The End of the Quest -- And Beginning the Next Quest
Sunday, May 9 for Saturday, May 8, 2021
Cutting to the chase, which I don't do very well (!), we made it to the western end of Route 66. We did NOT drive that last little bit ourselves, but we were passengers of Paul Griffith, and Randy's cousin Janie. Paul put up with all the traffic, ins and outs, crazy LA drivers, and finding suitable parking so we could show that yes, we did make it.
In Randy's original itinerary, we would have finished up on May 7. After a full month of travel across a good portion of the country, we were one day late. Part of that was by choice, so we could run around with Janie and Paul and see sights that had nothing to do with Route 66.
We started out on Saturday, May 8 by traveling from their home in Temple City, CA into Pasadena and LA.
As an aside, Paul and Janie told us about the "suicide bridge." Apparently, for some reason it was a place that locals decided to use to end it all. Because Pasadena and the surrounding area did not want to be known as the "suicide capital," they put up decorative, high fencing. It helped, but people still got around that fencing, so they put up even higher fencing, and stopped that problem, at least in that location.
Just an old-style motel near the end of Route 66.
The "terminus" sign has been moved around. The last time I saw a picture of it, it was on the walkway near the pier. Now it is out on the street, outside of the Visitor Center -- which, of course, is "COVID Closed."
I must note that parking was terrible in this area, and we drove around a couple times hoping to get within shouting distance of the Visitor Center. Paul has a handicapped parking hanger, and we found ONE vacant handicap space right next to the Visitor Center. We took advantage of it.
I had seen this hat early on at a gift shop. The guy was asking for a lot of money, so I passed, then regretted it. I think I found it in Willliams, AZ, so purchased it there. You can see that a stylized version of the map of Route 66 runs along the side. It was appropriate to show the hat at the end of the trail.
It was a bit anti-climatic to end the trip in the middle of a very busy city street, with people scurrying around us, not paying any attention to us. But we still had places to see, so Paul got back in the driver's seat and off we went.
Paul wanted us to see these interesting tunnels in the middle of LA, because they were on an early alignment of Route 66! I did my best to get a decent picture to show them.
Both Paul and Randy were excited to find MONA, the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, CA. There were examples of neon signs outside the building and inside as well.
The four of us went in and looked around. Our assessment was, it was very small, but very worth the money and time to see it.
The sign below is probably 90+ years old, and is for an exterminator! (The patients that die are rats!)
Most of the signs were from LA and surrounding area businesses. Paul said he remembered the Sears sign when it was in place being used in Temple City.
Below are some videos Randy and I took of some of the "motion" neon signs. I hope they work in the blog!
I will continue to put up notices about our travels, because we still have to get home! Please continue to come along and share the fun we are having. We appreciate you for staying with us this far, and we appreciate you comments.
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