Route 66

I returned from the Route 66 trip on September 11th and I'm only just getting to post about it now.  Many apologies poppets.  A number of things conspired to keep me from you - Book Fest, Accounting, Work and mundane things like cleaning the bathroom.  Here follows a brief breakdown of the highs and lows that was The Mother Road.

Chicago

Day One: Mississauga to Buffalo to Chicago (by road and then air)
AnCe, Jadek and myself climb into AnCe's car and make our way to Buffalo, where we catch our half-price plane to Chicago.  It's amazing to me that the 40 minute drive has us $300.  Each.  I LOVE my hometown, where if I fly straight home, I'm in my PJ's within 30 minutes of landing (with no connections!) and where, if I'm being cheap, I can cross the US border and catch a plane to anywhere in the States for half the price.  Anyway, we land in Chicago (I marvel at how, really, all airports look exactly the same) and are reunited with Nish, who had landed the day previous, coming from Madagascar (!!).

Day Two: wander around the beautiful Bean Town, with its amazing architecture and yummy food.  Th boat ride is a great way to explore the City.  We pick up our car rental (Nissan Rogue) after almost ninety minutes waiting for it.  At least we get a $250 "discount" (i.e. we're not charged for the extra two drivers).

The Bean (or Cloud Gate)

Day Three: early start to see the Bean (aka Cloud Gate) in Millennium Park.  I absolutely LOVE it.  I want to take it home as a souvenir and plonk it down in the Commons near my house.  Alas.  We pack the car and begin the search for the official beginning of Route 66; after 45 minutes (!!) of driving in circles we find it... barred from access by construction.  I laugh so hard I'm easily crying.  We do find a historical marker as a substitute, so that works out.  Today's final goal is Marshfield, Missouri by way of Lincoln's tomb.  849 kms later, we're there - after 2200 hours.  We also learn the Pontiac lesson today: do not trust any R66 signs that have dates - these are merely senseless detours.
Day Four: we gotta drive through 4 states today, to get to Amarillo, Texas.  On our way we;
- hear Deliverance banjo music in some fields on a detour in Missouri trying to find Laura Ingalls Wilder's home. 
- give money to two firefighters in Kansas
- get pulled over for speeding in Oklahoma (thank State Trooper Hoyt for the warning!)
- visit the ghost town that wasn't known as Texola
- discover the "!" light on our dashboard in on - flat-ish tire gets pumped.
- check into the Big Texan Ranch motel.
At the end of the day we gorge on a HUGE steak and thirteen free side dishes, drink out of our plastic boots and sleep the sleep of the dead.

Day Five: after a rainstorm, the temperature drops from the average 100F we've been experiencing to a chilly 59F.  Today we hit the mid-point of the Mother Road in Adrian, Texas.  Postcards gets sent.  Main destination today is the White Sands national Park in Alamogordo, New Mexico where there will be sand sledding and beautiful dune action.  Check into our hotel in Roswell and keep the blinds open to catch any UFOs that may happen by.

Day Six: lots of driving today, with a stop at the 66 Diner (Albuquerque), the Petrified National Forest and a certain corner in Winslow Arizona.  Nish is ignored by the sheriff despite a four-way blinker stop on an off-ramp. Checked into the "haunted" Montevista Hotel in Flagstaff.  After a night of weird thumps and banging, we've decided it's just poor soundproofing.

Day Seven: today we do some SERIOUS driving.  We get to Monument Valley (Utah) - amazing! - and then decide, what the heck, we'll got to Four Corners as well (meaning we'll touch Colorado on this trip as well).  This is a serious detour, as flagstaff is only about 30 minutes away from our final destination - Grand Canyon.  AnCe does some fancy pedal work to make it into the Canyon for sunset.  that night Jadek encounters wildlife that will drive him to drink.  Good times.

Day Eight: early start to catch sunrise (in PJs) and then pack the car before getting in amazing breakie at  the El Tovar and heading out to hike the rim.  It's really really hot but we decide to start the mile marker zero and walk all the way back.  I make it to the Abyss before I call it quits (lucky me, I hiked from the Abyss back to town last year).  We get to the car and our annoying slow leaking tire is now completely flat.  Ruh-roh.  No service stations in the canyon.  But the Parks  guys must service their vehicle somewhere.  45 minutes and $15 later, our tire is repaired and we're on our way...Vegas, baby!

Bellagio, Las Vegas

- One very scary U-turn later and we're checking into the Bellagio.  Our grimy selves are completely out of place in this beautiful lobby but there's no time to take it in - we have show tickets for 2230 and it's already 2115.  We're strategising bathroom usage when we open our Suite doors and discover absolute luxury - five bathrooms and seven TVs, two bedrooms a  dining room, living room and kitchen.  This place is bigger than all our arrangements combined!  We change, run over to Bally's (very Ocean's 11-esque) and sit in our front row Jubilee seats.  That night, much giddy drunkenness ensues due to a combination of very strong drinks and very weak wills.

Day Nine: Shopping at the South Premium.  After a trip to the sketchy liquor store, I spend the evening in a bubble bath to end all bubble baths while the rest catch the O show.  A slow day is a nice change from the hectic.

Day Ten: breakie at Bellagio.  Back on the Road, this time to San Bernadino.  Decide to skip changing cars in LV as the tire is holding up nicely.  We skip Death Valley and hit up the Mojave (nice!), Amboy crater (skip it!) and drive through Joshua Tree (where I'm pulled over by a Park Ranger).  Lose 6600 feet in altitude before checking into the Wigwam hotel.  This was the worst neighbourhood on R66 and when we think on what we left behind just that morning, it's kinda heartbreaking.

Day Eleven: we skedaddle at 0700 to get to LA asap.  After a typical heart-clogging breakfast, it takes only about an hour to make it to LA proper.  First stop, the observatory for a pic with the Hollywood sign.  Then, \wWe grab a too-early lunch at Gordon Ramsay's London, West Hollywood, which is so delish that we clean our plates despite not really being hungry. Then it's off to the Santa Monica pier - it's beautiful and we can't really believe that we're here, after 7774.7 kms!.  We take off our shoes for walk along the beach results in being tarred (eww!) before we head back to car to find our hotel and drop off the rental.  Unsuccessful attempts at removing the goopy gross black stuff I picked up on the soles of my feet on the beach.  I'm afraid my shoes are ruined.

Day Twelve: early start (0500) to start the long trek home. Flying from LA to buffalo via Atlanta (20 minutes to change plane - quickest connection ever).  Home by 1900.  Exhausted, happy and with no intentions to murder AnCe. Nish or Jadek.  Trip declared success!