Day 82

Up, up and ready to go we were today. Just in time for check out. Well, actually we checked out thirty minutes late but that is normal for us. We went to Dennys for breakfast and discussed our strategy for the last week (it wasn't a very long conversation).

We consulted our map, took 58E and drove to Barstow. Once there, we stopped for a coffee & cake. Paulo investigated the hotel options for San Diego while I drove down Route 66 to have a look. And take some pictures.

Route 66 was commissioned in 1926, the year that numbered highways came into existence in America. It is considered the 'Mother Road' of American highways and used to be referred to as the 'Main Street of America'. The highway was deactivated in 1984 and replaced with the modern interstate highway system. But as you travel through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California you can still see some stretches of good old fashioned Americana.

One such place offering a great glimpse of the past is Barstow. Perhaps because Barstow is a major regional transportation center. Maybe because several major highways converge in the city. Or maybe because the city is mentioned in the lyrics to 'Route 66'. Whatever the reason, it is a really cool spot and I couldn't resist taking lots of pictures.

















After my short trip back in time, I went back to Starbucks to collect Paulo and we made our way to Palm Springs taking 15S and then 10E.

We checked in to Quality Inn and then drove into town for a bite. Palm Springs - seriously gay town. Seriously. We initially chose a place called Blue Coyote Bar & Grill but that was Mexican and Paulo didn't fancy it again. We walked a few doors down to Azul. The menu had tapas so it seemed OK. But once we sat down and looked around we noticed a slightly uncomfortable amount of gay boys staring at us. I suppose 'Footloose' by Kenny Loggins playing and the bartender doing a bit of a 'dance' should have tipped us off. Before we could move, our waiter showed up at our table and asked us if we wanted a COCKtail. We asked him for a minute and then in true immature, homophobic fashion got up and legged it! We went a bit further down the road and decided on a place called Hamburger Mary's. The place was empty and we settled in to some seats at the bar. Things were looking up when we managed to convince the barmaid to put some baseball on. But the gay boys started rolling in after a while and we were surrounded again. But it was grand. We had a nice meal, a few drinks and got some highlights of all the ball games on ESPN.

Back at the hotel we settled in and had a bit of wifi time before hitting the scratcher.