Traveling America's Mother Road

September 19

2010-09-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it! Yeah God!! Sorry we couldn't get the info to you before this, but we left LA late last night and traveled through the Mojave during the night--much cooler. Then we were detoured today because of the big wildfire here in Utah. We are now at a McDonald's in Richfiield on our way to Green River and the Arches National Park tomorrow (hopefully). Just wanted to share a couple pictures of the end of our journey (we had to take the car photo in a hurry because we were parked illegally in a city bus pull out (no other place). Blessings all, and thanks for making this journey with us.

September 18

2010-09-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

Well everyone, we are getting close now... we can almost smell the ocean! We are in San Bernardino, CA, home of the original McDonald's restaurant (of which I have no picture!). We began our day early again, around 6, motoring west out of Kingman, AZ, over what I believe is the most memorable stretch of road so far (and probably will be of the entire trip). We took the old route through Oatman, AZ, which sits at 2700 ft elevation. We had to climb Sitgreaves pass (3550 ft), which took as right around one and one-half hours to go 22 miles. Curvy, hilly, switchbacks, narrow, drop-offs with no guard rails, etc., etc., etc. But we did see a couple of roadrunners, a few family of quail, some jackrabbits, and five longhorn sheep (we snapped a picture of three of them, see if you can find them!). The town of Oatman itself looks just like it probably did about 150 years ago... check out main street! And then it was on through the great Mojave Desert, and still no air conditioning. Barb says it gave her a whole new understanding of "roasting the Pastor." Tomorrow should be the end of our trek, for we are hoping (after attending church with our friend Bob Rip) to close out the journey at the Santa Monica Pier. Look for those pics tomorrow. And thanks again for riding along with us.

September 17

2010-09-17T19:06:00.001-07:00

Greetings everyone,

We began the morning early, to escape the desert heat. That meant we actually had jackets on and the heater going in the car when we started at 6am. We ended the day sweltering in 97 degree heat as we motored into Kingman, AZ. Needless to say, we are NOT camping again tonight... the AC in the motel room is just too good to pass up! But once again, the beauty of God's creation just astounded us today. We were able to take a side trip through the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert (old route 66 actually bisected both National Parks), and stopped a bit later in the morning at Walnut Canyon National Monument where the cliff dwellers lived years ago. If you look closely, you can see their caves/openings in the sides of the cliffs. Then we hit a few route 66 hi-lites like the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook and the Jackrabbit Trading Post a bit farther down the road. Tomorrow (early in the am) we hope to cross the Mohave desert and reach central California, where we plan to worship with one of our friends on Sunday morning.

Hope to talk with you again tomorrow night.

September 16

2010-09-16T19:53:00.001-07:00

Hello from sunny New Mexico. We almost crossed the entire state today, going from Tucumcari on the eastern edge to Gallup on the western edge. We got an earlier start and were able to beat the heat a bit--but the plans are to start even earlier tomorrow morning as we traipse across the great state of Arizona. We didn't need Mater today, thankfully, but we found him here in Santa Rosa, New Mexico (you may remember him from the movie, Cars!). We were most struck today, however, with the greatness of our great God--this country makes one feel very, very small, as shown by the pictures of the wide open mesas. We also found a railroad bridge that was used in the 1940 filming of Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath"--amazing, eh?

September 15

2010-09-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Tucumcari, New Mexico, where it was 96 degrees today. We are motel-ing it again tonight, sorry to say. But we are just too 'wimpy' to camp outside in this heat, especially when the "shady" area at the Amarillo KOA was a bit lacking in the "shady" part!!! So we pressed on to Tucumcari instead.

First let me include some pics from yesterday's trip. Note the one remaining Marsh Rainbow Arch bridge in Kansas, the 9 foot wide section of Route 66 in eastern Oklahoma, and the memorial wall at the entry of the former Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Okalahoma City--it was destroyed by a bomb 15 years ago.

Today's trip covered a lot of lonely Texas route 66 highway, as evidenced in the first picture. We also saw the Cadillac Ranch just outside Amarillo, the old Ghost town of Glen Rio right on the New Mexico border, and then the Blue Swallow Motel where we are spending the night. A photographer from a national magazine was here taking some photos for the one hour that the owner turns on the neon lights at night, and so she took some photos of the GTO under the neon lights. I think I have a photo of her taking photos--I am sure hers will turn out much better than mine, and she promised me some, sooooooo.

We're headed for bed so we can start earlier in the am and get some miles in before the heat of the day. Good night, all.

Here are some extra pictures of the day, including the aforementioned GTO under the neon lights!

September 14

2010-09-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings. Well, we are finally 'back on schedule' but it took a long day. We are in Oklahoma City, after traveling through the remainder of Missouri, the 13 miles of Route 66 in Kansas, and the eastern part of the great state of Oklahoma. We had a big surprise when we ended up on a very old section of Route 66 that is only 9 ft wide and made up mostly of potholes and red mud--Barb and I both said it reminded us of driving in Sierra Leone. We saw many other wonderful sights as well, but our day ended at the National Memorial in downtown Oklahoma City, where 168 people lost their lives 15 years ago, and where the statue of a "Weeping Jesus" is right across the street from the site of this tragedy. We were reminded of what a blessing 'security' is, and how we often take our normal, everyday lives for granted. Blessings on your day,

September 13

2010-09-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

Greetings everyone. We made it from Springfield to Springfield today--from Springfield, IL to Springfield, MO. That is not quite as far as we had originally planned to get, but still pretty good considering we didn't get started until 11am. The tech at the Pontiac Dealer found out that the starter and solenoid were just fine--it was the wiring that was very old and not carrying enough 'juice'. But all fixed now.

It was very hot and humid this afternoon, but we did take in some of the sights. Along with the map showing our progress, check out the picture of the GTO in front of a Route 66 landmark--the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri. Tomorrow, if all goes well, we'll be traveling through the rest of Missouri, over the 13 miles of Route 66 in Kansas, and then on to Oklahoma City. We do, of course, need to make a stop at a quilt shop in Carthage, MO. Blessings

September 12

2010-09-12T18:44:00.001-07:00

So, we're actually on the road. We left Hudsonville (finally) about 1:30pm, under beautiful clear blue skies. It got pretty warm this afternoon around the Chicago area, but overall the weather was just wonderful. Now for our first adventure. We stopped in a gas station a bit north of Bloomington, IL, filled up with gas, and got back in the car to head out again. But the car would not start. I think its the starter solenoid. Three men who had walked over to "admire the car" gave us a push to get us going again, and we are now at our motel in Springfield, IL (yes, we 'wimped out' on the first night already, because we knew it was going to be along afternoon). Want to hear the really neat thing? Our motel, that we booked from Hudsonville on Saturday afternoon, is right across the street from a Pontiac Dealer and a "Mr. Goodwrench" Service Shop. Yeah God! They open at 7 am, so we'll see what they can do to help us out with our problem. Keep on praying. Hopefully we will talk again tomorrow. Blessings. Stan and Barb