Roadtrippin

We checked out of our hotel this morning in Flagstaff, AZ and went to the Shell station to top off the tank. We had about a 1/2 tank but gas was only $3.259. The car took 11.361 gallons for $37.03.

Our first stop was to the Winslow Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center to get our passports stamped. I parked the car and immediately lost Eddie. He was distracted by a large pile of red rocks and ran over to it so he could pick out the most perfect red rock to take home with us. He plans to put it on the shelf next to his giant piece of salt he got from a salt mine in Kansas.

Once Eddie returned to the car we went in the building to get our passports stamped. We weren’t able to get all of the stamps in our passports because many of the places had annoying hours, like Th-Sun from 10 – 2. We ended up driving by a bunch of places when they were closed, but stopped everywhere we could when possible. The free gift at this place was a piece of petrified wood, also known as a rock. I’m sure Eddie’s will go on what will now be his rock shelf.

A few blocks from the visitor’s center is the Standin’ on a Corner Park which commemorates the song “Take it Easy” recorded by the Eagles. There’s a verse in the song that goes “Well, I’m a-standin’ on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me.” Eddie and I both stood on the corner near the flatbed ford.

We continued our driving and crossed over the border into New Mexico. We only drove along the southern border of New Mexico on our way out to California, so these were all new views to us. We both decided we’d never get tired of all the mountainous views if we lived out here.

Driving on I-40 in New Mexico is a lot like driving on I-95 in South and North Carolina. There are tons of old billboards with catchy sayings trying to steer you to the next exit to buy souvenirs. Eddie has been desperately wanting to get another cactus so Jeff has a friend but we hadn’t found any at this point. There really haven’t been many on the side of the road in Northern Arizona and New Mexico.

We passed a series of billboards that said some Navajo souvenir stand off the next exit had cactus. They lied. Eddie was not happy. We got back on the highway and followed 2 more sets of billboards to tourist traps until we finally found 1 that had cactus for sale. Eddie bought a pot that had 5 different types of cactus in it. I don’t think he’s decided on names yet, but according to Eddie, Jeff is very happy with his new friends.

We got back on I-40 and got stuck in dead-stopped traffic due to road construction. I kept hearing funny noises outside so I opened my window to find out what it was. Turns out we were stopped right next to a truck filled with cows! Most of them were baby cows. For the next 20 minutes as we sat in traffic together I proceeded to make friends with every cow on the truck. They were very talkative and I was very responsive. It was quite possibly the best traffic jam I’ve ever been in!

While the traffic cleared up, the same could not be said about the sky ahead of us. We were actually chasing a thunderstorm (despite my pleas to stop the car and find shelter). Luckily we didn’t actually hit the storm, but we’re still along side of it.

We stopped at a place called Enchanted Trails to get our passports stamped. It was an RV park along Route 66. Our free gift was a sticker. I really enjoy this passport game. I wish we had more time so we could get ALL of the stamps, but I guess this just means we’ll have to do this trip again sometime!

Now we’re heading to dinner in Albuquerque. Per Eddie’s request, Mexican food!

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We drove until we got tired. It’s a little depressing knowing we’re driving home. We’re super excited to sleep in our bed and see our families, but we already miss the thrill of traveling and going wherever we want.

At one point during our drive the sun began setting behind us in the mountains and the moon began to appear in front of us. It was a huge full moon. The pics don’t do it any justice; it was absolutely stunning.

We got gas yesterday and again today. Last night we filled up at a Shell station in Anaheim, CA (17185 Millie’s on the car). We had a 1/4 tank of gas and put in 17.04 gallons for $64.39. Gas was $3.669 which was cheap for California. We filled up today at a Love’s right after we crossed into Arizona. The mileage was 17530 and we had 1/4 of a tank of gas. The car took 18.511 gallons for $60.33. Gas was only $3.259 per gallon. We almost filled up at a station right before leaving California but it was $4.99 a gallon!!

