Our longest tour so far! Here are the first diary entries ...
Translated by DeepL. So have mercy....
Vacation Diary by Sylke
May 19th, 2017
Today is the first day of our vacation. We still have little things to do. The fish are taken care of for our trip, and the plane ticket been printed out.
May 20th, 2017
Vacation starts now. We are standing at the train station waiting for the train to Munich. Everything is going great, we're on a plane to London. Arrived in London, we are going to eat something at the airport. We lost track of time. Running to the train to the gate we just made it in time. No more breath, but done. 11 hours on the plane. With food, television and sleep we got through the flight. As we have arrived, picked up the car we went to the hotel. The hotel leaves much to be desired, but you only need some place to sleep. Restrooms and showers are located somewhere outside the hotel room on the corridor.
May 21st, 2017
This morning, feeling fresh and energetic, we had breakfast and then drove into the city. We stopped at Fort Mason, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. There was a great view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, the bridge was shrouded in fog. We drove on to Pier 39 and the harbor ⚓. The sea lions were basking in the sun ☀, and it was bustling with tourists. The weather was nice, but the wind was cold. We didn’t realize, though, that the sun was already pretty strong, so we both got sunburned on our faces and necks. We strolled along the pier, bought souvenirs and caps. After a quick stop at McDonald’s, we called it a day and were soon exhausted in bed.
May 22nd, 2017
Today started early. Thomas was wide awake and went to take a shower, but it was only 4:32 a.m. Completely bewildered, he took note of the time, went out for a smoke, checked to see if our car was still parked on the street, and shot a short video. Later, when we were loading our suitcases into the car, we found a parking ticket stuck to the windshield. Just great. The day got off to a good start. After ☕breakfast, we set off toward Monterey. We drove along the Pacific Coast, snapping a few photos here and there. At a rest stop, we had a delicious meal, and the ☕ coffee was served in beer glasses—but it was good. In Monterey, we didn’t just buy coffee at Starbucks—we also bought some mugs that would now accompany us on our journey. The room we booked at the Quality Inn is great. It has everything you need to feel comfortable: a small kitchen with a fridge and a coffee maker, and a little balcony. We rested a bit and studied the map to see what else we could do. After that, we headed out to do some shopping for the evening. We also needed a cooler for the road. It was sooooo funny. Thomas was shocked by the rock-bottom prices on beer, cheese, etc. Back home, with everything stowed away, we checked to see what was new with Mr. Trump and the world. Oops—our eyelids were sooooooooo heavy.
May 23rd, 2017
Good morning—it’s 2:30 a.m., and we’re awake. We just caught up on the dinner we missed earlier, and we should really be sleeping. But the camera keeps malfunctioning when I try to take a picture. Thomas is experimenting with the camera and, of course, taking pictures of me to see if I’ve gotten a few more wrinkles, since I’m a year older today ❤ We did manage to get some sleep after all, but by 7:30 a.m. it was over. We went for breakfast, and I made myself my birthday cake—a delicious waffle with strawberries. Now that we were refreshed, we drove to the Pacific Ocean. We checked out Pacific Grove and Old Fisherman’s Wharf. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and didn’t head back to the motel until the evening. We had strawberries with quark and sausage sandwiches. We made ourselves comfortable on the bed, and the sandman didn’t take long to send us off to the land of dreams.
May 24th, 2017
So, from there on, we headed toward Route 66. Our first stop was Bakersfield. The vegetation is very sparse and dry. Now you can easily imagine how wildfires start. It looks like a prairie. Here and there, we saw a few ranches and oil fields. During a break, we had something to eat, and we had an unexpected visitor. The bird got some bread and cherries and seemed pretty tame. Thomas looked through a magazine and picked out several motels in Bakersfield. We headed to one of them, and since we liked it, we checked in. Well, exhaustion had fully taken hold of us again, so we watched a little TV and then drifted off to sleep.
May 25th, 2017
Drove 380 km from Monterey to Bakersfield
This morning I woke up with a headache and an upset stomach. After I felt better, we went shopping (though someone had stolen our shopping cart from the store. The bread we’d picked out had been kindly moved to another spot, so we were able to get it after all), we headed toward Barstow through the Mojave Desert. Thomas wanted to send me out into the desert there, but changed his mind at the last minute. There were lots of wind turbines on the hills, and when we turned around, we saw an airplane graveyard. That’s where old airplanes are taken and dismantled. Since I was feeling worse again, we stayed in Barstow and checked into the Days Inn. After that, we rested and did some laundry. Dinner in bed while watching TV rounded out the day.
May 26th, 2017
From Bakersfield to Barstow. 210 km
A beautiful sunrise woke us up. We’ve already sipped our first coffee ☕, and Thomas’s morning ritual ☕ is in full swing. Today we have to drive a little farther, or we’ll run into trouble with our schedule ⏰. After breakfast, we made a quick stop at Walmart to pick up some drinks. Then we headed off toward Flagstaff. We saw a lot along the way. The vegetation and scenery changed from curve to curve. Thomas wanted to check out Café Bagdad. It appeared in the movie “Out of Rosenheim.” Inside, it was typically American kitsch. Everyone who’s been there has left a memento behind (cups, addresses, flags, T-shirts, bills, sticky notes). The most interesting things I saw were two jukeboxes with songs from the ’50s and ’60s.
