Day 9 - June 20, 2015

Riding Route 66 in California

Amboy, California marker for Roy's.

Roy's.  Only the convenience store, with one operational 

fuel pump.  Gas - $5.49 per gallon.

More of the Mojave Desert.

Another hot day.

This was an interesting looking building and roof.  

In Daggett, California.

A repair shop.  No traffic means no customers.  It was closed.

We crossed a lot of desert today and yesterday.  Some of 66 was closed, but we

spent much of the trip on roads like this.

Day nine.  Overnight in Victorville, California.  Still headed west.

My traveling companions graciously agreed to my suggestion of starting our day together thirty minutes later this morning.  So we met for breakfast at 7:30 instead of the usual 8:00.  That may have been a mistake as our departure point (Needles, California) had began to warm quickly as the sun peaked then soared above the horizon.  We hurriedly ate breakfast, loaded our bikes with our bags, and then we were on our way.

There was much desert to cross before we could put the remoteness behind us.  There were/are only a few holdover businesses, including gas stations, from another time along the way.  Most notably among those was/is Amboy, California (Pop. 4).  It was once a thriving way point, so the story goes, but no more.  The school (for four students) closed in 1999 because it would cost $500,000 to bring the school up to code.  We did not see a school today, so maybe the school building is no more.  And there is no water there, so the motel is not operational.  One fuel pump worked.  With Needles to the East and Ludlow to the west, it is a long way between gas opportunities, thus there remains Amboy. It is an interesting place, and has an interesting history.  You can read more about it at the following link.  Click here to read more about Amboy, California.

We left Amboy by rejoining Route 66, still traveling west.  We met very few car/trucks along our way, and we did not see any motorcycles as we traveled along the old road.  The temperature during our ride along this stretch reached 111 degrees.  The sun was so hot we could feel our skin burning beneath our gloves and our long sleeve shirts.  We liberally applied sunscreen to our exposed body parts (our face and the back of our neck) at each stop.  And we stopped at most of the way stations along the way.  Here we consumed lots of water and cooled where we could.

One stretch of 66 was extremely rough.  It was paved but it was rough, necessitating speeds near or below 30 mph for much of the time.  One concern was that the bone-jarring holes would collapse a tire leaving us stranded in the extreme heat.  And the jarring that the bikes took, even at the slow speeds, did not do the bikes or the riders any good.

When we ran out of the old road we got back on I-40.  Once on I-40 we soon arrived to the eastern edge of Barstow, California (Pop. 23,000).  By the time we reached Barstow it was after 2:00 p.m. Bob was now in the lead and he led us to a local restaurant.  We had a leisurely lunch, with lots of water and cold tea.  Then we reentered I-40 and continued to our stop for the evening. Along this segment we saw our highest temperature of the day, 113 degrees, as shown in the photo above.

We arrived at our motel at 5:30 p.m., which was our earliest arrival time for the entire trip.  We made good use of the time by finding a cool room, resting, and a few tasks that needed to be addressed.

Another good day.