Rolling Through the Past

The mapping tool on the magnificent invention of my smartphone offered two recommended routes from the City of Sin to Joshua Tree National Park. One route offered a quick path to the north via an interstate and another recommended a highway passing unnecessarily too far to the south. Both routes seemed too indirect geographically and ultimately less interesting. After digging a little deeper I found a third more direct but considerably more time consuming route. Spontaneity is the mother of discovery.

We rolled south from Las Vegas, fueled up in the tiny town of Searchlight, Nevada and took a turn to the west into California from the most southern region of Nevada and onto a forgotten segment of Route 66. Within a few minutes a wave of nostalgia and peace took hold. Time slowed. For the better of two hours since leaving Route 95 in Nevada until reaching landmark Roy’s Motel and Café in Amboy, California we encountered only three other vehicles in either direction on the two lane iconic road. Three vehicles in two hours!! With the windows down and the radio off the only reminder of the current era was our own mode of transportation. Faded white symbols of the route logo were occasionally seen on the road itself. Tumbleweeds, freight trains in the distance and the occasional remnants of sun aged relics brought our thoughts to an earlier time.

The Mother Road as Route 66 had been nicknamed was removed by the United States Highway System in 1985. It extended almost 2,500 miles from Chicago, Illinois to the Southern California coast. The road was a major migration path during the 1930s for those escaping the Dust Bowl crisis of the plains states and parts of Canada. Most of the original road is now covered by major interstates but several stretches have been preserved and designated as National Scenic Byways.

The stretch we ventured upon was not nationally registered but more forgotten and stuck in time. The habitual unconscious check of the cellphone revealed “No Service”. Miles of endless desert in the heart of the summer seems an unlikely place to relish. On most getaways I define wanderlust with my desire to see around every corner. This famous old road is a different kind of experience. I don’t know what prompted the action but I pulled our car off the road and turned off the engine. We exited the car and stood in the middle of the road. We took turns facing each direction. Nothing as far as one could see. My wife and I wandered off the road and put together our initials with rocks on the embankment that thousands of others had done in previous years. As we walked backed to our car we noticed what appeared to be a green vine growing in the bleakest of environments. A softball size melon was discovered in the wrappings of stem. Initially we both thought some discarded seeds had prospered against the odds. After returning home we learned that melons do exist in the desert. Who would have thought?

We returned to the road and breaking the speed limit was never a thought. Savoring the moment was tantamount. An overpass ahead brought the time machine back to current. A stream of cars and trucks raced by in both directions with all the accompanying noise that one would expect. The noise and high density traffic of Interstate 40 grew louder as we approached and then started to fade as we glided underneath and beyond. There was a strange sense of satisfaction in going in the opposite direction of the rest of the world.

After a lengthy spell another glimmer of civilization appeared on the horizon. Roy’s Motel and Café in Amboy, California is on a stretch of a National Trails Highway section of Route 66. The active gas station and small store anchor the site that at one time was home to a motel and other business enterprises. The classic fifty foot sign is worth the trip alone. The opening of Interstate 40 in 1972 meant the end of business along Route 66. Roy’s is worth the stop to stretch your legs, take a few pictures and visualize what used to be. A model check-in motel front desk is depicted and some of the former motel rooms can be seen as well. Standing in the parking lot of Roy’s before returning to the road brought images of 1960s model cars coming and going. It is a perfect reminder of an earlier time.

The remainder of the weekend escape was spent exploring Joshua Tree National Park and the return trip via the same route back to our home in Las Vegas. Joshua Tree National Park deserves all its accolades and it was absolutely beautiful. But it’s the unexpected and off the beaten path experiences that stick with you.

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