Roy's Motel!
Thursday, September 15, 2005

Sat on a bed in a rather scutty motel... the two leering fat guys nextdoor, clad in dirty vest and boxers, don't give the place the best West Coast vibe, but after 10 hours on the road (7 of those driving through a seemingly endless desert) we're sleepily content.

Helped along by the radio station "Route 66 Goodtime Oldies KZ KE", we drove from Flagstaff to Ventura today straight through the Mojave Desert (the most inhospitable in the US). Nothing really to report, just miles and miles of barren rock strewn land. 37 degrees for most of the way, I just can't understand why people want to live in such a place. We passed several small caravan trailer settlements complete with satellite dish! The small towns along the route are pretty insignificant although Barstowe's church advert caught our eye: "Get fit today, take a walk with the Lord." Quality.

We took a detour from the Interstate 40 to travel a stretch of existing route 66 and stumbled on Roy's Motel. Seems familiar from somewhere? The whole complex is deserted and weird. Puts Bodie to shame when it comes to ghost towns... pretty spooky.

posted by Finn at 2:27 AM