<– Day 21 – Apr. 9th: Day 2 at Disneyland | OVERVIEW | Day 23 – Apr. 11th: Vintage Cars and Campers –>

On Thursday we drove down to meet a friend of my mothers and her husband on Balboa Island.

Today we drove to Balboa Island.

They took us out to Ruby’s on Balboa pier:

Even we couldn’t pull of this photo. It’s from this magazine: http://newportbeachmagazine.com/taste-of-the-town/

We gorged ourselves on hamburgers, fries and chocolate shakes. The best part of the day was getting some of the down low information on my mother from her longtime friend. And, as Mom reads that previous sentence, she is wondering just what Karen told me . . . lol 🙂

<– Day 21 – Apr. 9th: Day 2 at Disneyland | OVERVIEW | Day 23 – Apr. 11th: Vintage Cars and Campers –>

<– Day 20 – Apr. 8th: California Adventure w/ Mrs. Soggy Bottom | OVERVIEW | Day 22 – Apr. 10th: Balboa Island and Pier –>

Most of this week Ann and I stayed with Josh and his wife Quinn. Josh is a long time friend of mine that I haven’t seen in nearly four years (and had yet to meet Quinn and their new son Jacob). So, we spent a couple evenings having a few drinks and catching up (yes, probably more important than even eWillys!). I even got a chance to do some cooking: poached salmon in a mushroom stock with rice pilaf for dinner and some eggs benedict with hollandaise made, in part, from a vinegar/shallot reduction (best hollandaise I think I’ve ever made from scratch — sorry, no pics).

On Wednesday April 9th Ann and I made it back to Anaheim for day two of our Disney adventure, this time on the Disneyland side. It was a good day and we stayed until the very end to watch the water show and fireworks. I can’t imagine the coldest of hearts doesn’t feel their inner child peak out as disney music booms from the speakers while the water shows, dancing, and fireworks fire up the imagination. Here are a few pics:

Welcome to Disneyland!

Me about to ride the Thunder Train.

Ann with the Matterhorn in the background.

After a thorough exploration of the park, I concluded there are no jeeps on the premises. However, during the Jungle ride, I am pretty sure I spotted an upside down Mighty Mite. Though I couldn’t positively prove this was the case, after Googling it, I discovered there are pics of a Mighty Mite from the Disney World Jungle Cruise on the G503 site. I guess I’ll just have to go back and investigate more . . .

<– Day 20 – Apr. 8th: California Adventure w/ Mrs. Soggy Bottom | OVERVIEW | Day 22 – Apr. 10th: Balboa Island and Pier –>

<– Day 19 – Apr. 7th: From McDonald’s to Ruby’s | OVERVIEW | Day 21 – Apr. 9th: Day 2 at Disneyland –>

Yep, I found the Willys truck near the Grizzly Water Slide in the California Adventure Park. How could I resist a photo with it? Of course, I could not.

Our goal for today was simple: Go to Disneyland’s California Adventure Park. This was made possible by the kind donation of a reader who wishes to remain anonymous coupled with Disney’s active military only three-day $129 park hopper pass. That pass allowed us to do one park yesterday (California Adventure) and one park today (Disneyland). (how is she still active military you wonder? The Air Force refuses to release her fully from duty because of what she did with them).

Today our drive was short, as my buddy’s place is close to Disneyland.

Even better, because Ann can’t stand for long periods of time, Disney’s handicap system provides us a way to avoid standing in lines for the ‘fast pass’ tickets. I won’t go into explaining how the Disney Fast Pass vs the standard waiting line vs the single line vs the handicap line all differ from one another, because it does get a little confusing. But, I do have to thank Disney for making the experience possible for Ann (and others).

Now, why am I calling her Mrs. Soggy Bottom? Because we made the mistake of riding the Grizzly Water Ride as our second ride. She got his with a lot of water, causing her shorts to get wet. It was she who called herself Mrs. Soggy Bottom 🙂

The “Cars” ride was by far our favorite. It starts as a typical ride, but then turns into a road race. Pretty fun! What I found most amazing about this ride was the rock wall over and behind it. The rock looks so real and is enormous (see second pic — huge!!). I’m sure it is fiberglass/plastic/cement . . . but the paint, and look, down to the dirt at the bottom of one of the faux mesas’s, was incredible.

Some other pics:

Tomorrow go back for a second day. This time we will go later and stay late to see the evening water show.

<– Day 19 – Apr. 7th: From McDonald’s to Ruby’s | OVERVIEW | Day 21 – Apr. 9th: Day 2 at Disneyland –>

<– Day 18 – Apr. 6th: Wurlitzer to Wigwam | OVERVIEW | Day 20 – Apr. 8th: California Adventure w/ Mrs. Soggy Bottom –>

On the pier @ Huntington Beach, California

On Monday we and my ‘squaw’ awoke in our ‘teepee’ to a beautiful morning. The $70 we paid for a night at the Wigwam was a splurge for us, but we slept well and enjoyed the uniqueness of the experience.

