Unfortunately, we will be in somewhat of a rush on our way to California we won’t travel much of the road, but we will drop in on some friends. Next camp was a KOA in Gallup where it was 7 degrees that night. Then it was on to Winslow and Freddie’s RV Park. We will attempt to catch our friend Pete Krestedemas at the Falcon restaurant, we had missed him on our previous tries, and we’ll get a good meal. We were lucky this time. Pete is such a great story teller, and just generally a friendly guy. He greeted us like lost family members. We were sad to learn that he has the place up for sale. He wants it to continue to be a restaurant though. He told us we could call him at home anytime we were in town and he wasn’t there.

Next stop was the Seligman KOA. We stopped in Williams on the way through and saw our friend, Dave Pouquette, owner of Twisters and the 66 Place. We also visited with our friends the Taylors (Paul, Sandi & Jessi) at the Route 66 Magazine. They are such good people. In the morning we stopped and visited with Angel Delgadillo, always a joy. He is such an enthusiastic supporter of Route 66. Next visit was with our buddy Bob Waldmire, we were lucky to catch him home, he had just returned from Illinois. He is so fun to chat with. We made our camp in Kingman at the Zuni Village RV Park. We had dinner at La Placita, pretty good margaritas and food. The next day we went to check out the new visitor center at the renovated power house. They have done a wonderful job! We can’t wait for them to finish all that is planned. We ate at the deli that is there, Memory Lane, good sandwiches and soup, and atmosphere. It works well here.

We take a few days detour to Lake Havasu City to visit friends.

After our visit we headed for Barstow. We had never taken the old road through Goffs and felt now was the time. This is a great drive; we did it in the motor home. Not as steep as taking 1-40, and less traffic. It seemed that the wind wasn’t as strong out here either. It was kind of scenic also. In the town of Goffs we wanted to check out the general store but it was closed. It had some scaffolding around it and looked as if it were being repaired. We crossed under the freeway and continued on the old road through Essex, Chambless and Amboy. We like this old stretch of road. It’s amazing how many motor homes we see on this section. Upon reaching Ludlow we got back on the freeway and continued to Barstow. We made camp at Shady Lane RV Park.

We hated the thought of leaving our beloved mother road, so we decided to stay an extra night. We took the Interstate back to Ludlow to follow the road back to Barstow, something we had not done previously. Ludlow is an interesting little town. We enjoyed looking at the old buildings. The old mercantile building was great.

Ludlow Mercantile - Ludlow, California (Virtually destroyed in an earthquake in Oct. 1999, magnitude - 7.0)

Driving past the Pisgah volcano we wondered what the dust bowl okies must have thought. Were they scared it would erupt at any second? We like the looks of the Amboy crater better, it’s more ominous looking. We enjoyed stopping at the old rest area. We started getting more excited the closer we got to Newberry Springs, we were finally going to stop at the famous Bagdad Cafe. We were early enough for lunch. The burgers were good. It looks just like in the movie, although it seemed smaller. We will have to watch the movie again to be sure. There’s not much to Newberry Springs.

Continuing on we searched for the old inspection station and finally found it. It is now a diesel repair shop. There is quite a bit of junk stored here. We had seen the Solar One facility the day before, it had not been in use and the tower was black. Today it was burning white-hot. It’s truly an amazing thing to see. It’s surprising that there aren’t more facilities of this nature. On into Daggett, a town that appears to be very old. We found the building with the curved roof, previously Mrs. Millett’s Cafe, all you can eat for $1.00, a pretty neat looking house. We also checked out the old Stone Hotel, built in 1883. The area that surrounds it is rather large, possibly some big plans for renovation. A great looking building. We thought we’d give a try at getting through the Marine base, no luck. The marine on duty gripped the handle of his 45 as we approached, flat denial for entrance. Around the base we went. We followed the road into Barstow, stopping at the Greystone cafe. A beautiful building. We had never stopped at Barstow Station any of the numerous times we’ve been through. What a neat stop. It’s pretty cool how they used old train cars for the building. Then we stopped at the old depot. It’s a nice building that would benefit from a renovation and reopening. We must now depart our beloved road until next time. Bye bye, sixty six!

Mrs Millett’s Café, All You Can Eat, $1 - Daggett, California

Greystone Cabins - Barstow, California