot taking us off the Interstate in the dark and then putting us back on just to see how we could cope with fast moving LA traffic at night. HaHa. We allowed her her little joke as she had so done so well for all of 66. Mind you we will check her settings just  in case she tries it again.

Why not just check the car back in? Dunno. Need a bit of time just to think what to do over the next couple of days. LA and Hollywood very spread out.  Checking public transport options now as we type. We have abandoned Seamus’  flip flops but he has been upgraded.

Otherwise today we headed off in baking heat in the desert.  Coolbox got plenty of use.

We retraced our track a bit after we shot past the ‘bottle’ forest, but were glad we made the effort to see it.

We stopped at the Summit Inn for our first break and enjoyed  Malts all round: Brendan is a convert.  Once over the Cajon Summit the world started to change. Not quite what we expected but no longer desert.  That's one of the reasons to travel: no amount of reading gets you the full experience of actually seeing the area in reality.

About half way through our day we paused at the Tepee Motel (Concrete Tepeees – looked nice enough) and the manager sauntered over, picking at his cigar as he looked knowingly at us. Want to have a wander around? ,he asked.  No thanks, just have a look we replied. You guys hoping to reach the Pier today, he smirked. You have at least 4 and a half hours ahead of you.  Why? (Jill said less than 2). You’ll see, he commented, adding – I give this speech every day – as he sauntered off.

He was right. We immediately encountered traffic lights and traffic. All the way for the next fifty miles. The Route 66 we had come to know and love was gone. Obliterated by modern life. The real world was forcing its way back into our lives.

We sought release in Hard Rock Café, Hollywood. Ah,bless Hollywood. Always good to help escape reality for a few hours.  When we left, Jill assured us it would be half an hour to the end. She lied. Progress was agonisingly slow over these last few miles. Darkness had fallen by the time we heard the wooden sleepers of the Santa Monica Pier beneath our wheels. We were over the Pacific and  66 had completed its Route.

We have a few days here then it’s back to family and friends. We look forward to seeing you in reality again.  

Seamus, finally , is happy with his five hats.

Meanwhile this Blog ends here. It's 2 a.m. on the Pacific Coast on Saturday 7 May 2011. The lads are asleep: I'm wrecked! If there are typos in this Blog you will have to excuse them: it has been proof read by the other 2 up to this.

Thank you and goodnight.