Bob & Ginny's Excellent Adventure on Route 66

Day 1 - May 15 - Flight landed at LAX at 12:10 PM local time. The journey will start tomorrow. Spent the day negotiating LA traffic traveling to Orange, CA to visit with Ginny's sister Loretta in her new home. Also, keeping in touch with the folks back in the Poughkeepsie area to hear how things were after the violent storm in the afternoon.  Massive   power outages, downed trees, school closings, etc.  We made the right choice by departing today, instead of  Wednesday. We did hear Tuesday evening from friends and our next door neighbor that all was OK. We met Ginny's sister Loretta at her new home in Orange, CA. Here's a look at a typical unit: After catching up, we went to dinner at one of Loretta's favorite place, and ours as well: Rosine's (As we neglected to get pictures, here's a mock up): John Deflumeri, here's what we're driving:                                         

Left early to avoid the LA traffic.  It was not early enough.  The traffic is all that it's reported to be and more. It took well close to 2 hours to travel the 30 miles from our hotel to the Santa Monica Pier. Spend some time there, on the pier and on a beach walk that runs south to Venice Beach. On the pier, we met a couple from Sweden who were starting their eastbound journey, but ultimately going through Louisiana to Florida. The expect it to take 3 weeks.  We also met a young man from Parma Italy. He graduated from NJIT. He lives and works in Italy, but is in the US for 5 months traveling the country. Photos. The end of Route 66 but our beginning   The pier from the end by the water A gift shop/memorial at the end of the pier         Ginny had to put her feet in the Pacific      Bob on the walk between Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach   Video of Musician on the pier.   Route 6 signs are everywhere throughout the roads in California

Day 3 - First stop was the Joshua Tree Park  located inside the Mojave Desert. Stopped by the visitors center to gather information on the multiple hiking trails. Picked one named Cap Rock. INFORMATION AT THE VISITORS CENTER ABOUT THE JOSHUA TREE       THE BEGINNING OF THE TRAIL AND VIEWS INSIDE THE PARK CAP ROCK Start of the Trail View into the park   View at Cap Rock Little guy who crossed our path.    We drove back to San Bernardino to rejoin Route 66.  Scenes along the route. Rt66 aligns with BL15, the local road parallel to I15  Along the road to Barstow, Route 66 is named Nationals Trails Highway In case you're not sure where you are, there are frequent reminders painted on the road. In Barstow, is one of the original Harvey Houses, now a musueum and visitors center. Fred Harvey civilized the west with his “3000 Miles of Hospitality” that consisted of an e