Days 21 and 22 - LA and Home
Life: Time to go back to the real world Victoria
Me: But I dont want to
Life: Tough
Our final day started very well indeed, we went to the Warner Bros Studios to do the VIP tour. It was great, only 12 people go on each tour so it is pretty intimate. We got to see lots of the places used in a lot of film and tv, K got so excited an time the phrase 'Gilmore Girls' was used. They had started to take down the ER sets but they still had some up, it was weird - it was actually like being back in Chicago. We also got to go in the Central Perk set which they have kept for the tourists, we got to sit on the couch!
After the tour we went a drive up on Mulholland Drive, we saw Deb from Dexter out jogging and we are pretty sure we saw Jake Gylenhall too. The views from Mulholland drive are amazing and because it goes round both sides of the mountain you really get to see a lot of LA. We also saw a lizard, which appeared to be doing press ups. The most exciting thing about our Mulholland Drive drive was that we went to see the Chemosphere (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemosphere) in the flesh (well concrete), it was amazing.
Then we drove out east of Hollywood to Silverlake which is a more independent area. We had lunch at a brewpub and grill called Good, it was. I took the opportunity to get a final pulled pork sandwich and K had chicken tenders, it was de-lish! We then went to a comic store that K was excited about called Secret Headquarters, it was different from other comic stores, it was clean and there were actually girls both working and shopping there. K bought some comic or other. After that we browsed the shops of Silverlake for a bit, K bought a bit of Gemma's birthday present (are you intrigued baby sister?).
We then went on a drive about Silverlake to look at the architecture, specifically that of John Lautner who had built his own house in the area, is was great the streets were so windey and a lot of the houses were amazing. After that we went to a really nice coffee shop near the actual body of water that the area is named after. We both had an iced vanilla latte (made with actual vanilla - fancy) and a red velvet cupcake, yumo.
After we were fuelled up we went over to Echo Park where I bought some 2 layer LA converse - with my Vegas winnings, so they were free. We went to a street market, K spoke Spanish to some people then we cruised around for a bit.
We then went back up to WeHo and sat outside at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on the Sunset Strip for quite a while. Sadly, we then left LA behind, we decided that we would stay at a motel near LAX because our flight was so early.
We found a motel near LAX, checked in then discovered that it was GHETTO. The room itself was ok but there were a lot of people hanging about, loud music, arguments and im pretty sure drug dealing was going on. When we left at 5am people were still hanging about, I was very glad to get out of there!
We checked in to our flight and amazingly everything went very smoothly, very different from our last LAX experience. The first flight was fine but there was a bit of turbulence and at one point I did see fork lightening out of the window - terrifing!
The time between flights went really smoothly too, we didnt need to do anything, go through security or anything. We got some dinner and it was soon time to get on the next flight - it was really weird hearing Scottish accents everywhere.
The second flight was good too, it even got in an hour early and both of our bags turned up!
So that is that, it is over and we are home. We will just need to decide where to go next!
Sunday, 24 May 2009
Friday, 22 May 2009
Day 20 - LA (day 2)
Today was an awesome day. Awesome.
We started the day by tooting down to The Grove shopping centre which is all outside and is done kind of like a village with fountains and stuff. We then walked next door to the Farmer’s Market which is ace. K spent some time in a sticker shop (boring). We got some watermelon slush drinks and went on our way.
The Farmers Market is about a mile away from the Beverley Centre and the street joining them (3rd St) has lots of wee shops on it so we wandered down it. It was too warm to go on the sunny side of the street though so we missed out a few things. The best stop was at Flight 001 which is a travel accessory shop.
When we got to the Beverley Centre we hit the food court, it was a step above the food courts that we are used to. I had pasta with pesto and chicken, they actually cooked the pasta from dried and cooked the sauce in a pan right in front of my very eyes. K had Japanese, noodles, sushi and gyoza - she was very happy with the selection.
After we had a wee peruse we jumped in a taxi back to the Grove. It was handy cos we left the car there all day cos it was next to the CBS Studios which was our next stop. We had to put everything in the car before we went to the studio cos you weren’t allowed to take any bags in.
