Final Post for the 2007 Road Tour

This is our final day on the road to Pomona. We cruised the riverfront strip, and left Laughlin, crossed the California state line and had a straight run on Interstates 40 and 15 into Victorville for our last lunch stop. I stopped for gas before reaching Victorville and had the bright idea to call Jim "Jake" Jacobs, who lives nearby, and invite him to lunch since I was in the neighborhood, but got his answering machine, so left him a message where to meet us. I got to our designated lunch spot a little before everyone else, and lo and behold - there's Jake! Ever the detailed planner, Rick Love had beat me to the punch and contacted Jake the night before with the same invitation. Rick leaves no detail unattended. I'd like to once again thank all of the wonderful folks who were a part of this journey. You all made it another memorable trip. Rick, Jack, Tom Medley, Ron Ceridono, Mike Griffin, Jimmie Vaughn, Kay and Bruce Burroughs, Ron Findley, Jerry Dixey, and on and on. Jorge and Paulette, Ron Clapper, Steve and Evelyn - thanks for your hospitality on the road - I really appreciated it. Jerry Dixey posted the official Street Rodder Magazine Road Tour travelogue at www.streetrodderweb.com and I invite you to visit their site. It was kind of painful posting updates (especially photos, which took up to 10 minutes each to load) on Blogger.com so if any of you have any alternate suggestions for blog sites, please let me know. I'll be back on the road in the latter part of July heading for Deuce Day in Victoria, British Columbia, and I plan to blog that trip as well. I'll keep you posted. Hope that you enjoyed this trip. See you on the Road to WhoKnowsWhere. Finally, an apropos ending to this epic. If you remember, the opening photo of this Blog is one of JJ Cale hitching a ride on the Road to Pomona. Well, here's our friend Jake joining in. ADIOS !!!!!!!

Day 8, June 13

The La Posada was quaint, and I'm sure it was the best place to stay in Winslow. After dinner at a diner that time forgot, I went to the hotel bar for a cup of coffee. Remember that this hotel was founded on the Santa Fe railroad business. As Route 66 so often does, I was offered a step back in time. There were three young men at the bar who worked for the railroad (the tracks ran just behind the hotel). You kinda conjure up an image of young, buffed out guys downing beers from long-necked bottles, back slapping, and getting a little rowdy. The irony of this scene though, (fast forward to the present) was that they were drinking pimpy, flavored, long-stemmed glassed martini-ish drinks with obscure names !!! Huh???? Whatever happened to the guys that Woody Guthrie and Boxcar Willie sang about? Geesh!!!! Oh well, on to Laughlin, Nevada via the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The observation tower at the Desert View overlook on the Grand Canyon's south rim. Some images of the Grand Canyon at Desert View. We attempted to take in another perspective of the canyon at Mather Point, but the parking lot was full. We pressed on to lunch. After leaving the Grand Canyon we banzaiied our way to Laughlin, Nevada and the Aquarius Hotel and Casino for the night. Laughlin is across the Colorado River from Bullhead City, Arizona (a picturesque town name if ever there was one), and the California state line is just on the other side of town. The Colorado has worked its magic on the landscape by this point, and it's a much more bucolic scene in this region, and all the way down to the Mexican border near Yuma, Arizona. It's the home stretch from here.