Home Stretch

I made it as far as Needles, CA but decided to forego the final leg of Route 66. I detoured north because Death Valley National Park sounded interesting and the weather there is actually bearable at this time of year (it was in the 90’s). Plus, I’ve already been to Los Angeles and the Santa Monica pier.

While there are sand dunes in Death Valley, there were a lot more mountains and rock formations than I expected. It was very scenic but I’ve become obsessed with sand dunes and caverns for some reason so I was a little disappointed. I think there are some sand dunes in southern Oregon. I intend to check those out.

From Death Valley, I headed west and the current plan is to drive back to Washington up the Pacific coast. It was a thrill to first smell the sea air and then finally see the big blue (well, brown in this part of the state) ocean since I’ve been in land locked states for quite a while now. I think the fact that it was just physically impossible to drive any farther West provides a certain sense of completion.

I’ve been on US 1 with my family back in the day and I really only have one memory of it. I recall my mom and brother being nauseous and asleep in the back seat of the rental car while I was sort of dozing off in the front. I then distinctly remember my father not taking the 15 MPH turn sign seriously, skidding on the gravel along the shoulder of the road, and very nearly plunging the car into the ocean many hundreds of feet down below.

I was pretty wide awake the rest of the drive.