We then went and queued outside the studio for a while, luckily it was in the shade. Then we went through security and then we sat on a bench for a long time waiting til we could go in. Finally, we went up to the studio to see the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson being filmed. It was pretty good, John Waters was brilliant - it was amazing to see him in the flesh (I am actually watching it on TV at this very moment). There was a brilliant bit where John was reading a bit of Craig Ferguson’s autobiography out loud and it was a bit about Kelvingrove park - ace!
After the show we got the car and hit the Sunset Strip where we sat outside Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and had a beverage and did some prime people spotting. We were sitting next to another celeb but again we didn’t know who it was - but people were walking past giving her rounds of applause and stuff.
After that, K got to go to a big Comic Book store, she was like a kid in a sweet shop, I’m not sure how I feel about this new obsession - I have been in more comic shops this holiday than my whole life combined.
We then decided to go to Universal Studios City Walk for the evening. It is the bit next to Universal Studios where all the shops, restaurants, bars and the cinema is. It was brilliant, more neon than you could shake a fist at (why you’d want to shake your fist at neon I don’t know). We parked in the Curious George Parking Lot. K went crazy in a sweet shop - she was like a kid in a sweet shop! We went to the pictures to get tickets and there was some sort of screening on with a red carpet and press and everything but again we didn’t know who anyone was ! Anyway, we got tickets for Wolverine which was great and it had reclining chairs!!!!!!!! We had cinema snacks for dinner, popcorn where you got to put on your own melted butter, mmmmmmmmmm.
After we left there we went for a wee toot about Hollywood Boulevard but everything was closing . We drove down to pinks hotdogs (an institution) and queued for about 20mins to get a dog with chilli and sour cream to share. The last time we went we queued for about an hour and half so it was pretty good. It was about midnight though, shows how popular the place is I guess.
On the way back to the hotel we popped into the supermarket and bought some chopped up melon to get some all important vitamins.
Tomorrow we are going on a studio tour of Warner Bros which should be good, we get to see the set from the Gilmore Girls!!
Today was an awesome day. Awesome.
We started the day by tooting down to The Grove shopping centre which is all outside and is done kind of like a village with fountains and stuff. We then walked next door to the Farmer’s Market which is ace. K spent some time in a sticker shop (boring). We got some watermelon slush drinks and went on our way.
The Farmers Market is about a mile away from the Beverley Centre and the street joining them (3rd St) has lots of wee shops on it so we wandered down it. It was too warm to go on the sunny side of the street though so we missed out a few things. The best stop was at Flight 001 which is a travel accessory shop.
When we got to the Beverley Centre we hit the food court, it was a step above the food courts that we are used to. I had pasta with pesto and chicken, they actually cooked the pasta from dried and cooked the sauce in a pan right in front of my very eyes. K had Japanese, noodles, sushi and gyoza - she was very happy with the selection.
After we had a wee peruse we jumped in a taxi back to the Grove. It was handy cos we left the car there all day cos it was next to the CBS Studios which was our next stop. We had to put everything in the car before we went to the studio cos you weren’t allowed to take any bags in.
We then went and queued outside the studio for a while, luckily it was in the shade. Then we went through security and then we sat on a bench for a long time waiting til we could go in. Finally, we went up to the studio to see the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson being filmed. It was pretty good, John Waters was brilliant - it was amazing to see him in the flesh (I am actually watching it on TV at this very moment). There was a brilliant bit where John was reading a bit of Craig Ferguson’s autobiography out loud and it was a bit about Kelvingrove park - ace!
After the show we got the car and hit the Sunset Strip where we sat outside Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and had a beverage and did some prime people spotting. We were sitting next to another celeb but again we didn’t know who it was - but people were walking past giving her rounds of applause and stuff.
After that, K got to go to a big Comic Book store, she was like a kid in a sweet shop, I’m not sure how I feel about this new obsession - I have been in more comic shops this holiday than my whole life combined.
