Day 2 Rialto to Las Vegas - 19th June

So we are on the road... to Chicago, heading back to where it all began in the 1920s. In reading prior to departing Australia we discovered that much of the Mother road does not exist and that finding what remains of it is much of the adventure in this trip. Finding it using various maps and with the aid of the other female on this trip, our Tom Tom affectionately named Jane, so named for her insatiable ability to deliver helpful information on a consistent basis if treated fairly... (hmmph, could be lesson there)

Combined with some of the latest technology in the form of an iPhone app for route 66 we are able to pin point our location along a line that highlights many roads we would otherwise miss.

We paused in San Bernadino, where the McDonald brothers opened their first restaurant. We tapped into the best thing on their fast food menu – free wireless! No doubt we will frequent this place across America over the next two weeks.

We are following route 66, as it weaves its way through back streets, no longer used as a thoroughfare. At Devore Heights the road weaves across the I15 and through the hills of this quaint community.

 Very soon the road divides and one half has clearly been abandoned, grass growing through the pavement for miles at a time.

Through Cajun Pass we share the valley with never ending trains of 40ft containers, no wonder there are less trucks on the road here than Australia. From Hwy 15 we can see the relics at Cajun Summit. Trucks and even a gas station amongst the dust and wind of the Californian desert.

Victorville is littered with old motels, some still operational, some not. Johnny Rebs is still there, the pickup out front hasn’t moved in a decade or two.... but the food and nostalgia was good.

A mile down the road is the Route 66 Museum, a wealth of history crammed into three rooms and maintained by a passionate group of enthusiasts.

McDonald's San Bernardino

Winding through Devore Heights

The 'Old Mother Road'

Train Snaking through the Cajun Valley

                                             Sample of the typical Route 66 style signs

American Father's Day Breakfast in an original Route 66 Diner

What do they say about eyes and belly????

                                                      Route 66 Museum at Victorville

The Old and the New .....

Linda Marie's Treasures

                                                         Checking out the price of gas

                                                            Easy care bottle trees..

                                                                A pressing matter..........

                                                                              History!

Las Vegas beckons....

The bright lights ....