The Mother Road

Our trip to Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch was bookended by stops on Route 66 in San Bernardino County. Our end destination was the Route 66 Museum in Barstow (which is well worth the trip!). On the way up we kept our eyes peeled for anything interesting to stop and photograph. 

As I mentioned in the Bottle Tree Ranch post, in was an uncharacteristically humid and therefore cloudy day, which made exposures a little challenging. Nonetheless, it was so exciting to hit the road on a new adventure. I'm looking forward to revisiting many of the places we saw that day (including Barstow's 1911 Casa del Desierto railway station, which I did photograph... but the roll was devoured by my 65-year old Brownie camera in an incredibly violent way that, weeks later, makes me shudder to think about).

And because Bobby Troup's "Route 66" is one of the most well known and often covered road songs, here are links to two of my favorite versions to enjoy while taking a look at the photographs -- by Yo La Tengo & Depeche Mode. Enjoy.

The 1941 El Rancho Barstow. It is currently for sale. 

All three of our car doors locked in unison as we approached the Cactus.
The seedy exposure of this photograph pairs nicely with that of the residents of this motel.

Truthfully, the Casablanca is not technically on Rte. 66. Nor is it "open", despite what the sign says.

Barstow's Skyline Drive In, alive and well.

All photographs © Monika Seitz Vega, 2015.