We then decided to go to Universal Studios City Walk for the evening. It is the bit next to Universal Studios where all the shops, restaurants, bars and the cinema is. It was brilliant, more neon than you could shake a fist at (why you’d want to shake your fist at neon I don’t know). We parked in the Curious George Parking Lot. K went crazy in a sweet shop - she was like a kid in a sweet shop! We went to the pictures to get tickets and there was some sort of screening on with a red carpet and press and everything but again we didn’t know who anyone was ! Anyway, we got tickets for Wolverine which was great and it had reclining chairs!!!!!!!! We had cinema snacks for dinner, popcorn where you got to put on your own melted butter, mmmmmmmmmm.
After we left there we went for a wee toot about Hollywood Boulevard but everything was closing . We drove down to pinks hotdogs (an institution) and queued for about 20mins to get a dog with chilli and sour cream to share. The last time we went we queued for about an hour and half so it was pretty good. It was about midnight though, shows how popular the place is I guess.
On the way back to the hotel we popped into the supermarket and bought some chopped up melon to get some all important vitamins.
Tomorrow we are going on a studio tour of Warner Bros which should be good, we get to see the set from the Gilmore Girls!!
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Day 19 - Rialto to LA 89 miles (2969 miles so far)
“So we’ve come to the end of the road…”
We woke up this morning really late with only 20mins til checkout time because we stayed up late last night to buy Skunk Anansie tickets at 9am UK time.
Basically the street the Wigwams were on went all the way to LA even though it was over 60 miles. It was essentially the greater LA metropolitan area so it was just town after town of the Inland Empire area and they were all the same, will the same shops, the same fast food joints and the same scenery as it went along the south of the mountains.
K was very excited to get to San Dimas cos she thought that she would get to see Bill and Ted - there was no sign of them sadly. We hopped on the Interstate for the final part of the journey and then we arrived at Santa Monica where we parked and took loads of photos. The we did a bit of shopping and I got a Pinkberry to cool down - FroYo with mango and blueberries on top, yum.
Then we left the ocean behind and headed back into LA to check in to the hotel. We drove down Santa Monica Boulevard the whole way which was great, we drove through Beverly Hills, Century City and West Hollywood before arriving in Hollywood proper. The hotel is great, it is about a five minute walk down to Hollywood Boulevard and it is quite fancy but not too fancy so that it is uncomfortable.
After we checked in we walked down to Hollywood where we went to the historic Mels Drive In (no longer a drive-in) for dinner. It is a proper old school diner just off of Hollywood Boulevard that has been there since the 50s. I had a cheeseburger and K had a burger, they were really good but the real excitement of the meal was that a celebrity came in for food - with a bodyguard! We don’t know who he was but other people were excited and did I mention - he had a bodyguard!
After that we strolled down Sunset to Amoeba, the most amazing record store in the world - and the largest in the US. Before our visit we went to a coffee shop across the road that we went to on our last visit called Groundwork - very nice and great for people watching. We went to Amoeba and went a bit crazy on ‘new country’ compilations and got the Sugarland album. Even though we brought our ipods and itrip with is for the journey we haven’t used them at all - it has been country radio all the way and we are now connoisseurs of the genre so we wanted to stock up before we went home.
Our next stop off was at an arty shopping/entertainment complex called Space 15 Twenty which had a brilliant design/architecture bookshop where we perused for a bit then went to the bar for a wee (soft) drinkypoo. We walked up the trashy end of Hollywood Boulevard feeling sorry for the people who have their stars down there then went to Starbucks - it is important to keep hydrated in the heat is my excuse. Then we got to the nice bit of Hollywood and we went into the Hollywood and Highland Centre for a little walk about. After that I am ashamed to say that we came back to the hotel to watch the end of the American Idol Final, I am ashamed but glad because I am knackered!
The wifi in the hotel is just in the lobby so I will upload this in the morning.
Tomorrow we are going to see the Late Late Show being filmed, the guest is John Waters!!!!!!!!!!!! I am excited, we better get in (one time we had tickets to see something being filmed at the BBC and didn’t get in cos it was full, this better not happen tomorrow).
