Route 66

So, this was really the genesis of this trip--because of the Pixar movie Cars, which is set in the Southwest along Route 66, Jed became fascinated with this road and all the cool rock formations appearing in the movie, and about a year ago he started bugging us to go visit Route 66. For those of you who don't know, Route 66 cuts roughly diagonally across the country, from Chicago to LA, and it was a major transportation artery in the first half of the 20th century, before the modern interstate highway system superseded it, leaving dozens of virtual (and actual) ghost towns along this road, starved by the overnight disappearance of business after the big roads opened. However, in the past few decades, the "Mother Road" has become something of a cultural icon, and, probably thanks in no small part to what a great logo the sign makes, Route 66 tourism and memorabilia is now big business!

Anyway, I started trying to figure out how to make a plausible vacation out of Route 66, and I decided that flying into LA and driving a rental car to the Grand Canyon would fit the bill--the main interstate in this part of the world that replaced Route 66 is I-40, and there are a number of places along there where you can get off the interstate and drive for a couple of hours along "Historic Route 66," which is now a "scenic byway"--featuring cracks, bumps, a lower speed limit, and podunk gas stations and motels where you can gather up said memorabilia. (What also happened as these plans developed is that they began not to appeal so much to Jed's younger sister Meg; that, plus the anticipated cost of the trip, led us to arrange a divided family vacation this year--Jed and I flew out West, and Bethany and Meg spent an awesome five days in western Mass, kayaking and visiting with our friend Shelley.)

So ANYWAY, Jed and I said a fond farewell to Gil and left LA on Friday. Here's downtown LA from the car:

Some hours later, around Barstow, California, we pulled off on one of these scenic loops (in our rented Mustang convertible, awesome), and we were highly gratified to find, almost first thing, a cluster of abandoned buildings that seemed to include, among other things, a gas station, garage, and a couple of houses. They all had "No Trespassing" and "Keep Out" signs on them, and they had all been thoroughly trashed multiple times over by, no doubt, local youths. Clearly, this is no place at all for an 11-year-old boy like Jed, and that is why I feel just awful about taking him through every one of these buildings as I snapped photos like mad. (In addition to photographing animals, I really like taking pictures of broken and dilapidated stuff that has been there a long time. I'm not sure why.)

Highlights:

I really like this photo--taken through a chink in the wall of the above burnt-out building, and framed by one cell of the chicken wire reinforcing the plaster.

I know it's macabre, but I enjoy this photo too--inside the above house, some kid spray painted on the wall, "Can you hear the children screaming?" Jed was like, "Let's get out of here, this place is creepy." There's no pleasing some people.