February 2001

It’s been a long couple of months. We spent a month in Los Banos CA visiting with the grandkids and family and friends. We had a really good time. Then we moved on to Phoenix for two weeks. We visited more family and friends and went to the NHRA drag races. We saw a 328 mph run. Awesome! Then we went to the Palm Springs area and visited more family. We are now in Adelanto CA at the Adelanto RV Park, just west of Victorville and back to the slow life of Route 66. Whew! There’s nothing like tons of fast traffic to make you really appreciate the pace of the old road. We’re glad to be back.

Our first stop is the Victorville Route 66 Museum. Last time we were here they were in a different building. The move was a good one, they have more room. The stuff inside is great. There are some nice collections. There is also a small re-creation model of Hula Ville. It’s wonderful. We were lucky enough to have seen this before it was dismantled and the model is like walking through it all over again. We were pleasantly surprised to find a father and his kids there. The oldest one was studying Route 66. That’s where we have to start preserving the future, the younger generation. All the kids seemed to be into the museum and all that it holds. After a couple of hours we drove though town and checked out all the old buildings. A nice blend of the old and new in Victorville. And the best thing is that they left all the old alone; put the new in a whole new area.

Today the weather cleared up enough for us to go do some exploring. We headed south and went over Cajon Pass. They had snow here yesterday morning. Clear and sunny today. We got off at the Cleghorn Rd exit and followed the old road through a really great section. This is a real peaceful stretch. It runs alongside the tracks and there are tons of trains going through here.

We had previously missed the Blue Cut monument and found it this time. We also found the old EAT sign for a café that used to be here. We drove through the remains of Cajon and through the little community of Devore. There was hardly any traffic so we decided to be brave souls and kept on through San Bernardino and into Rialto. We stopped to check out the Wigwam Motel, of course. It’s been painted since we were here last. Then into Fontana. We had planned to stop at Bono’s for a late lunch. It wasn’t open and we were surprised to see a “For Rent” sign in the window. We’ll have to do some research and see what’s going on with this. We were happy to see that there is one of the old orange stands on the property now. As soon as we reached Cucamonga traffic picked up and we decided to hit the freeway and head home.


Since we had missed lunch we stopped at the Summit Inn at the top of Cajon Pass. What a pleasant surprise. This is a great place. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. I had a hot turkey sandwich and Earl had a summit burger. You get lots of food for your money. There’s a counter and booths. They’ve been in business since 1952. There’s also a great gas station on the property. Definitely worth a stop. Feels so good to be getting our kicks again.


Monday was a beautiful thy and we decided we needed a road trip. We hit the freeway and headed north to Newberry Springs. We weren’t really that hungry but just had to make a stop at the Bagdad Café. We had intended to just have a Coke and ended up having some cheese fries. It was pretty quiet in there today. Andrea was busy getting stuff ready for a run to the bank and the grocery store. And talking to some locals. We were waiting for the bill and talking with the cook who had just told us that you could only catch General Bob early in the morning when in he walks. The cook wanted to take our picture behind the counter so we could email it back. After the picture was taken and we returned to our table he says to us “You can take my picture, I’m General Bob”. And this began the ultimate Route 66 experience. We tried to introduce ourselves and he told us he knew who we were. He then began telling us his life story. He will admit to being born in 1903 and be 98+ years old, but hinted that he might be older. He’s pretty spry for being this age, and doesn’t really look it either. He sure has traveled to a lot of countries and done quite a few important jobs. And he even knew my dad. Talk about a small world! ;) It was a really interesting time. An experience that every roadie should experience.

The Bagdad Café was used in the movie “Bagdad Cafe” starring Jack Palance. The café is actually in Newberry Springs, California on an old alignment of Route 66.

We left Newberry Springs knowing that we had met the most unique person on Route 66. We followed the road through to Daggett and checked out this small town. They have not made much progress on the old Stone Hotel restoration. After looking around we went on into Barstow. We were extremely happy to see that the restaurant at the El Rancho Motel had been bought and is now Chicho’s Mexican Restaurant. They were having a grand opening. Wish we would’ve been hungry. That’s a great building and it’s so nice to see it alive once again. Barstow really is a nice town. We continued on through Lenwood, the remains of Hodge and into Helendale. This town sure has grown since the last time we were through here. Never did see any signs for Exotic World and couldn’t remember where it was exactly. We did find another interesting place on the south end of town. There is guy building bottle trees after the fashion of Miles Mahan who built Hula Ville. He’s been working on it for six months and has quite a few trees. Pretty cool. We then passed through Oro Grande and stopped to check out the great steel truss bridge over the Mojave River. Glad this was saved. We then cruised through Victorville in search of a Mexican place to eat. Had to settle for one off of Route 66. Found a place called Los Toritos and it had great food, and margaritas.

Bill’s Service Station (right) Between Victorville and Barstow, California Old 66 alignment Below (left) 1940 view of 7th St Below (right) 2001 view of 7th St Victorville, California

Note: One of Cheryl’s passions was taking photos of places that were depicted in her post card collection. Then and now, so to speak. A friend (Russell Olsen,) is coming out with a book titled “Route 66 Lost and Found” using old cards from our collection. (published in late 2004)