California was the last state of our Route 66 road trip. We saw a wide variety of sights including burros, a bridge, and a National Park before wrapping up our trip with lots of beach and pool time! If you missed reading about the earlier parts of our trip you can catch up here and here.
Day 10: Kingman, AZ to Joshua Tree
Leaving Kingman, we had one last stop in Arizona. We stuck to the original Route 66 as much as possible throughout our trip so this last section in Arizona required us to drive the Oatman Highway, which was steep, included some very sharp turns on a hill/mountainside, and had wild burros wandering around. The drive took us into the town of Oatman, AZ. Oatman is a former Gold Rush mining town, complete with wood-planked sidewalks. It is not a ghost town, but when we were there, it sure felt like one. I think we may have seen only one other group of people and the two shopkeepers in the stores we ventured into. It was really eerie but also felt like we had wandered onto an abandoned movie set for a John Wayne western.
After leaving Oatman, we took a side trip to Lake Havasu to see London Bridge. London Bridge is a granite bridge that was originally built in the 1830s in London, England. In the 1960s, the bridge was purchased (who knew you could buy a bridge?), deconstructed, shipped across the ocean (and then the country), and reconstructed in Lake Havasu, AZ. The area around the bridge is designed to make you feel like you’re in London, with red telephone booths and all. We ate lunch at The Chair – Lake Havasu restaurant and I ventured over to put a lock on the bridge to commemorate our trip.
After lunch, we headed into California. We made a stop in Needles, CA, before detouring again to spend the night near Joshua Tree National Park. We checked into 29 Palms Inn and took the boys to the pool to cool off from the desert heat. We had dinner poolside and watched the sunset.
Day 11: Joshua Tree to Santa Monica, CA
The next morning, we enjoyed the Continental breakfast provided by the hotel, including a thermos of coffee! Getting an early start was important so that we could get a hike in before it got too hot. We hiked the Hidden Valley Nature Trail. It was about an hour hike and was fairly easy for us, the adults, but challenging enough for the kids that it felt like an accomplishment! After our hike, we drove through the park to see many of the other sights including Skull Rock, the Jumbo Rocks, and the Cholla Cactus Garden, before heading on our way to finish our Route 66 drive. We tried to leave the friendship rock in the park we had picked up in Grants, NM, but every time we put it down the kids would change their mind! It now lives on a shelf in their room!
Our next stop after leaving Joshua Tree, was the Ludlow Café in Ludlow, CA. It was a classic roadside diner that really hit the spot after our morning hike. The only issue we had was that we had to eat in our car since they weren’t allowing dining in and it was way too hot to sit outside! Next up we drove through Barstow, CA before stopping at Elmer Long’s Bottle Tree Ranch in Oro Grande, CA. Milo had fallen asleep in the car so only Henry and I wandered around the Bottle Tree Ranch.
At this point we were getting so close! The Route took us through the greater Los Angeles area where sights included seeing the last of the Wigwam Motel in Rialto, the Donut Man bakery in Glendora, and Pasadena’s Fair Oaks Pharmacy. We were disappointed because it was closed due to the pandemic so we didn’t get to go in and get a treat! If we ever find ourselves in Pasadena again, it will definitely be on our must-do list!
We also drove through downtown LA proper to see the alternative Route 66 endpoints. Unfortunately our arrival was close to rush hour so the drive into the city took longer than we would have liked. But we made it to Santa Monica, and more specifically, to the coast, just in time for sunset! We checked into the Loews Santa Monica and celebrated the completion of our 11 days on the road with a welcome glass of champagne and ordering sushi to the room!
Day 12: Santa Monica, CA
Although we arrived in Santa Monica the night before, we couldn’t consider our journey complete until we made it to the Santa Monica Pier and the sign marking the end of the Route. It was fairly early in the morning and, combined with the pandemic, a lot of the activities on the Pier were not opening that day. So after taking the necessary pictures, and exploring the shops that were open, we left the Pier and walked over to the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market.
After the Farmer’s Market, we grabbed coffee at Espresso Cielo before going to the beach! We spent the afternoon hanging on the beach, digging in the sand, and relaxing after so many days in the car!
That night, we walked to dinner at a rooftop restaurant on Second Street that I can’t seem to find the name of. I’m thinking it may have gone out of business, which is a bummer because I remember it being very good and having a great dinner there. The views were awesome and it was a perfect way to end our first full day in Santa Monica.
Day 13: Santa Monica, CA
Ande and I had both been to LA before, however, neither of us had done the touristy things associated with visiting Los Angeles. So since we had spent the day at the beach the day before, we used our second day to see some of the famous sights. We had decided the night before that we wanted to switch hotels to stay at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows. So after dropping our luggage at the Fairmont, we headed into LA to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. While there, we also saw Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Dolby Theater (home of the Oscars!).
Next stop was in Venice, CA for lunch at Superba Food + Bread. We dined on their outdoor patio and enjoyed the California sunshine! After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to swim and relax. After a late afternoon by the pool, we decided to stay at the hotel and have dinner at FIG. Two-year old Milo had oysters on the half-shell for the first time at that dinner, he wasn’t sure about them, but we were so proud of him for trying!
Day 14: Santa Monica, CA
The next morning we slept in and then went over to The Original Farmer’s Market to wander around. We were there around lunch time so we had a progressive lunch, stopping at many of the different merchants there. Progressive meals, especially in places like this, are one of our favorite things to do so that we can try all the things! Some of the things we ate were empanadas, oysters, and, of course, ice cream!
After lunch, we went over to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Of course, it’s a little morbid to visit a cemetery, but it was interesting to see some of the really old graves, along with some of the famous ones! That night we had dinner on Ocean Avenue at Water Grill. We loaded up on fresh seafood and again got to take in the sunset over the water. It was another great ending to our day!
Day 15: Santa Monica, CA
On the last day of our trip we enjoyed a full day at the beach and pool. After two weeks of sightseeing we were ready to do nothing but soak up the last day of vacation. That night we headed to dinner at North Italia. It had been too long since we had had an Italian meal, specifically pasta—which we eat weekly at home—and it hit the spot!
Day 16: Fly home from Santa Monica, CA to STL
We had an early morning flight home. We had never seen an airport so empty—LAX was a ghost town compared to when we had flown through there previously (I had just flown home from there on March 3, 2020—the weekend before the world shut down—and it felt like a completely different airport!). Unfortunately for me, my seatmate, Milo, didn’t sleep at all on the flight and I played the pick-up game as he continually dropped his headphones!
In total, we drove over 1,800 miles! It was a great trip and I was successful in showing Ande that road trips are a great way to travel! We created lifelong memories and our boys to this day ask when we can go on our next road trip!