Starting out on my trip west, I decided to follow Will Roger's example. Stopping into the local cafes just to sample the region's chili was a plan that I had never considered before. Since I was heading west on Rt66, I knew I would be stopping in some of the greats areas for chili. Especially in Texas, who hasn't heard of Texas Chili?

I learned a lot about how Texans made chili as well as other great foods. One of the first things I learned was that Texans get very serious about their chili. The second thing I learned was that chili is best prepared the day before, and never - never add beans. Adding beans to chili just isn't done. Chili is not about beans, it is about the meat you use. There is a big difference between Texas Chili and Ranch beans; don't mix the two.

My first stop when I reached Amarillo was the famous Big Texan Steak Ranch restaurant for lunch. As a child, my family occasional stopped at the restaurant while travel Rt 66 on the way home to California. It was usually the first western home cooking we got after a couple years of European Cuisine. This time I was also heading down Rt 66/Interstate 40 on my westerly trek to California to visit the relatives and knew I had to stop. Entering in the restaurant, I was greeted by the familiar stuff heads of deer, elk, and buffalo and various fowls that are mounted on the walls. As I was seated, a good-looking cowboy introduced himself as my server. As he was about to tell me about the famous 72oz steak, I had to stop him. As great as the Texas steaks are I already knew what it was I wanted - Texas Chili!

Having ordered my lunch, I began to work out what I wanted to do for the rest of the afternoon. The afternoon was free to visit the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum, and Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian before I headed south to the Elkins Ranch for a night of western festivities. Severalminutes into my planning, I was present with a big bowl of Texas Beef Chili. Seems everything in Texas is big, including the taste of their chili. The chipotle pepper adds a unique flavoring to the beefsteak, along with the flavors of cinnamon and cloves. In addition to the chili, there was a wonderful honey flavored cornbread and a garnish of sour cream tomatoes and cilantro. Top off with a bottle of Texas Shiners Beer. Which I found they also added to the chili.

After the mouth-watering lunch, I head down the road towards the American Quarter Horse Museum. I don't know much about the Quarter Horse other than that it a multi-purpose workhorse. I know more about pintos and paints - the real cowboy's pony. However, after more than an hour of touring through the museum, I learned more about quarter horses and the men and women that ride them. Next was the Kwahadi Museum. I had never heard of the Kwahadi tribe, so I wanted to know more. As a woman of Native American Blackfoot descent, I am always on the look out for Native American museums where I can learn about my heritage. The museum is the home of the Kwahadi Indian Dancers, who at the time I visited where out touring around the state. Although I was disappointed at not seeing the dancers, the exhibits provide me with an excellent glimpse into the cultures of the Pueblos and Plains people through displays of paintings, bronzes, and beadwork.

Walking out the Kwahadi Museum and checking my watch, I found it was time to head for the Elkins Ranch. The ranch is located south of Amarillo in the Palo Duro Canyon valley area and is famous for its cowboy breakfasts and western evening dinner shows. The Elkins ranch is a real working cattle ranch and not only provides scrumptious culinary delights, but also provides jeep tours through various parts of the Canyon. With the tours, you will hear about the history of the area, including the stories of Billy the Kid and a visit the rustler's graveyard. This trip I had planned to enjoy one of their famous chuck wagon dinners and the show provided by the Elkins' Ranch Entertainers.

The first thing you will notice when you approach the ranch camp, is the tantalizing aroma of fresh cowboy coffee brewing. To find out that it is brewing over an open fire, just adds to the enchantment. All the ranches' chuck wagon dinners and breakfast foods are from family recipes. There is no box mixes or short cuts use here; everything is prepared from scratch. On the night, I was attending the dinner, I was handed a tin plate and directed to a chuck wagon buffet line. What a sight and the smells coming from the chuck wagon - Rachael Ray's “Yummo” just wouldn't give it food the credit that was due. If I weren't all ready hungry, I would soon be. I had the choice of Spicy Mesquite Smoked Ribs or Chuck wagon Chicken. There was potatoes and corn of the cob, ranch beans, cornbread, granny's cobbler, and of course the cowboy coffee. Can't say I'd walk away hungry, not with a spread like that.

The Ranch's breakfast is equally fantastic, although I was not going to stay around for it. The spread includes western style scrambled eggs, maple sausage, sourdough or buttermilk, biscuits, Dutch oven potatoes, sausage gravy, fresh fruit and cinnamon rolls, with juice or coffee. All this food is prepared over a mesquite fire.