(sitting outside at a coffee shop on sunset strip - how cool are we?!)
“So we’ve come to the end of the road…”
We woke up this morning really late with only 20mins til checkout time because we stayed up late last night to buy Skunk Anansie tickets at 9am UK time.
Basically the street the Wigwams were on went all the way to LA even though it was over 60 miles. It was essentially the greater LA metropolitan area so it was just town after town of the Inland Empire area and they were all the same, will the same shops, the same fast food joints and the same scenery as it went along the south of the mountains.
K was very excited to get to San Dimas cos she thought that she would get to see Bill and Ted - there was no sign of them sadly. We hopped on the Interstate for the final part of the journey and then we arrived at Santa Monica where we parked and took loads of photos. The we did a bit of shopping and I got a Pinkberry to cool down - FroYo with mango and blueberries on top, yum.
Then we left the ocean behind and headed back into LA to check in to the hotel. We drove down Santa Monica Boulevard the whole way which was great, we drove through Beverly Hills, Century City and West Hollywood before arriving in Hollywood proper. The hotel is great, it is about a five minute walk down to Hollywood Boulevard and it is quite fancy but not too fancy so that it is uncomfortable.
After we checked in we walked down to Hollywood where we went to the historic Mels Drive In (no longer a drive-in) for dinner. It is a proper old school diner just off of Hollywood Boulevard that has been there since the 50s. I had a cheeseburger and K had a burger, they were really good but the real excitement of the meal was that a celebrity came in for food - with a bodyguard! We don’t know who he was but other people were excited and did I mention - he had a bodyguard!
After that we strolled down Sunset to Amoeba, the most amazing record store in the world - and the largest in the US. Before our visit we went to a coffee shop across the road that we went to on our last visit called Groundwork - very nice and great for people watching. We went to Amoeba and went a bit crazy on ‘new country’ compilations and got the Sugarland album. Even though we brought our ipods and itrip with is for the journey we haven’t used them at all - it has been country radio all the way and we are now connoisseurs of the genre so we wanted to stock up before we went home.
Our next stop off was at an arty shopping/entertainment complex called Space 15 Twenty which had a brilliant design/architecture bookshop where we perused for a bit then went to the bar for a wee (soft) drinkypoo. We walked up the trashy end of Hollywood Boulevard feeling sorry for the people who have their stars down there then went to Starbucks - it is important to keep hydrated in the heat is my excuse. Then we got to the nice bit of Hollywood and we went into the Hollywood and Highland Centre for a little walk about. After that I am ashamed to say that we came back to the hotel to watch the end of the American Idol Final, I am ashamed but glad because I am knackered!
The wifi in the hotel is just in the lobby so I will upload this in the morning.
Tomorrow we are going to see the Late Late Show being filmed, the guest is John Waters!!!!!!!!!!!! I am excited, we better get in (one time we had tickets to see something being filmed at the BBC and didn’t get in cos it was full, this better not happen tomorrow).
(sitting outside at a coffee shop on sunset strip - how cool are we?!)
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Day 18 Las Vegas, NV to Rialto, CA 230 miles (2880miles so far)
Normal service resumes.
We left Vegas, not so bright and not so early and hit the road.
Not much happened today as it was basically just hitting the motorway getting back down to California. It was good to get away from the crazy heat of Vegas, it is actually quite cool tonight for the first time in ages.
(Note - Toerzy says cool, but its actually still quite hot outside even tho it's 10.30pm!- Kir.) We stopped for lunch in Baker which is in California not far from the Nevada border and is home to the world's tallest thermometer! Woo fancy etc. We went to Taco Bell as K was complaining that she had only had one this trip. She had tacos and I had a dang quesidilla.
We hit the road again and we were soon back in Barstow where we stayed a few nights ago and we were back on the track of route 66. We pushed on as we had booked our motel for tonight.
We went throught the San Bernadino forest which was weird since there was suddenly actually greenery about us.
