Health & Fitness

Family Road Trip: Day 5

We drive the Mother Road: Historic Route 66

This was one of the days that we were all really looking forward to, the last stop in California.

But first, a few neon signs in a sketchy side of San Bernardino!

Like I had mentioned before, my husband is a local photographer that runs Lost San Jose, a photo project now going for more than a decade. He loves to capture a different time in each place he shoots, especially neon signs and forgotten buildings.

Once out of San Bernardino, we drove on to Arizona taking Historic Route 66 to get a first-hand look at the Mother Road. It was amazing. And beautiful. And hot. But more than anything, it was desolate.

Our first major stop along Route 66 was in Ludlow, Calif. If I remember correctly, it was well over 100 degrees, windy and completely in the middle of nowhere. 

We got out and shot a few photos (all three of us had our digital Canon SLRs on quick-draw) of some of the surreal scenes: empty signage, borded up homes, dilapidated buildings and a road with no one on it for more than 50 minutes while we were there.

After declaring being done, Carver went back to the car and pulled out some bubbles. He went straight to work and I caught a few photos of this even more surreal scene.

We of course took our photos with the first Route 66 painted sign on the road that we came across, sun in our faces but hearts in the blue sky above.

After what seemed like forever, we arrived at the town of Amboy, Calif. This stop was to capture the famous Roy's Motel and Cafe. This little ghost town (and I say ghost town because as of 2000, there were 4 people that lived there) was one of our favorite stops so far. The motels sat vacant along this stretch but the cafe was still operating, with a pair of guys that were friendly from the moment we stepped foot inside.

Our last stop along the historic road before getting to our destination of Kingman, Arizona was just before Chambless, another tiny dot on the map of our travels. We stopped, again for some relics of cities long forgotten, and enjoyed the sunset.





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