When I travel, I always like to stay at a ranch or at a B & B, again because I feel I can soak in the local culture where I wouldn't at a chain hotel or motel. You just can't sit down with your host or hostess at a motel and chat. Therefore, I decide to headed back towards Amarillo and check in at the Starlight Canyon Bed and Breakfast. This wonderful sanctuary is located in upper Palo Duro Canyon. Just about eleven miles South of Amarillo and is nestled in among cottonwoods and other trees. I was able to stay in the newly remolded Aspen room that had a private patio. The room had a large aspen log bed, a large wood burning fireplace, antler chandelier, an oversized bathtub - you can't find that in a modern hotel room. The best feature I found was the hot tub on the patio. After a day of fun, I was ready to slip into that hot tub. The hot tub was a nice way to end a great trip to Amarillo. In the morning, would be on the road to another adventure in a new town and more Chili to sample.

From there, Highway 62 heads east through Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree and Twenty-nine Palms, by way of the Mojave Desert to Parker.

From Palm Springs, Highway 62 passes through Yucca Valley, a small desert town, with retirees, military personnel, and service workers.

There's not a lot to see in the small towns, the motels, gas stations and the general store are on the main drag, and all the residents live away from the highway out in the open desert. After the last little town of Twenty-nine Palms, we searched out the junction for Amboy Road which took us north into the desert.

The Mojave Desert is not as dry as many deserts because it does get winter rain and during the summer the occasional monsoon thunderstorm will catch on the high peaks and cause flooding down the desert washes. The spring of 2008 has been especially pleasant in the desert bringing plenty of winter rains and the heat of summer has not yet arrived. Mid-April in this part of the world can be blazing hot or cold and windy

Amboy Road north is a pleasant two lane highway with side roads going off into the waist high brush. in this stretch of road we see mostly desert dandelions and mules ears, with occasional patches of wild oats and other grasses. the road eases over two little passes, really just divides between two dry lakes. In the second there are salt mines and operations recovering minerals from the lake bed but beyond that there's not too much to see in the way of mankind's things in this first stretch of highway.

Amboy Junction marked our arrival at the historic Route 66 . We took a stretch here, looked at the service station, took a few pictures and hit the road. We planned to spend our first night at Laughlin and then proceed north to Las Vegas.

The next piece of highway, one of the last long stretches of highways 66, all too soon joined Interstate 40. Our next junction was Highway 95 n where we passed through Searchlight. It was a welcome relief from the long stretches of desert. At this point we were starting to see the beginning of Las Vegas traffic.

The tourist part of coming this way though was to see the Lake Mead recreation area. This national recreation area is extremely scenic with rugged mountains, fantastic rock formations and of course

Lake Mead. There are a number of pullouts and viewpoints along the 60 miles of highway from near the dam to the Virgin River arm of the Lake. Near the north end of the recreation area is Nevada's State Park Valley of the fire, on State Route 40.

.

This park stands out as a wonderful geological textbook of erosion by wind and water. The rocks and formations seemed almost alive with the changing shadows. The park is open year-round 24 hours a day so it's possible to go in early in the morning or late in the afternoon or at midnight to enjoy the spectacular scenery and the clean desert air. Camping is also available though I would recommend at least an RV. During my visit I found it hard to choose between the shots that were available as every turn in the road opened another inviting vista.

I like to get off the beaten path as you can tell, and Las Vegas was no exception. Highway 95 was the original road after Hoover dam was built and before Interstate 15 came through. So there are a lot of older hotels with the old style of neon signs. Las Vegas' unfashionable downtown has almost completely disappeared and seems that the redevelopment will eliminate the last of old downtown.

We had a great time at the Palace Station in Las Vegas, the big comfy beds, lots of iced drinks and a great view from the 16th floor looking towards the Stratosphere Tower.

I did some shopping, took a look at the monorail stations, and played slots a little bit just to say that I had.

 

Sometimes I fancy that these lonely places are the last refuge of dissatisfied pioneers, who came, restless, to the United States, and fled to California at the end of the rainbow. At the edge of the continent they piled up in the coastal cities, and from there, hard-core loners, seeking some sort of impossible dream, they wandered out into the desert.

Well, I said it was fanciful, but I've driven through many dusty outposts in the California heartland. There are dozens of them outside Palmdale, a dusty outpost itself thirty years ago, now locked together with Lancaster, a big city. Restless loners moved on from Palmdale to Littlerock and Pearblossom and El Mirage, tiny settlements in the California desert. Some drifted to the remnants of once-thriving towns on route 66, and some were left stranded when dreams dried up in the desert.

