Today I drove 221.3 miles traveling from Barstow, California to Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
I am spending the night at the Hampton Inn in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
I have a lake view studio suite with balcony and one king bed.
|
Hello, I hope you all had a nice Easter. My Easter was spent traveling 217 miles east from Barstow, California. But before hitting the road I explored Barstow a bit. Below is a slightly elevated view of the city.  Barstow has a series of murals along Main Street (Historic Route 66), depicting scenes from the city's history. Below is the City of Barstow mural which was painted by an art class at Barstow High School.  Waterman Junction Becomes Barstow-1886 was painted in 2004 and was the 4th mural to be completed. It shows Barstow's namesake, William Barstow Strong, and images which represent mining and the railroad.  "Bartstow 66 - Celebrities" mural shows some of the iconic businesses that have thrived at different times in Barstow. This is unique among the murals as it depicts some of the celebrities that stayed in Barstow on a regular basis.  In 1912, The Old National Trails Highway originally followed Indian trails and pre-existing railroad tracks. In 1926, portions of the road were designated as the new US Highway 66. In the thirties, Barstow's businesses moved from along the railroad tracks to the new highway to take advantage of the increased traffic. Route 66 became Barstow's new Main Street. This is the 1st mural painted for this project and was completed in 1998.  Main Street Murals is a non-profit organization set up in the city of Barstow to create a walking gallery of historic murals along Route 66's Last Existing Main Street.  I enjoyed wandering around Barstow on this Easter morning. There wasn't much traffic in town as I was meandering about. The day started off nice and cool. It was only 49 degrees when I woke up.  This city of about 25,000 people is proud of it's roots along historic Route 66.  You can see my car parked just beyond one of the many classic car Route 66 signs in downtown Barstow.  Before the advent of the interstate highway system, Barstow was an important stop on both Routes 66 and 91. The two routes met in downtown Barstow and continued west together to Los Angeles.  Back in the days before cars were air-conditioned, Barstow, California was a popular stopover for travelers who arrived exhausted and thirsty from crossing the Mojave desert. Barstow fell on hard times when Route 66 was bypassed by the Interstate highway system. Consequently Barstow has become an elephants' graveyard for old motels. But many of the old places are still hanging on.  Also in town is the Western America Rail Museum. It was not open today but I stopped and took a few pictures from outside the museum.  After I was done exploring Barstow it was time to cross the Mohave Desert. I hopped on Interstate 40 and headed east. About fifty miles into my journey I got off the Interstate for an excursion on Route 66 out in the middle of nowhere. The road was almost completely deserted. 28 miles after exiting the Interstate I came to the town of Amboy. The town's business district consists of a post office, a historic restaurant-motel, and a Route 66 tourist shop, all operated by the town's population of four people. The picture below was taken while standing in the middle of the highway.  I wasn't the only odd ball out here in the middle of nowhere. There was two or three other families. The entire family would sit on the pavement around the Route 66 emblem and take pictures of each other. You could go several minutes before a car would come through and make you move.  Since the town only has four people, I bet the Post Master job isn't a full time position. Below is the Post Office.  I'm probably just a weirdo but I thoroughly enjoyed wandering around this relic of a town in the middle of nowhere. It was well worth the fifty mile detour off the Interstate. Temps were still nice and pleasant here but they were rising fast at this point. And by the time I got to Needles 82 miles later it was quite warm.  Needles was a major stop on the historic Route 66 highway from the 1920s through the 1960s. For migrants from the Midwest Dust Bowl in the 1930s, it was the first town that marked their arrival in California. The city is lined with motels and other shops from that era.  As was the case in Barstow, Needles has many murals as well.  Located on the scenic Colorado River just across the bridge from Arizona, and by the tip of Nevada. Needles is the gateway to California. The fabled Route 66 (the "Mother Road") runs through downtown Needles.  Needles is a city notorious for summertime extreme high temperatures. It frequently records the nation's highest temperature for a particular day. It is not unusual for Needles to record the world daily high temperature for the day ranking it as the hottest place on planet Earth.  About ten miles east of Needles you cross the Colorado River and enter the great state of Arizona.  At this point I was getting a little nervous. My gas gauge was bending below E and it was still ten miles to the gas station. The price of gas in Needles was $6.59. I wasn't going to buy any of that. I made it to the gas station in Arizona. I never thought I'd think gas costing $4.39 a gallon was cheap but that's how it seemed. This was still the most expensive fill-up I have ever had. When I put gas in the car while I was in California the tank was never empty.  Had I bought gas ten miles back in Needles, California, this fill-up would have cost me $126.94. That sticker on the pump irritates me. But I won't go on about that here. It was now only thirty miles to Lake Havasu City where I am spending the night. I checked in to my Hampton Inn and after getting settled I explored the London Bridge area.  Temps certainly weren't cool any more. It was now 95 degrees. After exploring below the bridge I crossed the bridge on one side and then came back on the other.  I don't know if it was because of Easter or if it was normal, but there sure weren't very many people around. This is the second time in the last six years that I have spent Easter in Arizona. Below is a picture of Lake Havasu from the bridge.  London Bridge crosses a narrow channel that leads from Lake Havasu to Thompson Bay which are both segments of the Colorado River. In 1968 London Bridge was purchased for $2.5 million from the City of London when the bridge was replaced there. The bridge was disassembled and reassembled for another $7 million. The construction took three years to complete.  After completing my sightseeing I got me some dinner from the Black Bear Diner. I had the chicken fried steak and banana cream pie for dessert. It was delicious.  I have a nice room at the hotel with a balcony overlooking the pool and lake. The picture below was taken at sunset.  That's all I have to report for today. I was kind of upset when I woke up this morning and the Easter Bunny didn't leave me any treats. Oh well, talk at you tomorrow. Tim |
Covers 221.3 miles from Barstow, California to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. |
Click on the arrow above for tomorrow's adventures.
| TIM'S HOME PAGE SITE INDEX | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Areas | Description | # of Pages | |
| About Me | Current Picture of me and my home. Information about myself. | 2 | |
| Biography | Pictorial biography of myself. Pictures range from birth to adulthood. | 4 | |
| Family File | Pictures of my family and a little information about them. | 12 | |
| Local Spotlight | Pictures, Links, and Information for Indianapolis, Richmond, Plainfield, and Mooresville, Indiana. | 5 | |
| Tim's Travels | Pictures, videos and travelogs from my travels around the world. | 409 | |
| Vacation Videos | Over 1500 videos from my travels around the world. | 1 | |
 |  |  | |