We just checked into our hotel in Flagstaff, AZ. I’m not sure where we’re going to stop tomorrow during our drive but I know we have to watch the time. At some point tomorrow we’re going to lose 2 hours 😢

The speed limits in California are 65mph and we are flying through it at a whopping 8mph! Eddie & Jeff (his pet cactus) are getting pretty antsy. We are trying to figure out how they have high speed car chases out here. We see so many of TV but are starting to think they’re fake😱

We checked out of our hotel this morning and were getting ready to begin our trip back across the country to get home. Of course I had to throw a wrench in things and begged Eddie to drive almost 2 hours in the wrong direction (in traffic) to go to the Santa Monica Pier to get our passports stamped at the unofficial end of Route 66.

I can’t believe how much traffic we hit on a Tuesday afternoon. The pier was packed too! We are both trying to figure out what people in LA do to make money because they clearly don’t work, unless they get paid to go to the beach and/or create traffic on the highway.

We got to the Route 66 kiosk on the pier and were welcomed with handshakes and applause for the completion of our Route 66 journey. We shared our travel stories with the guy at the kiosk and were awarded more certificates for completing the route. I’m happy that we now have completion certificates from the official and unofficial ends of Route 66.

Now, on to In-N-Out Burger for lunch on our way out of California. There’s way to much traffic in this state.

Disney California Adventure Park was so much fun! If we had known from the beginning, we would have skipped Disneyland altogether and just went to this park. The decor, rides, sound system, shows and food was fantastic!

All of Disney’s Cars Land was pretty much all dedicated to Route 66! There was memorabilia and neon lights on every building. The Radiator Springs Racer ride was a ton of fun.

We rode almost every ride in the park and had a delicious dinner. Our dinner included 2 tickets to specialty priority seating for the World of Color show at 9pm. I had heard great things about the show and I was really lookin forward to seeing it.

When we got down to the reserved area we realized we were literally front and center. If we were any closer we would have been in the water! There were signs surrounding the area that said anyone standing along the edge of the water might get wet. We stood there anyway. I figured, we survived the splash zone at sea world, how bad could this be?!

We left the show completely soaked but with the biggest smiles on our faces. The was one of the most spectacular shows we’ve ever seen! It was similar to the water shows at Disneyworld but this one was actually bigger and better! It was the perfect ending to our fabulous trip. Tomorrow we start our journey home.

We had to touch the Pacific Ocean so we went to whatever beach was closest to where we’re staying. That happened to be Seal Beach. It’s not named seal beach because there’s seals there. It gets its name from the Navy Seal branch that’s located near the beach.

The sand was very sandy. If you know me well enough, you know how much I despise sand! Yuck! There was so much of it on this beach! Even with my water shoes on I could feel it. After what seemed like an hour walk in the sand, we finally reached the ocean. It was cold and wet. I’m not really sure what I was expecting, but at least we can say we walked in the Pacific.

I fell asleep last night before I could finish this post. It was a very eventful day!

After we left Universal Studios, we went on a driving tour of Los Angeles. First stop, Hollywood. The streets are not paved with gold, but they are filled with street vendors and homeless. I think there are more homeless in LA than in NYC but I don’t know for sure.

I saw some stars…..on the sidewalk, of course! Lol! The sidewalks where the stars lie are so nice! We drove by the TCL Chinese Theater which was pretty cool looking. I toke a pic of an LA Fitness in LA because it was so literal. 🤣

The palm trees were very impressive, lining the roads and lighted. I think the palm trees in California are better than the ones in Florida. They’re definitely taller.

We passed the sign for Beverly Hills, saw some houses we couldn’t afford to look at and figured we’d continue the trend of things we couldn’t afford by turning onto Rodeo drive.

WOW, was the first word that came to mind after turning on Rodeo. We saw every expensive store you could name. I’ve never been in those stores back home so I wasn’t tempted to jump out of the car. We drove by the Beverly Wiltshire Hotel, which is gorgeous!

We were driving down Rodeo with some very impressive and expensive cars. You wouldn’t have known it though because of detuned catalytic converters. Basically, my Tahoe sounds the same as a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Eddie even saw a car he’s never seen before. It was some kind of unique model of Mercedes AMG with a matte gold paint job. We saw lots of custom paint jobs, lots of purple Ferraris.

I think we drove on the Pacific Coast Highway, or we just saw the sign for it.

We finally made it to Mel’s Drive In. Eddie was in heaven! He jumped out of the car and started taking pictures! We both had to take a pic with the end of Route 66 sign. The inside of the diner was even more more impressive as the first thing we saw was the giant Route 66 fish tank that was featured on the TV show, Tanked (who’s shop we visited in Las Vegas).