Finally, we arrived at the motel, or should I say the wigwam! It is amazing, see above, it is actually very spacious inside and the bed is really high off the ground - k has to get a punty up!
We chilled for a bit then went to the local laundromat where we hung with the local (mexican) peeps and watched jeopardy. After that we grabbed some dinner - a subway for me and K got a huge bag of crisps - then we came back to the wigwam to watch the American Idol final. It was weird watching it live, for once I wont find out who the winner is before I see it!
We then watched the premier of a new series called Glee - it was amazing, it is about a school Glee Club (basically a choir) and ticks all the boxes of brilliant tv. However, the series doesnt start here properly til 'the fall' so god knows when we will get it at home.
We also sorted out our LA accomodation, we used Priceline where you choose the area you want to stay, how many stars minimum you want and name a price and then it finds you a hotel. We got the Hollywood Heights Hotel for £62 a night - score! It is right in the middle of Hollywood and seems pretty fancy.
We will get to the end of Route 66 tomorrow which will be really weird.
Apparently, there was another earthquake in LA today, the second since Sunday so we will be holding on to our hats.
Monday, 18 May 2009
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Day 15 Kingman to Barstow 220 miles (2650 miles so far)
First I have to mention a few things I forgot last night, firstly we saw a guy coming out of walmart just wearing a gun!!! Secondly, K ate some crab salad thinking it was coleslaw and was a bit ill - she wasnt ready for me to talk about it last night.
Today started well as there was a free hot breakfast in the hotel, I had waffles! Then on the way back to the room a giant (about 5 inches) flying cricket thing landed on me, not good, K didnt even save me!
We drove to Oatman round the scariest mountain road (with no barriers) that I have ever been on, K quite enjoyed the driving but I was terrified - I was the one next to the huge drop. There were various cars that we could see that had fallen off on the way just to add to my fear.
Oatman is what is known as a living ghost town, it used to be a very busy mining town and now it is pretty empty. Wild donkeys and mules roam the streets as their decendants worked in the mine and were freed when it closed. They are so cute and completly tame, you can buy bags of carrots to feed to them which they pretty much just steal from you greedily. The baby ones had stickers on their heads to say dont feed them cos it will make them ill, did I mention that they were cute. The town is like a proper old west town, its claim to fame is that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard had their honeymoon there.
At high noon there was a reinactment of a gun fight in the main street, it was pretty good and I jumped every time they shot their guns (the donkeys however did not). We had to leave after that though cos it was unbearable being outside - it was up to 111f today which is 44c! We then drove through the desert and through the Black Mountains til we hit California!
We had lunch in Needles, our first ever Dennys. We had to go somewhere with air conditioning. I had a chicken and avocado salad and K had the most food ever, it went over 3 full size plates - I kid you not. She ordered the breakfast where you get 4 things, she went for sausage, eggs, pancakes and cheese grits. Firstly they bought her a huge bowl of cheese grits which she scoffed while waiting for the rest then they brought a plate with 2 huge pancakes on it and anther with 2 sausages, 2 fried eggs and they had accidentally brought her hash browns too! To be fair she didnt eat the hash browns and left half a pancake but she looked so funny sitting with 3 huge plates. Also, she didnt have dinner as she is still full.
We then battered on through the heat and the desert. It was beautiful but hot. We went through about a million mountain ranges, each higher than the last. It was all pretty hazy because of the heat which gave it an other wordly quality.
Eventually we arrived in Barstow (in the middle of the Mojave Desert) where we have booked into the California Inn which is pretty nice, we have a balcony overlooking the pool but it was too hot to go out on it. Our room is massive and we have the air conditioning on full bung.
The old train station is converted into a sort of mini mall with food places, complete with McDonalds trains that people actually sit in and eat their food, very weird.
We had a good old time in a massive supermarket sized 99cents store, they sold everything from frozen food and fresh fruit to flip flops. We have stocked our fridge up with water and juice.
