Saturday was the final stretch. At least the final stretch of Route 66 and taking our time to get nowhere in particular. 154 miles to Santa Monica, California. It is my least favorite stretch of Route 66 for many reasons. Mainly because it means we are nearing the end of what has been one of our greatest road trips ever.

All Things Large

Once again we are seeking out all things large on this journey. And California did not disappoint in this regard. We found the old Bono’s historic orange stand. Located right along Route 66 in an area now populated with shops and restaurants instead of the orange groves that once stood there. You could just pull over and grab a fresh squeezed orange juice for the drive. Could have gone for that this day.

Car Shows Anyone?

We happened to drive by a car show happening in the parking lot of a restaurant called the Sycamore Inn Steak House. Hundreds of cars filled the lot and there was sign stating the show was sold out. It brings up an interesting topic which is of course synonymous with Route 66. Old cars.

While we have a huge car and couldn’t possibly make this trip with a smaller convertible, it’s nice to know there are stretches we’d enjoy going to back to in an old classic car.

I even read on the E-Z Route 66 Facebook page that every first Friday night of the month in the summer everyone gathers in their classic cars at the Launching Pad in Wilmington, Illinois. My dad would have loved it. Although, we probably would have stopped at each and every one he saw until we were sick of it.

Short Miles, Short Day, Right?

No one ever said California driving was easy. The Route 66 portion in California is no exception. As we started to near the end, we started to get antsy. Do you smell the salty ocean air? Yes! It’s only 5 miles and 2 hours away.

Ben and Ava handled it all so well. They asked Tom to roll down their windows so they could ride in style with their hands hanging out.

Finishing out on a Saturday may have been a slight miscalculation for this trip. I have never seen so many people congregating in one area in my entire life. Except maybe Woodstock 1994. Close. Very close.

People insane. Parking insane. But we made it!

The sad truth is Santa Monica wasn’t our final destination for the day. We still had to drive another two hours to Our hotel in Anaheim. But, the sunset that night was beautiful and totally worth the drive.

We even got fireworks to mark the end of the Route 66 trail right from our hotel balcony.

Can you guess where we’re headed next?

Carving routes