The manager greeted us and we told him about our drive. Eddie spotted a shirt they had for sale that had none other than a yellow 32 on it. He showed the manager a picture of his car and the manager immediately grabbed the shirt from the cabinet and insisted Eddie have it, free of charge. He also loaded us up with pins and magnets. He was so interested in our trip.

We were seated and served right away. The food was delicious. Right after dinner the manager came back and gave us official Route 66 completion certificates. It was a pretty proud moment for both of us. It’s been a long journey, but we had an absolute time.

A little fun fact about the end of Route 66. Mel’s Drive In is the official end of Route 66. The brown signs we’ve been following this whole trip noting where the historical Route 66 road is, has an end sign at the intersection of Olympic and Lincoln, the corner of Mel’s Drive In. There is an “end of the trail” sign on the Santa Monica Pier because there’s a legend that states Route 66 doesn’t end until it reaches the sea. This is an unofficial sign and legend. You can believe what you want, but Eddie and I know we reached the official end of Route 66.

This turned out to be a fantastic tour and we’re both so happy we wound up splurging on the VIP. Our tour guide, Tom, was so knowledgeable and he catered to our every need all day. There was always cold bottled water around and bathroom breaks when needed.

We got to ride around in an air conditioned bus while we toured the movie lot. The VIP tour granted us access to areas the regular tour couldn’t go, like the property department. This is basically a giant warehouse filled with movie props. Directors can select items that they would like to use for their sets. They do so by taping a hold ticket to the item they want. The rules are pretty strict. If you are caught removing someone else’s ticket, you will be banned for life!

We also got to tour the set of the TV show Superstore. Eddie and I have never seen the show, but now that we’ve seen the set and learned many behind the scenes tricks, we’ve added it to our list of series to watch. Because it’s a live set, however, we were not allowed to take pics.

Our tour bus drove us through the set of Jurassic Park, Jaws and The Bates Motel where we were chased by a knife-wielding Norman Bates. We toured the set site of a plane crash and a ton of other movie sets.

The first place we went after our 2 hour movie set tour was to Harry Potter land. Our tour guide took us right up to the front of every line. Unfortunately, everything in Harry Potter land was a rollercoaster so only Eddie went on. At least he had the company of our other 8 VIP group members.

After Harry Potter land we were whisked away to a private dining area for lunch. Lunch was a huge buffet cooked by the executive chef. There were so many choices and everything was delicious. We even got to meet Count Dracula while we were dinning!

After lunch, our tour guide proceeded to take us to each and every ride in the park, bringing us directly to the front of the line. He even took us on shortcuts to get us through the park quickly. The park is much smaller than Orlando and there were twice as many people there. By the end of the day, the wait times were upwards of 150 minutes per ride. Doing the VIP tour was the best way to see the whole park and more, and we’re both happy we did it!

We finally got through LA traffic and made it to Universal Studios Hollywood. I was able to catch a blurry photo of the iconic Hollywood Sign while driving on the highway.

As soon as we walked into the VIP lounge, we knew we made the right choice by deciding to do this tour. We started out by receiving free valet parking. The VIP lounge had a large spread of breakfast laid out for us. There was even a cappuccino and espresso machine! They had a phone charging station, bottled water and our very own tour guide for the entire day, Tom!

Please note the picture of the crazy long lines of people that we do NOT have to wait in all day!!

We woke up early to head to Universal Studios Hollywood for the day. I added in extra travel time for possible traffic, to which Eddie said, “it’s Sunday, there won’t be any traffic”. And, boy is there traffic!

I’ve seen pictures of LA traffic on TV before and it’s even crazier looking in person. It’s not just a clump of cars moving slow. It’s actually a glob of cars not moving at all! The funny part is we are stuck in this traffic in the great old town of Norwalk….CA! It literally feels just like home.

While we’re driving, we’ve been noticing these large, dark looking clouds in the distance. If we saw these clouds back home, we’d assume rain was coming, but we know LA isn’t due for any rain. It turns out it’s all smoke from the wildfires burning in California. It’s pretty crazy to see this on the highway; there’s a lot of smoke.

Hopefully this traffic breaks up soon so we can get to Universal!