The grounds are nicely kept and the area was clean.

Today we drove from San Bernardino to Fullerton, then on to Huntington Beach, before returning to Huntington.

Our first task of the day was to visit San Bernardino’s contribution to the world: The very first McDonalds in 1948. It turns out the ‘birth’ story of McDonald’s are actually two stories, the official McDonald corp stance and the actual truth. Thankfully, the founder of the Pollo Loco restaurants in Southern California has saved this original history (despite McDonald corp efforts to tell a different story). Even better, he’s made the museum free. Now, I wouldn’t drive hours out of my way to visit this, but if you are near San Bernardino, it is worth a short detour in my opinion.

Though not the original build, that is part of the original sign and this is the original location of the very first McDonalds.

Part of the mural on the side of the building commemorates the launch of the first McDonalds.

According to the McDonald corp, the first McDonald’s was started by Ray Kroc in Des Plaines, IL. It turns out that, yes, the Des Plaines location was the first McDonald’s Kroc started. But he launched that one as a franchisee of the McDonald brothers. It wasn’t until 1955 that Kroc bought out the McDonald Brothers and gained control of the business. Here’s some fast-food info:

History of the Hambuger

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<– Day 17 – Apr. 5th: Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor | OVERVIEW | Day 19 – Apr. 7th: From McDonald’s to Ruby’s –>

Our wigwam for the evening . . .

We began the morning driving the I-10 to the El Capitan theatre (owned by Disney) at the heart of Hollywood. It wasn’t all clear to me how this would play out, but somehow we were going to hear Rob Richards play on one of the last five remaining “Fox Specials”, of which Farny Wurlitzer, a relative of mine, once said were his masterpieces.

Today we travelled from Ontario to Hollywood, then back out to San Bernardino.

Not enough smog in LA to block out the Hollywood sign on Sunday!

Rob was kind enough to email me back in December to tell me he’d welcome our presence at the theatre so we could meet and he could play for us. How could I pass that up? So we agreed to meet on Sunday for a 12:40pm show. I didn’t quite understand it at the time, but Rob would play music on the organ as people streamed into the theatre prior to the movie (which today was the Muppets).

At the agreed upon time, Rob whisked us inside (comped tickets no less — how do these things happen to me?) and began playing for just Ann and I. He bounced between various disney songs as the pipes and bells and whistles bellowed from the right and left of the front row.

Blurry, but you get the point. We have the theatre to ourselves for a short time. We even scored some free popcorn and a drink!

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<– Day 16 – Apr. 4th: The Borrego Springs Jeep | OVERVIEW | Day 18 – Apr. 6th: Wurlitzer to Wigwam –>

We didn’t do a lot today. I got caught up on emails and ewillys, worked out (trying to do a better job of that this trip), and relaxed. We also slept. A lot.

Oh yeah, we also ate some ice cream, too. At a Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor no less (Ed Note, as of Dec 2020, the site is no longer live).

When Ann and I were kids Farrell’s was the place to go for birthday parties (Me in Renton, She in Pasco). Farrell’s was loud, crazy and sugarlicious. Then in the mid-1980s Farrell’s closed quickly. The reasons for the closures are hinted at in this history of Farrells: http://www.farrellsusa.com/history-of-fun.php

So, when Ann found a brochure for Farrell’s in the lobby of our hotel, she got very excited. After unsuccessfully trying to convince me that we should have Farrell’s ice cream for breakfast, we agreed to go yesterday afternoon. Even better, it was located on old Route 66 (not that there’s anything left over from the original Route 66).

Picture on the wall outside of Farrells in Rancho Cucamonga

Though the wait was long, we enjoyed ourselves. The place still captured the spirit and look of the original Farrell’s. There is still the famous Zoo on the menu (feeds hordes of children). The sounds of birthday songs and drum banging reverberated throughout the restaurant. The ice cream was better than dairy queen, but certainly no Zingers. But, that’s okay. It’s all about the fun and about recapturing good memories from bygone youthful days.

A very happy wife. This was the first ice cream of the trip. No more until we hit Zingers in Oregon.

Sunday we get to hear a Mighty Wurlitzer Organ and receive a short, behind the scenes tour of it.

<– Day 16 – Apr. 4th: The Borrego Springs Jeep | OVERVIEW | Day 18 – Apr. 6th: Wurlitzer to Wigwam –>

<– Day 15 – Apr. 3rd: Joshua Tree National Park | OVERVIEW | Day 17 – Apr. 5th: Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor –>

The Borrego Springs Jeep Sculpture — Awesome!

We spent Thursday night in downtown Palm Desert. I’d like to explore it more some day, but on Friday morning we had no time to see it. Instead, we had a specific mission: find the jeep sculpture in Borrego Springs, California.

We drove from Palm Desert to Borrego Springs. From there we drove to Ontario for cheaper weekend stay and for a Sunday excursion to Hollywood.

