Reaching the End

Reaching the End

It’s a bittersweet feeling knowing we are reaching the end.  Here we are.  We’ve been on the road since Labor Day (Route 66 since 9/5/2017), and now we’ve reached the end.

Which end?

It turns out there are multiple ends to Route 66.  There’s the official end of the official U.S. Highway (Lincoln and Olympic).  There’s the literal end-of-the-road end — off the Santa Monica Pier.  And, then there the many other places people call the end.

Pasadena

We checked out of the Pasadena Hilton after meeting with their marketing manager.  She was a delightful lady, born and raised in Pasadena.  After telling her what we’ve been doing, she was excited for us.  We took a few pictures in the hotel of areas they have updated, and then we were off.

Our first stop was Best Buy where they didn’t have the size lens cap I needed.  Why doesn’t that surprise me?  But, they had 40.5mm, just not 39mm.  Strange.

We turned around and headed back on Colorado Boulevard.  To me, the highlight of Route 66 in Pasadena was the Rolls Royce Dealership.  I had to stop in to see the all time best car.  Yeah, so it is a small $330,000 mortgage… if you decide to live in your car.

Beverly Hills

Yes, Route 66 goes through Beverly Hills.  I was joking about the tour busses when guess what?  A Tour bus drove by.

At the park at the Beverly Hills sign was a trainer sparing with one of his students.  We asked for some photos.

Down the road we saw the Beverly Hills P.D.  I wanted to stop in and say, “Hi”, to Eddy Murphy, but something told me he was off solving some sort of crime.

The Post Office… Yes, the friggin’ Post Office, wasn’t closed… It simply didn’t exist in that building any more.  We have such bad luck with Post Offices.  It seems Post Offices along Route 66 are a hit-n-miss proposition.  The building that says, United States Post Office, in Beverly Hills is a theatre… not a Post Office.  Oh, and we were told the one down the road in Santa Monica is no longer a Post Office, but the office for a film producer.

Go figure.

Fat Burger

Fat Burger is a really good fast burger joint.  Fresh and tasty.  Ask for Alishia if you’re in Beverly Hills and stop at Fat Burger.

Los Angeles Temple

So, did you know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a temple on Route 66?  Yes, it does, and it was a surprise to me because we always call it the “Los Angeles” temple.  In actuality, it is in Santa Monica… with a Route 66 Address.

We met lots of people there who posed for us.

Our Last Hotel on Route 66

We had a hard time finding a room in Santa Monica.  Finally, we got in at the Fairmont at Miramar.  We made it to our hotel, the valet rushed off with our car and the bellman our bags, and we checked in.

Words don’t describe our room.  A view of the beach, walk-in shower, huge tub, and two balconies overlooking the beach.

Yeah, we’re ending this tour in style.

Ocean and Santa Monica Boulevard

As we set out to photograph the official end of Route 66, we ran in to a lot of people before reaching our end..  Here are a few…