Desert crossing of heat and wind

August 27^th, 2026

Barstow, California

Woke a bit early, so sat for a bit and then got up and showered.

Geared up most of the gear, then grabbed the tools and went out to the bike.

I put on the chain adjustment measuring tool and found that the chain is very slack.  That would explain the noise from last night, and likely part of the noise I have been using the chain oil to stop.

As we are heading into some very hot and remote spots today where getting help is going to be time consuming and costly, I wanted to try and get this fixed.

I pulled out the tools from the bike and figured I would try them again to adjust the chain.

This time I was able to break the nuts loose on the rear axle!

Loosened things, then using the adjustment screws on each side I moved them back to bring more tension to the chain.  Each time I adjusted I would check the tool still attached to chain and could see it move closer to the calibrated mark for factory settings of the chain.

It took about 6 – 7 turns on each side to get it adjusted!

But now it is perfectly aligned with where the tool was calibrated after having the new chain installed.

I then tightened the axle again and made sure the wheel turned properly.  We went ahead and oiled the chain again since we were there, and then packed up the tools and put things where they belonged.

After washing hands, we then loaded the bike and got everything setup as needed, then did last check of the room and went outside to finish gearing up.

Well, we forgot our hydration pack inside. First time I have actually left something in the room when I thought it was empty.

Went back in, grabbed it, checked room again, then left.

Dropped the key in the key box, then we got on the bike and headed over to the road.

Route 66 is a block over from here.  I took a slight detour to visit the locomotive park I had rode by yesterday.

Small park across from the Route 66 Museum has an old steam locomotive and a few cars on display.

Did some photos and then rode over to the route and headed out of town.

First few miles were some interesting terrains, and then we had to cross over the freeway and find the route that would head up into the hills nearby.

This was the original routing of the road before they bypassed the steep mountain route for a longer, but flatter valley route which the Interstate follows today.

The road was at first mostly flat as it headed to the hills in the distance, and quite a bit of housing and such out here.

We then started to head up into the hills.

First stop was at Cool Springs.

This location was an original fuel station back in the day, and later expanded into a repair shop and restaurant as well.

It fell into disuse in the late 60s after all the traffic had been moved to new routes, and eventually the buildings burned down.

At one point a guy purchased the land and using old photos, reconstructed the building close to its original design, using local rocks pulled out of the surrounding desert.

It now serves as a gift shop mostly, but can also buy a few snacks and drinks.

I spent some time petting the cat inside the shop, bought a cold drink and some water, then spent time talking with the staff while I drank the drink and refilled my pack with the water.

Eventually we headed onward, going into the hills and this is where the road really starts to wind around.  Steep hills, narrow roads, sharp corners, and very few guard rails in many spots.

I had forgotten to mark the stops on this road with the map, so would hopefully find them.

I eventually reached the summit of the pass which is at 3550 feet.  I was thinking the fish pond stop was after the summit, and another couple at the summit was thinking they might have missed it as well (coming from other direction).

I started down, but never did find the stop. [NOTE: It was before the summit, I just missed it going up]

I soon reached the small town of Oatman.

This town in famous for its hotel and restaurant, and the many wild burros that roam the streets and even surrounding countryside. (I had seen my first burro even before I started going up the pass, though only one I saw till I reached Oatman).

I tried to take a few pictures, but my damn cell phone keeps over heating and telling me I cannot use the camera till it cools.  I know it is hot, but I have used this phone all over Arizona during the summers for years and never had this issue before, starting to piss me off as it always seems to do this when I am at a place I want photos.

I walked over to a bench along the wall of a building under an overhang where I could sit in the shade.  I pulled off my jacket and then took the case off the phone and let it sit on the bench for a while.

Watched a few other people doing photos and eventually the phone decided to function.

Did a few street shots, and then went over to two of the burros that had wandered over to the steps in front of the Oatman Hotel.  They were basically sticking to the shady spots under the entry ways.  A few more were up the road a bit, and could see several and a few of the new babies down the street some (near where the food is sold that you are allowed to give them).

I talked a bit with the burro, who seemed to not care about what I was saying, gave him a few ear scratches and then walked back to the bike. (Another burro was standing there asleep).

Put the gear back on, and then got on the bike and headed out of town.  Very slow going as you have to watch for cars, people, and burros.

Reached edge of town and was able to pick up speed a bit, but road still rough and lots of hills and sharp corners still.

Bit farther had to slowly pass several burros in the road, and then things cleared up some.

Kept to the old Route 66 alignment in the few spots where other roads diverged off.

Had another group of burros to pass, then road leveled out more and kept straighter, so was able to get better speed.

But now the temperatures were going up.

It had been 102 when I left Kingman, and had stayed decent all the way to Oatman, but now coming down it was already 110, and as I kept going down it kept climbing.

When I reached the small community near the river and not far from the Interstate, it was 115.

I turned off to do a photo with the drive through shield in this town, but damn phone won’t work again.

I rode over to the nearby fuel station to use restroom and buy a cold drink.

I then went back to the shield and just filmed the drive through, see how that turns out.

Finally reached the Interstate where it crossed the Colorado River. 

No choice here, that is only bridge, so back onto the freeway.

I pulled off just past there as the bike was about to turn 30,000 miles, so wanted to get a photo.  Yeah, camera wont work again.  Tried the video, see how that works.

