Thats Route 66 done. LAX now, home soon.

Well we finally finished our route 66 trip with a visit to Santa Monica Pier. It was great to finally arrive and see the 66 to Cali booth on the pier.

Its been a fantastic journey, we've met some great people along the way,

 Thankyou America.

But this really is the end of the trail for Fred.

Viva Las Vegas. Day 9 on the Mother Road

Goodbye Arizona. So much for a quiet night in Williams, AZ. The Santa Fe line train drivers are a sadistic bunch, every train that trundled through Williams last night gave a long, loud, whistle to announce to the whole town that they were passing through. The 3.30am train seemed particularly loud. Hey ho though, We got through it, setting off towards Seligman and hopefully meeting Route 66 legend Angel in his Barber Shop. Angel is single-handedly responsible for bringing route 66 back from the brink and making it the fantastic journey it is today. We arrived at his place just after a coach load of tourists from Northern Britain, his shop was packed. We did manage to shake Angels' hand before he jumped on his pushbike and disappeared up the road. For a man in his 80's he seemed full of beans and enjoying life to the full.

Fred ouside Angels' place, Seligman, AZ

We left town shortly after Angel and left the hoards of Norhern tourists to buy their souvenirs and jump back on the coach. The next stretch of '66 is probably the most impressive of the whole journey. The mountain pass up through Oatman is amazing, fantastic views, massive drop-offs from the road edge, switch-backs and hairpins a-plenty. A truly brilliant ride.

Fred on the Oatman pass

And again

And one more.

Through Oatman and down onto the Colorado River valley in Needles, we left 66 behind us and headed north towards Vegas. A quick detour out to the Hoover Dam was pretty cool, impressive engineering always turns a bears' head.

Dam thats impressive!

And so to Vegas, The Bellagio. Wow

Amazing room

Superb view.

I'm Bear blogging while the humans get ready to hit the town.

No need for Fred to prepare, I have a fool proof plan......

All on Black.

Day 8 Route 66, Bearizona and The Grand Canyon

Day 8 meant an early start from our wigwam home in Holbrook, a night of listening to the soulful whistles of the trains on the Santa Fe line competing with the tweets and whistles of the dawn chorus from the local birds made for an interesting alarm call.

Fred in his wigwam bed.

Up and on the Mother road by 7am to make a 9.30 train departure in Williams, AZ 120 odd miles away with a quick stop off in Winslow, AZ for a photo pose.

Fred takin' it easy, standin' on a corner in Winslow Arizona..... thanks to The Eagles Winslow has a claim to fame, a statue and a reason for us tourists to stop by.

Onward we drove on 66 for our morning departure on The Grand Canyon Railway. Leaving Sara at the ticket booth to buy our tickets meant we had upper class, luxury seats in the observation dome. Fantastic views for the two and a half hour journey to the South Rim.

One word describes this place.

Awesome.

A trek down the canyon on the blue angel trail was a great way to get some kind of perspective on the sheer size of this place. My view from the backpack was pretty cool too. After a 90 minute trek down and then up again we were ready for some lunch before our train ride back to Williams.

Even our luxury observation coach had a cool name.

Happy Travelers.

Fred, Champagne and our waitress for the day, Mimi.

After a brilliant day visiting the Canyon just a 5 minute drive to our bed for the night, another traditional motel on 66. Comfortable, clean and hopefully a little quieter.

Look out Vegas, Fred is coming.

Santa Fe, New Mexico, Day 6 on the Mother Road.

Only an hours drive today from Albuquerque, some beautiful mountain views along the way

So we've arrived in Santa Fe and there is really only one subject to talk about.
Coming from Weymouth, our experience of altitude is driving up Wyke Road.

High Altitude can have strange effects on bears and humans. Santa Fe is 7000 odd feet above sea level and we can all really feel the difference. After the first couple of hours here we are all suffering from headaches, shortness of breath, lack of energy and lack of appetite. This is all normal according the welcome pack at our lovely little adobe cottage, complete with wood fireplace. Los Palomas Hotel is set out over a single story spread over a couple of blocks.

                    Our home in the High mountains of New Mexico for tonight.

                                 A couple of pics from the Plaza area of Santa Fe

So although none of us feel brilliant at the moment we took a stroll into town and took a look at some of the fascinating architecture, Native American Arts and Boutique Shops before heading back to our little Pueblo for a lie down.
Hopefully we can all adjust to the lack of oxygen up here quickly and enjoy an evening out and about in town later.

Hot Dog, Jumpin' Frog, Albequerque

Route 66 Day 5, Amarillo to Alberqueque 8700 miles across a barren desert.