We are having a chillax night tonight in preperation for Vegas tomor so we just sat and watched Eurovision on Youtube. That Norwegian song that won was rubbish and I cant believe that Germany were 20th! I think Greece were my favourites.
Anyway, I am too tired to try and upload photos because I have been in front of youtube all night, just imagine desert.
First I have to mention a few things I forgot last night, firstly we saw a guy coming out of walmart just wearing a gun!!! Secondly, K ate some crab salad thinking it was coleslaw and was a bit ill - she wasnt ready for me to talk about it last night.
Today started well as there was a free hot breakfast in the hotel, I had waffles! Then on the way back to the room a giant (about 5 inches) flying cricket thing landed on me, not good, K didnt even save me!
We drove to Oatman round the scariest mountain road (with no barriers) that I have ever been on, K quite enjoyed the driving but I was terrified - I was the one next to the huge drop. There were various cars that we could see that had fallen off on the way just to add to my fear.
Oatman is what is known as a living ghost town, it used to be a very busy mining town and now it is pretty empty. Wild donkeys and mules roam the streets as their decendants worked in the mine and were freed when it closed. They are so cute and completly tame, you can buy bags of carrots to feed to them which they pretty much just steal from you greedily. The baby ones had stickers on their heads to say dont feed them cos it will make them ill, did I mention that they were cute. The town is like a proper old west town, its claim to fame is that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard had their honeymoon there.
At high noon there was a reinactment of a gun fight in the main street, it was pretty good and I jumped every time they shot their guns (the donkeys however did not). We had to leave after that though cos it was unbearable being outside - it was up to 111f today which is 44c! We then drove through the desert and through the Black Mountains til we hit California!
We had lunch in Needles, our first ever Dennys. We had to go somewhere with air conditioning. I had a chicken and avocado salad and K had the most food ever, it went over 3 full size plates - I kid you not. She ordered the breakfast where you get 4 things, she went for sausage, eggs, pancakes and cheese grits. Firstly they bought her a huge bowl of cheese grits which she scoffed while waiting for the rest then they brought a plate with 2 huge pancakes on it and anther with 2 sausages, 2 fried eggs and they had accidentally brought her hash browns too! To be fair she didnt eat the hash browns and left half a pancake but she looked so funny sitting with 3 huge plates. Also, she didnt have dinner as she is still full.
We then battered on through the heat and the desert. It was beautiful but hot. We went through about a million mountain ranges, each higher than the last. It was all pretty hazy because of the heat which gave it an other wordly quality.
Eventually we arrived in Barstow (in the middle of the Mojave Desert) where we have booked into the California Inn which is pretty nice, we have a balcony overlooking the pool but it was too hot to go out on it. Our room is massive and we have the air conditioning on full bung.
The old train station is converted into a sort of mini mall with food places, complete with McDonalds trains that people actually sit in and eat their food, very weird.
We had a good old time in a massive supermarket sized 99cents store, they sold everything from frozen food and fresh fruit to flip flops. We have stocked our fridge up with water and juice.
We are having a chillax night tonight in preperation for Vegas tomor so we just sat and watched Eurovision on Youtube. That Norwegian song that won was rubbish and I cant believe that Germany were 20th! I think Greece were my favourites.
Anyway, I am too tired to try and upload photos because I have been in front of youtube all night, just imagine desert.
Friday, 15 May 2009
Day 14 - Williams to Kingman 148 miles (2430 miles so far)
Woke up quite late and rushed about a bit as check out was 10am. Then we tooted about Williams for a while taking some photos etc. We had breakfast in the Red Garter Bed and Bakery, it is an old bordello that has been converted into a b & b, Gem would love it. The woman that was working there loved having some chat with us, she asked if we had ever been to Surrey and if it was nice cos she had just watched ‘The Holiday’ - I think American peoples views of the UK are slightly skewed by movies.
