Day 8: Sep. 17, 2005
More Cruisin'


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Last night should have been laundry night but I missed "last wash" by half an hour. So I headed out first thing this morning and was only slightly surprised to see Bob's microbus safely parked at the back of the Wigwam lot. He is playing it safe and I anticipate this being the last morning with this vehicle featured. There was a restaurant right in front of the laundromat so I got breakfast and clean clothes in one trip.
After the laundry, I headed west to California's Madonna of the Trail Monument in Upland. I don't know if there was a time capsule for the first fifty years but there is one for the second. Californians, you have less than twenty-four years to go.
On the way back from Upland, I stopped at a couple of landmarks we had seen on Thursday's tour but had not stopped at. The first is the Magic Lantern restaurant with both a unique looking building and sign. The second is the last remaining orange stand on Sixty-Six in California; Maybe anywhere. It sits in front of the currently closed Bono's Restaurant. The owner, Joe Bono, was at the Steinbeck Award Luncheon and stated that the restaurant would be reopened shortly.
Back in San Bernardino, I stopped by the site of the original McDonald's restaurant. The current building was never an actual McDonald's but it makes a good museum for McDonald's, Route 66, and Juan Pollo, the current owner.
I had taken the interstate from Victorville to San Bernardino on Wednesday. Today, I sort of made up for that by following Historic 66 back to Victorville to visit the museum there. Among the items displayed there are quite a few things from Miles Mahan's defunct Hulaville.
When I planned the drive to Victorville, I also planned a return drive that would take me through part of the San Bernardino National Forest. Past Silverwood Lake on CA-138 then on to San Bernardino on CA-18. CA-18 is also called the Rim of the World Highway. Wonder why?
I reached San Bernardino about half an hour before official cruise start time. I parked a few blocks away, walked to the cruise route, and started to slowly work my way toward the Authors & Artists area. Before going far, I encountered a golf cart with Helen Baker at the wheel. "We're cruisin", she said. "Want to go?" Fran sat beside her and Carolyn was in the rear facing jump seat. I climbed aboard and soon learned that she really did mean "cruisin'". She pulled the golf cart into the line of hotrods, customs, and classics and we became part of the parade. This big-block Chevy was behind us much of the time and its awesome rumbling made quite a contrast to the cart's quiet passage. There were lots of smiles, frequent calls to "burn 'em" or "rev it up", and even an occasional wave. Only after our cruise ended did getting a picture of our ride occur to me. Too late.

These mounted policemen were parked in front of the A & A area. That's not directly on the cruise route, but they did watch the occasional car go by on the way to or from the route and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Note the blue flame decals on the trunk of the rightmost bike. I also saw the flames and Route 66 shields on the front fenders of some police motorcycles.

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