Tues.Feb 21st Historic "Route 66"

Thanks for joining us on our journey of North America
 in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we today ?

Needles California

        Are we having fun yet? You betcha, upright and breathing sounds like fun to me. The sun is shining, the weather is warm and we are living our dream. So the standard warm early morning, coffees,  computing, walkabouts, chat with neighbors and a quick trip to the store for some cheap beer, oh and a bit of food too.

        We had decided that today we would together take a small tour of the village of Needles California. Its a small tour because its a small town. And kinda sad to see like so many other towns on "Historic Route 66" they are almost turning into ghost towns too. Down the main street 4 lanes wide and deserted, most of the very nice, some almost almost new and old buildings are boarded up. Old motels, gas stations, motels closed or abandoned, even a few restaurants too. But a few survivors here. We went to the Museum and did a quick tour there with some interesting history of the area (no pictures allowed).

        Next store was a thift store, now that was fun as most thrift stores are, good deals to be had but nothing we needed.

Museum and Thrift store

        We walked around the corner and found another thrift store, more fun, looking for a few minutes.

        Then another beautiful mural of days gone by, Scenic Route "66"

El Graces Hotel

        Across the street is the "El Graces Hotel" and the town square( more info on the hotel (here). Both under renovations but they ran out of money. Hopefully they will be restored some time in the near future. At some point in the past this was a booming town, with passenger train service, a huge hotel/ restaurant, many motels and restaurants and businesses when the Mother Road Route 66 was the main highway from Chicago to Los Angeles. 

        Now with the interstate highway system by passing these towns, set up some 50 or more years ago these places are now pretty much ghost towns, trying to be tourist attractions.

        After all this excitement we had, its time to head back home relax with our books and enjoy this awesome California weather for a while. Then a sociable "happy hour" with our neighbors before time fire up our Weber to grill a couple of salmon filets accompanied by a tasty rice pilaf and fresh baked buttermilk biscuits (Pillsbury type).

tasty yes!

        Now supper done and the sun is muffled in the clouds before setting, winding up another awesome day!

good night

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