I used to pass a place called Yermo, on trips between L.A. and Las Vegas. One day, I decided to get off route 15 for a coffee and a bite to eat. The town was dying. At least one in three places was boarded up: the rest were on their last legs. Halfway down the main street, one man tended a beautiful garden in the middle of a dead landscape. He was the only sign of life, except for a police car, ominously prowling the deserted streets. The one fast food place I saw was boarded up.

I looked up Yermo on the Internet. The city guide listed - businesses one, a well-driller, community, one - Calico Ghost Town, education - a school district covering seven communities scattered over 3,200 square miles. That's Yermo.

Further on, towards Las Vegas, there's a place with the bizarre name of Zzyzx. The access road leads nowhere. I looked this one up on the Internet also, and all that remains now is a desert studies center for Cal. State University, one dormitory building.

Closer to Vegas is the 400lb gorilla of lost California communities, the town of Baker, population, last time they bothered to count - 650. It's a street of motels and restaurants with the I15 running on one side and a fringe of scrubby trailers on the other. Baker is home of the worlds largest thermometer and the Bun Boy restaurant, and it's about to be strangled by the San Bernardino/Riverside megalopolis, spreading relentlessly northward. When that happens, many of the 650 inhabitants will pull up stakes and wander out to remoter, more lost places.

It's a California that not too many people are aware of, far removed from the wide highways of San Diego, the glitz of Hollywood, and the liberal sophistication of San Francisco. It starts a few minutes east of the coast, and stretches out towards the deserts of Nevada and Arizona. It's a ragged dusty place where men and women can easily lose themselves.

Route 66 was where you could go to have fun. Everyone I know who has driven the route, comes back with endless stories. Things they saw that you just wouldn't believe. Places that seem lost in time. Also, the other people there on the trip too, you meet people from all over the U.S.. There are no strangers on Route 66, only friends that you haven't met yet. They are all still looking for their kicks on Route 66, and still finding them, in abundance.

I was born in Chicago, and I always thought Route 66 was out west somewhere. Was I surprised to find that it starts in Chicago. Not only that it starts in Chicago, but its part of my past, and its also the beginning of the route. Wow! Where I live right now is the very heart of Route 66, Kingman Az. There is the Hill Top motel, the train station, Route 66 diner, so many unique restaurants, hotels, and motels, The Powerhouse Visitor Center, Canada Mart, gas with souvenirs. Be sure to see downtown Kingman, and Beale St., with all its little shops and cafes.

It's an antique lovers paradise. Pretty much as it was many years ago. There are historic hotels too. This is the home town of Andy Devine of movie fame. The main route through town is also Andy Devine Rd. Route 66 winds through states west of and of course including Illinois. Also, some of the cities and towns it goes through are St. Louis, MO., Tulsa, Ok., Amarillo,Tx., Albuquerque, N.M., Winslow, Flagstaff, and Kingman, Az., Barstow, Ca., and ends in Los Angeles, California.

Many attractions you find along Route 66 are found nowhere else. Thats because there is no other road, or route, where the point is not just to get where you're going. The trip is the point. The trip is the main attraction . Where you stop or how far you go is not the thing. Its the trip. Route 66. The very thought of it takes me back to another place and time. It's like turning back the clock to the a time when we were young and happy. We wore the poodle skirts, had saddle shoes, and ponytails. We wore a scarf tied around our necks, and drank those little bottles of Coca Cola. We were cool.

We talked about boys. Who had the fastest hotrod, the slickest hair, and how wonderful it would be, if we too could get our kicks on Route 66. I remember a television show by the same name. It was a time when Elvis was king, Sam Cook could make you cry, and Little Richard, and Chuck Berry made you want to get up and dance.

I feel bad for those who didn't live in the late 40's and 50's. Life was good. War was over. We had no where to go but up. Minimum wage was under $1. Women still didn't work outside the home too often. And, American women cooked. They made meatloaves, pot roasts, pork chops, mashed potatoes, and over everything was poured gravy. Heavy, delicious, greasy gravy. They made cakes and cookies for dessert. We loved it.

A salad in those days was lettuce and tomatoes, with a heavy mayonnaise dressing. But it was O.K. We moved our bodies and we were slim for the most part. It was an era. It was a time when most Americans were getting more money to spend, and spend it they did. They bought cars. Chevrolet, Ford, Plymouth, Buick.

And where did they go in those cars? On road trips. Motels went up all over, diners too. After all the people have to be fed. Somewhere, someone decided ordinary just wasn't good enough, so extraordinary, happened, and, Route 66 is the result. Bring plenty of film, or at least a digital camera, the attractions abound. There is no way you can resist trying to see everything. It got me hooked, and you will be too. Got some vacation time coming? You know what to do. Get your kicks on Route 66!