Day Nine. It’s a Friday; but, I’m starting to lose track of that on the road. No commute. No real traffic. We are heading out of Needles on our way to San Bernardino. 245 miles. A rather light day of miles again. It can be officially classified as one of the best days on the Route. Of course, they have all been the best of days.

There are only two more days until we reach the end of 66 in Santa Monica. And I can’t believe how well Ben is handling all the driving.

Days Gone By

The early part of our ride took us through Amboy, CA, via a slight detour on the highway thanks to our stop in Chandler, OK. If you recall from an earlier post, we stopped in Chandler to meet with the author of our Route 66 guide and artist Jerry McClanahan.

Jerry kindly took the time to update our maps to show us where we could no longer drive due to closures and update previously closed sections that have reopened. This was very helpful.

Amboy was pretty much where we rejoined 66. We opted to skip the Amboy Crater hike for a later start. It was already HOT by 8am! That didn’t stop us from snapping a picture though.

This stretch of road from Amboy to Newberry Springs is desolate. There is not much around.

A few stops here and there like the old Roy’s Cafe for a quick photo op.

Lots of ruins and old signs that left evidence that there was something here long ago.

Another thing to note is the lack of phone signal. Zero. This happens a lot along our route so be sure you carry a back up set of maps!

A Thriving Ghost Town

Even if we didn’t have two kids in tow on this trip, we would have taken this side trip diversion off Route 66 to the Calico Ghost Town. Ever since I saw that 1971 Brady Bunch episode “Ghost Town USA” I’ve wanted to visit a ghost town.

This one isn’t deserted, nor is it all that rustic, but it’s still fun. Calico is about 25 minutes off Route in Daggett, CA. It is a California State Park now so everything is in beautiful shape. There was much more to do than our time allowed, but I think we managed to see a lot in that time.

We had lunch (complete with some rustic flies), a short train ride, a small walking tour of Maggie’s silver mine and the kids even panned for gold.

If you’re short on time I would probably avoid the sit down service for lunch as it does take a bit of time to get through despite the food being great.

There was souvenir shopping. Ben and Ava even got to see posters printed the old fashioned way and each got there names printed on a Sheriff poster.

The one thing we had to skip out on was the old time photo shop. You know the ones. Where you force your children to dress up in old time clothes with you and pose for a sepia-toned photo? That’s the one. My sister and I were a little disappointed; but, it gives us a reason to go back.

And in any case, she had the great idea to buy a Polaroid camera to go with the kids’ journals and the pictures that came out of that have their own old time look to them. Such a great idea. A sample is below.

The Bottle Tree Ranch

Our last required stop for the day was the Bottle Tree Ranch. A huge spot of land that serves as a canvas for bottle art right off the side of Route 66. There’s no structure or requirements as to how you walk around. Just follow whatever captures your interest.

I ran into this piece quite a few paces in but it reminded me of my Grandpa Reilly who collected glass telephone insulators. Especially the blue ones.

Ben and Ava didn’t quite see the place as a work of art. But it sure was a great break for a hot, long drive.

In any case, I think it ended up being a fun stop along the way that I would definitely do again.

A Spectacular Sunset Stay

Our final stop for the night was designed for Ben and Ava. Who wouldn’t want to spend the night in the famed Wigwam Motel? We were prepared for a stay in what we thought would be a little rundown motel with uncomfortable beds. Boy were we wrong! This place was great! It was the best night of the trip.

The Wigwam is being lovingly cared for under its current ownership. This is a very nostalgic place for That authentic Route 66 feel.

We decided to hit the pool and ordered pizza for dinner instead of heading out to find something else.

As with everything on this trip, we wish we could stay just a little bit longer.

If your own plans don’t find you staying st the Wigwam, at least stop in for a glance. They have a small gift shop that has some real gems.

Carving routes