The waiter preferred to sort through his souvenirs rather than serve the customers. I also spotted the yellow coffee pot from the movie. After that, we drove on through the endless prairie. Along the way, we stopped twice to fill up on gas and grab a bite to eat.
In Kingman, Arizona, we visited a Route 66 museum, which also served as a souvenir shop. A very friendly salesperson explained the best way to get to the Grand Canyon, gave us plenty of maps, marked the route for us, and even gave us a Route 66 passport. And if we visit all the listed locations and collect a stamp at each one, we’ll receive a certificate at the end proving that we drove Route 66.
We also left a little money there again. I gave Thomas a lighter with the Route 66 emblem, a T-shirt, and a magnet from every state we drove through. We actually wanted to go to Flagstaff, but we only made it as far as Seligman. There we found a cozy motel that still had a room available for us. We unpacked the car and then drove to Lilo’s Café. It was packed—crazy! We didn’t even see that many people on the freeway. We had to wait just a little bit until we were shown to our seats. The waitress was very nice. We ended our day with steak and schnitzel, along with a beer. As I was writing this, Thomas was already in bed, fast asleep...
It’s 448.30 km from Barstow to Seligman.
May 29th, 2017
After breakfast, we hit Interstate 40 again. Before that, we stopped by Walmart and the gas station. On the way, we decided to take a detour to Santa Fe. Unfortunately, we had to drive 72 km back just to get there. We wanted to take a break at Clines Corners. As we were leaving, my sweetheart missed the right turn, which meant we had to drive an extra 28 km to get there anyway, hihihi. He should have listened to his wife. Once we arrived in Santa Fe, we checked into the Days Inn and drove into town. The city’s buildings are mainly built in the so-called Pueblo Revival style. Some Native Americans were performing a traditional dance in a park. We don’t know if it had any special significance. There were some nice benches around the park. We went for a little stroll and browsed the shops. There was also a leather goods store. I tried on a few hats, and Thomas bought a stylish baseball cap. After heading back to the motel, we had something to eat and watched TV.
103 km from Albuquerque to Santa Fe—in theory. Since we took a round trip, we actually drove a few more kilometers. ;-)
May 30th, 2017
Today we drove from Santa Fe to Amarillo, Texas. We crossed the border into Texas and were back in a different time zone. That means there’s only a 7-hour time difference with Europe now. Along the way, the landscape was dominated by pastures and grasslands. A detour on Route 66 took us to a diner called Joseph’s Bar & Grill. Wow, it was really stylish, with a ’50s and ’60s vibe. The food… was delicious. Afterward, we headed to the car museum. There was such a variety of cars there—from Cadillacs to Fords and Chryslers. Awesome. We continued on to Adrian. This is the midpoint of Route 66. After a photo shoot during a thunderstorm, a small crowd suddenly gathered at the roadside, and lo and behold, there was the Cadillac Ranch right in front of us. The sad thing about the Cadillac Ranch is that everyone just throws their paint cans away.
We arrived in Amarillo. After a shower at the motel, we drove to the
Big Texan Steak Ranch. It was unbelievable what we saw there. They have a contest at this place: whoever can eat a 72-ounce (just under 2 kg) steak in an hour doesn’t have to pay for the meal. There’s a large table on a platform where the contestant can sit. There’s a clock on the wall that keeps track of the time. Otherwise, the restaurant has the charm of the Hofbräuhaus in Munich—big and bustling. At the entrance and in the lobby, there are various stuffed animals, such as bears and moose, set against natural backdrops. There are also various portraits hanging on the walls that transform into monsters and vampires as your perspective changes. There was also a game area where you could test your marksmanship with a rifle. Animals moved around, and you shot at them. We treated ourselves to a real Texas steak—very delicious! ? Thomas had an 8-ounce steak, and I had a 12-ounce one. Well, in the end, we ended up switching, since Thomas had to help me out again.
449 km—distance from Santa Fe to Amarillo
June 1st, 2017
We almost missed breakfast today, even though it wasn't that great. After packing up, we continued our drive along Route 66. First, we drove to Rock Creek Bridge. Since Google Maps kept sending us in the wrong direction, we ended up driving long stretches away from Route 66 time and again. Then we continued on to the Rock Cafe in Stoud—unfortunately, we couldn’t find it using Google Maps. Frustrated, we gave up the search and drove on to the Blue Whale—an even bigger disappointment. What was described as a highlight turned out to be just a run-of-the-mill water slide. The kicker—you weren’t even allowed to swim or slide?? We did find the last attraction, the Twin Bridge, though the arch of the second bridge had been dismantled. But the pieces were scattered along the roadside. The weather changed, too; the clouds turned pitch black ☁ and every now and then a few drops fell. Then, what was that? A snapping turtle on the road.
We also saw a rainbow ?. Then we found a motel outside Oklahoma City and looked forward to a shower. ? ?
In the late afternoon, we walked around a bit to see if there was a bus going into town. Unfortunately, there was nothing in sight—just a few bridges, with the highway running underneath them. So in the evening, we drove into town and went out for a bite to eat. The bar had a large counter, and a metal spiral staircase led up to the second floor, where there were a few pool tables. Unfortunately, it was closed. So we drove back to the hotel.
It’s 354 km from Oklahoma City to Joplin—the route from Oklahoma City to Joplin via Tulsa and Catoosa
To be continued....