Leaving Amarillo, Texas on Route 66 we quickly came across the Midway point of our journey in Adrian, TX. Unfortunately the cafe was closed til next week so I did a bit of posing for the camera and we headed off into the deserts of New Mexico.

Fred is halfway to California.

From this point on the journey was pretty deserty

Tree

Desert

Tree

Desert

Desert

Train

Desert

Tree

Desert

Desert

Mountains

Alberqueque

Our hotel for the night was chosen by Sara and is therefore alot nicer than the Motels we've lodged at over the last few nights. The most pretigious hotel in Alberqueque, the Hotel Andaluz was once a Hilton Hotel and was where Zsa Zsa Gabor married Mr Hilton in the 1940s.

Fred is getting used to huge beds

Views across the city towards the mountains. Pretty awesome.

Howdy Y'all, That was the way to Amarillo

Just call me Fred.....Big Fred.

Texas is Big, real Big. Even the journey here from Oklahoma was enormous. Just one quick lunch stop on the way at Pops' in Arcadia, OK, an amazing place that sells hundreds of different flavours of soda. We chose good ol' Round Barn Root Beer, and some good pop it was too.

Fred ouside Pops, that one big soda bottle.

Lunch stop done it was on towards Texas.

When the SatNav said ' stay on this road for the next 250 miles' we knew it was gonna be a tough drive so I settled down, watched Ol' Okey disappear in the rearview mirror and the huge skies of Texas unfold before us.

Arriving in Amarillo it felt great to chill out in the Big Texan Hotel before I get stuck into the steak dinner that I know is waiting for me just next door.

A jacuzzi bath and a fresh set of duds and I'm the rootingest tootingest bear in these parts.

Yeeehah, lets go eat some meat.

And drink some Big Texan beer

And then go sleep it all off. Night y'all.

3 states in one day. Day 3 on Route 66

Day 3 on Route 66 Lebanon, MO to Tulsa OK 263 miles

A restful night at The Munger Moss Motel, thanks to Ramona and her hospitality

Another great day on the Mother Road, Americas' Mid-West is full of friendly happy people who all seem to enjoy a bit of bear lovin'. After another fantastic breakfast at the Elm Street Eatery in Lebanon my taxi driving buddies and me set off West deep into Missouri. In Paris Springs we had the pleasure of spending some time with Gary Turner at the Gay Parita Filling Station. Gary has lived on '66 a long time and had some wonderful stories to tell. His place is crammed full of route 66 stuff which he was happy to show us. Guarding over his garage full of treasures was Earle.Earle and me got on like a house on fire.

                             Earle and Fred in the Gay Parita garage of treasure.

Gary, Sara and Fred getting friendly in Garys' office

Andy and Sara posing for Garys' website gallery

Fleetline Taxis - Part of the Missouri scenery

Fred is part of the Mother Road

We spent 45 minutes chatting with Gary, he was a fascinating guy and we loved being with him.

Further along the road Route 66 dips into Kansas for a 14 mile stretch through Galena and Baxter Springs. Here we met Melba the Mouth and Lyle. Both are characters of the Mother Road and both made us all very welcome. Melbas' Diner in Galena has a very special truck parked out front, the whole area inspired a certain animated film.

Fred and Tow- Mator getting acquainted.

Oklahoma was our 3rd state of the day and our first rain storm of the trip. Sara kept a weather eye out for twisters but no such luck. The drive-thru sign outside Carthage stayed rooted down. 

Long straight roads running for 10's of miles led us all the way into Tulsa and our stopover at the Desert Hills Motel. We are sat in Tallys' Cafe, Tulsa eating and blogging. Great food. Early night for us all. Texas tomorrow.

Is this the way to Amarillo? I certainly hope so.

Chillin out in Springfield after day 1 on route 66

Freds' Best Bear Bits Day 1 on Route 66

Chicago to Springfield IL.

Setting off from Adams Street in Downtown Chicago, 2300 miles to go.

A huge breakfast at Lou Mtichells' Diner set me up for the day.

Am I a time travelling bear? Is this the 1930's? 

A deserted gas station outside Dwight IL. The shop and workshop were full of authentic items from the time.

Small bear complex. Am I a tiny bear or is he a massive man carrying a space rocket?Fred meeting the Gemini Giant muffler man outside The Launch Pad Diner, Wilmington IL.

 The Route 66 Hotel and Conference Centre, Springfield IL is our first nights' stopover. A route 66 museum, bar and diner kept us in the mood for more Mother Road experiences on day 2. Goodbye Illinois, hello Missouri. The journey isnt about the destination, its about the direction. Go West young bear.