After we hit the road we hit the longest stretch of interrupted Rt 66, it was a great road, surrounded by mountains and canyons. The first town we hit was Seligman, I cant really describe the town other than to say it is ‘wacky’. Two brothers called Angel and Juan basically organised the whole Rt 66 thing in the area and because of this the town is Rt 66 crazy. Juan ran the Snow Cap Drive In and Angel the barber shop and both are now temples to Rt 66. The Snow Cap is still running even though Juan has passed away and the barber shop is now a shop. We got some shakes and onion rings at the Snow Cap and they came with a happy face potato thing! The whole place was like a joke house, the door had two handles, he squeezed fake mustard on K, gave our change to someone else and said do you want a straw and then handed us a pile of straw! Cheesy but cute. A coach load of Germans had arrived at the same time as us and they were loving it, some of them even got a ride in the special Snow Cap car (picture to follow).
On we went, we even got to see the Grand Canyon again in the distance. Then we arrived in Kingman where we are spending tonight. On the way in to town the car in front of us had their tyre blow up! K stopped to see if they needed help but they said they were ok. We went to the Rt 66 museum and they were going to let us in for free since we didn’t have change but in the end we gave them the $5 that we did have in change - bargain. It was a great museum with loads of stories from people who travelled Rt 66 out of necessity during the depression.
We checked into the Quality Inn for a bit of luxury then K fell asleep for an hour before dinner. Lightweight. We went to the Golden Corral for dinner which was AMAZING! It was a buffet and it had everything in the world, including steak that you got to say how you wanted it cooked. K went a bit crazy with the pork chops, I think she might get the swine flu!
After that (we were in there quite a while) we cruised about a bit then went to a borders type store where K spent ages browsing. We bought a book with photos of funny signs, I was crying in the shop whilst reading it - not a good look.
Now we are back in the room watching Save the Last Dance - wild eh?!
(still having photo trouble)
Woke up quite late and rushed about a bit as check out was 10am. Then we tooted about Williams for a while taking some photos etc. We had breakfast in the Red Garter Bed and Bakery, it is an old bordello that has been converted into a b & b, Gem would love it. The woman that was working there loved having some chat with us, she asked if we had ever been to Surrey and if it was nice cos she had just watched ‘The Holiday’ - I think American peoples views of the UK are slightly skewed by movies.
After we hit the road we hit the longest stretch of interrupted Rt 66, it was a great road, surrounded by mountains and canyons. The first town we hit was Seligman, I cant really describe the town other than to say it is ‘wacky’. Two brothers called Angel and Juan basically organised the whole Rt 66 thing in the area and because of this the town is Rt 66 crazy. Juan ran the Snow Cap Drive In and Angel the barber shop and both are now temples to Rt 66. The Snow Cap is still running even though Juan has passed away and the barber shop is now a shop. We got some shakes and onion rings at the Snow Cap and they came with a happy face potato thing! The whole place was like a joke house, the door had two handles, he squeezed fake mustard on K, gave our change to someone else and said do you want a straw and then handed us a pile of straw! Cheesy but cute. A coach load of Germans had arrived at the same time as us and they were loving it, some of them even got a ride in the special Snow Cap car (picture to follow).
On we went, we even got to see the Grand Canyon again in the distance. Then we arrived in Kingman where we are spending tonight. On the way in to town the car in front of us had their tyre blow up! K stopped to see if they needed help but they said they were ok. We went to the Rt 66 museum and they were going to let us in for free since we didn’t have change but in the end we gave them the $5 that we did have in change - bargain. It was a great museum with loads of stories from people who travelled Rt 66 out of necessity during the depression.
We checked into the Quality Inn for a bit of luxury then K fell asleep for an hour before dinner. Lightweight. We went to the Golden Corral for dinner which was AMAZING! It was a buffet and it had everything in the world, including steak that you got to say how you wanted it cooked. K went a bit crazy with the pork chops, I think she might get the swine flu!
After that (we were in there quite a while) we cruised about a bit then went to a borders type store where K spent ages browsing. We bought a book with photos of funny signs, I was crying in the shop whilst reading it - not a good look.
Now we are back in the room watching Save the Last Dance - wild eh?!
(still having photo trouble)
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