The hit song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” and a television program named after the route were both very popular in the ’60s. I remember both and am happy to say I was able to be part of the Route 66 experience, even though I missed it’s hey day by several decades.

From shortly after we started in Chicago on April 19 I had said it was the best road trip ever.

We left Harvey House in Barstow, California, leaving history and moving on to quirky, my favorite part of this route. About three miles west of Helendale we found Bottle Tree Ranch, a fenced area filled with steel trees that hold thousands of multi-colored glass bottles. As I meandered through the “park” I found old signs, typewriters, a scale and a tricycle, as well as a pair of pick axes, a gumball machine, and much, much more, a scrapper’s paradise.

As has been the case with much of the route, trains ran alongside the Mother Road, in this location the Santa Fe and Burlington Northern Line. My husband was in his glory and as always, pointed out every GE locomotive. I guess when you’ve worked at General Electric for 35 years and you’ve sat on those iron beasts doing security work once they leave the fenced area awaiting pick-up, you have a right to that passion. They are still scary in my eyes, even though I saw more trains on this trip than I had seen over my entire lifetime.

David and Diane Shatto met us at the end of our trek with a Certificate of Completion. The EZ 66 Guide was a gift from them.

Victorville displays an End of Historic Route 66 sign, but all real fans know it ends 100 miles to the west. Don’t ask me why, but we drove around the block to get a picture of the bogus sign anyway.

We actually spent another night in a cement tepee, this time in Rialto, California. If you have been following this journey, you may remember this was the last set of Wigwam Motels built, one of two on Route 66. There were 19 tepees at this location with the office being a larger tepee, unlike the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona where an old gas station served as the office.

Azusa’s Foothills Drive-In Theater is gone, but the large two section marquis remains, serving as a community board listing local events. At this point, Route 66 runs along the San Gabriel Mountains for several miles. Foothills Boulevard passes through many towns, towns with reminders, new and old, that one is traveling on Route 66. Many relics are left from the 40s, 50s and 60s. After traveling several miles with nothing more than a few curves, the route takes a turn north, then again to the west. We passed through an older section of Pasadena on Colorado Boulevard admiring the architecture of buildings that have stood since Route 66’s infancy. It was nice to see a store from the Michael’s chain inhabiting an older multi-level structure.

Finally, we were guided to join an older divided six-lane highway, the 110 Freeway, for nearly eight miles. Once we reached Santa Monica Boulevard, it was stop and go through traffic lights during rush hour traffic. I missed getting a good shot of the Beverly Hills sign, but unlike other times, we didn’t go around the block due to traffic and a desire to get to the end.

The smiling faces of David and Diane Rutland Shatto were awaiting us at the Santa Monica Pier parking area. Diane lives in Los Angeles, but grew up in Jamestown and was my Little Sister when I was in my mid-twenties. She and David spent a couple of hours with us in late December of 2014 while visiting family in Jamestown. They brought us the EZ 66 Guide for Travelers by Jerry McClanahan after learning we had aspirations of traveling the route one day.

We couldn’t have done it without Jerry McClanahan’s EZ 66 Guide for Travelers.

The Shattos presented us with a Certificate of Completion noting we had traveled all of Route 66, something many do, but most in smaller segments rather than in one fell swoop. From there we got pictures with the “real” End of Route 66 sign, pressed a penny, had dinner at Bubba Gump and walked the pier where I spoke to one last business owner at the very end of the line.

John Bolaski has had the Santa Monica Pier Last Stop Shop with his partner for 25 years. He says they get more and more tourists every year, mostly foreigners.

“The Germans really like it. Motorcycle groups will come in and say, ‘We did it. We did it!'”

“In the summer you can’t even walk on this pier. I started out as a bait and tackle shop, but Robert Waldmire came in and sold post cards, etc,” Bolaski said. “I rode on it when I was four years old when we moved from Detroit to Santa Monica, California. I was five years old when my mom first brought me to this pier and I haven’t left for seventy years.”

We said our good-byes to Diane and David and returned to our vehicle.

We had arrived! The Jerry McClanahan autographed “EZ 66 Guide 3rd Edition,” our constant companion, had survived four weeks and over 2,400 miles with nothing more than some cherry juice stains, mostly on Arizona page 15. I guess I must have been driving then.

I had read that it takes a week to drive Route 66, but two weeks is better and four weeks is best. I feel we did it best on the best road trip ever! Although it had plenty of quirky roadside attractions, it is so much more than that. The homes, businesses, livelihoods and families made up The Main Street of America.

Some have asked if we were disappointed to see it come to an end. During the first half of the trip, I thought I would be sad to leave Route 66. As we neared the end, I was anxious to complete it and move on to the second leg of our journey.

We spent four and one-half weeks on the return trip east. While driving the Pacific Coast Highway, we saw a beach full of sea lions basking in the sun, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and saw the giant Sequoias while visiting Muir Woods. We visited Lake Tahoe, Grand Teton National Park and Young Living Essential Oil’s Herb Farm and Distillery, the largest in the world. We saw Old Faithful and could have reached out and touched a bison, although not planned, in Yellowstone National Park. Devil’s Tower and Mount Rushmore were two more stops on our adventure, as well as Mall of America, The Corn Palace, Badlands National Park and House on the Rock.

Route 66 was the best road trip ever and the return trip east was the icing on the cake!

My “cruise” resulted in the odometer of our mini-van (I mean Corvette) registering 9,420 miles more than when we left home eight and one-half weeks earlier. We sent approximately one hundred post cards, mostly to grandchildren. My husband only picked up 86.4 pounds of maps and pamphlets, thanks to The State of Arizona closing some of their Visitor’s Centers.

Thanks for riding along with us!