Before leaving Palm Desert, more food was needed and, after some googling, we landed at Jensens. One look at the deli case — lobster pot pie, sliced medium rare lamb, and more — we knew we’d better tread carefully, or we wouldn’t have any money left for the remainder of the trip. We couldn’t resist a few slices of lamb, but did pass on the lobster pot pie (Drats! I really wanted to know how that tasted).

Ready for our trip into the desert, we drove east before turning south. The highway took us down the western side of the Salton Sea. Back in my Manyone Network (circa 2006 and pre-eWillys) days I worked with a group to develop a portal about the unique aspects of the area. I’d always wanted to see the sea in person and finally got that chance today. While I’d seen it in photos, it is much bigger in person than I’d imagined.

When we reached Salton City, we began our trek west to Borrego Springs, but part way along our journey we discovered a bit of jeeping nirvana: Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area. First, we spotted a sign for a “4×4 Obstacle Road”.

Henry saw the 4×4 road sign and was ready for some off road action. But then he saw the pipes and tires and thought better of it.

This is part of the obstacle course. A large pile of tires is on the left and some drainage pipes are on the right. The hills are steeper than appear in this photo.

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<– Day 14 –Apr. 2nd: It is Cold, Windy and Raining . . . This is the Mohave Desert?  | OVERVIEW | Day 16 – Apr. 4th: The Borrego Springs Jeep –>

Ann and I enjoying a perfect day at Joshua Tree National Park.

Our goal today was to make a quick trip to Joshua Tree National Park and then hit a motel in Palm Desert early, so we could rest and wash some clothes.

However our quick trip to the park turned into a four-hour stay, between a long hike and the long drive through the park. Part of the delay was my fault, as I took a bunch of photos:

Joshua has two entrances on the north side and one on the south side. We planned to enter via the northwest entrance out of the city of Joshua Tree. There’s a good visitors center at that location, so I’d recommend starting there. The visitor’s center also isn’t far from this Willys Truck that is hawking firewood.

A truck in Joshua Tree City outside of the National Park.

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<– Day 13 – Apr 1st: From Scottsdale AJs to Seligman Sundries | OVERVIEW | Day 15 – Apr. 3rd: Joshua Tree National Park –>

We left Arizona and entered California under a few dark clouds.

On Wednesday we began the morning by driving to the Route 66 Museum at the old power station in downtown Kingman.

Map of our drive on Wednesday April 2

On our way, there were more classic motels, but one in particular caught our attention. There was much more going on at this hotel — murals and themed rooms — but our photos didn’t turn out very good.

After many photographs, we finally made it to the two floor power station. Downstairs you’ll find a gift shop and visitor’s center. Upstairs is the entrance to the museum where we purchased our tickets. The cashier was an older gentleman who at first seemed gruff and bothered by our presence, but then warmed up as he got into a short presentation about how the tickets we purchased were good for three museums in the area. We also learned that active military folks get in free.

The museum tour starts with a history of the trail which proceeded the route. One of the first things I spotted was a photograph of a jeep from 1943. It’s the only jeep I saw in the place.

From there, more history unfolded: the need for good roads, the construction of Route 66, and the success of the towns following WWII, until the opening of Interstate 40 in 1984.

These maps showed chunks of the early highway with some interesting information.

In the middle of the Route 66 history is a large diorama that shares Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath and his use of Route 66 in the book.

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<– Day 12 – Mar. 31st: Stagecoaches and a Glass Desert | OVERVIEW | Day 14 – Apr. 2nd: It is Cold, Windy and Raining . . . This is the Mohave Desert? –>

A piece of eWillys is now a part of Route 66 history at Seligman Sundries

We began our day by replenishing our food supplies. Unlike our trip to the East Coast last summer (we each gained ten pounds), we’ve been more careful about what we eat. This has meant many light dinners of good cheese, smoked meats and some crackers. Since Ann shouldn’t eat cows milk (beef protein sensitive since a baby), we’ve been shopping for goat and sheep cheese. Since AJs Fine Foods, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods are good sources of that cheese (and close together in Scottsdale), we decided we’d better stock up so we’d have dinner for the next few days.

Today we drove from Phoenix to Kingman.

After our shopping was done, we drove toward Mayer, AZ, where I’d learned about a place called Arcosanti. Below is an example photo of the place and more images here. I thought it warranted a closer look.

I wanted to drop by Arcosonti, but we accidentally passed it.

For some reason, I thought this unusual development was outside Mayer, Arizona. It turns out it is near the intersection of I-17 and Hwy 69, which we’d already passed. So, we ended up touring Mayer for a short time before resuming our trek north to Route 66.

But, it wasn’t all for naught, as we did find this collection of odd vehicles just before Mayer. There’s a couple jeeps among some vintage trucks.

A lineup of trucks overlooking the freeway.

A wagon and a truck just to the left.

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