Back on road I pulled off a few miles later to get on the older alignment.  This turns into a main highway after a few miles, and this heads north into Needles California.

Rode the alignment through Needles, but not much to see.  Most of the buildings are closed up, abandoned or no longer appear as they did in the past.

I had been recommended a restaurant here by the guy running the last station I stopped at, and eventually I came upon it just as I was leaving town.

I pulled in, but there was no good parking, all open and right on the exit to freeway, no windows in restaurant, and I had not left the bike cover out where I could use it.

Too hot to unload things to find it, so decided to just forget eating here, too much risk, lots of questionable people already seen wandering the streets nearby.

Followed the old alignment till it ended and I had to get back on the freeway.

Followed I-40 for a few miles till the exit to get on Highway 95 heading north to Las Vegas.

But only used this road for about 6 miles before we turned off onto a small county road that was the original alignment for Route 66. 

Not much out here, but still cool to follow the old route through the midst of nowhere.  Lots of nowhere in this area of California.

The road was about 25 miles before it curved down and crossed under the freeway.

I stopped at the fuel station right before to top off the tank.  I was probably good, but wanted to make sure I could not worry about higher speeds using extra fuel.

This was one of those nice “last gas” kind of stations.  $9.19 a gallon for regular fuel! 

Thankfully only needed about 2 gallons.

Went inside to buy a cold drink, and then over to use restroom.  They do not let you use the ones inside, no, you have to use outhouse along side of parking lot (they did have actual plumbing in them at least).  Can say I will never stop at this place again if I come this way again.

Back on the Route, but now things get interesting.

This is where the road is closed.  Several bridges were wiped out about 15 years ago on the old alignment and they have had road closed to through traffic since.

You can technically go around the barriers and locals still use the roads, and I have seen several comments on forums from local that all the bridges have dirt road bypasses now where you just drive around the damaged bridge (assuming its dry, if water is running in the wash, then you are not going to do that).

I had originally thought about taking the old route and dealing with the washes, even at the risk of a ticket of the sheriff found you on it, but decided that I did not want to take the extra time, so would just use the freeway till another road would take me down to the old route beyond the closed sections.

This took about 25 minutes to reach this other road, and it was about 15 miles long as well.

We eventually got to the old alignment.  You could see the road closure heading east from here, but road was open to the west.

Oddly, several of the bridges on this section were under constructions, and bypasses were done in the dirt around them, so not sure why the closed the other section, unless its because the bypasses were created by locals, and were not officially marked out?

Either way, had to bypass several bridge work zones along the route.

We passed by the two stone Chinese Lions standing guard in the desert, kind of wish I had stopped, but just rode past.

Reached the area around Amboy where Roy’s Motel and Café are.  Someone has done a good job of restoring the sign and some of the building and operating it.

I pulled over to get a photo….yeah, camera will not work again. (WTF does the camera do that heat is a problem, but I can have the screen working, Maps running using cell and GPS signals to route me and Bluetooth connected to the helmet without issue, but the camera has a problem with heat?)

Annoyed I just rode off.  I should have gone inside at least to buy a cold drink, as I really needed one now, it was 119.

The road from here is pretty desolate.

Just a few sections where old town were, but little left, or railroad related objects on the side of the road.

Finally reached the Interstate again, but now the old alignment runs alongside using the frontage road.  I had thought about skipping those and taking the freeway, but I really hate riding over 60mph when the winds are blowing 30-40 across the road.  Makes it so much more effort to keep bike stable, so the slower frontage roads were more attractive.

I stopped at the fuel station at this junction as I needed to use the restroom, but mainly was hungry, and they had a Dairy Queen inside, so could get some actual food.

Parked and went in.  Used restroom, then ordered food and sat where I could see bike and ate while I cooled down.

Once completed with my meal, used restroom again, then out and back on the bike.

Crossed the road and hit the frontage road alignment.

Stayed on these roads for many miles, though did have to drop over to the south side at one point where the old road had curved and Interstate cut it in half.

Then we stayed along the south for quite some time.

Had to stop and wait for a train (2^nd time, actually did it earlier on another section of the route).

Then just kept going along with the freeway ¼ mile off to the side.

I suddenly saw another place I wanted to stop and had thought I missed, so had to quickly slow down and pull off.

The old Baghdad Café sits along the road here.

Its main claim to fame was the 1987 movie filmed at the location.  The director had traveled the route in the early 80s and came up with the idea.  The name came from the old town of Baghdad along the route which is pretty much gone at this point (just a cemetery left).  They filmed at a nearby café called the Sidewinder, which was an older café from the time the route was more active.

A later owner decided to keep the film connection and renamed the place to the Baghdad Café as it had become very popular with European tourists. (Seems the film is much more known there even though it does have a US release.)

Once stopped, I took a few photos, and then went inside.  Pretty cool place inside, lots of crazy decorations and film related stuff.

The old lady running the place sold me a coke, and they still operate as a café, so could have eaten as well, though did not look a menu, so no clue what they offer.

The film was shot mostly onsite there in the café, and outside.

The old water tower is still on the property, but it no longer stands, having fallen down.

The trailers some of the characters lived in are still onsite as well.

The lady told me a bit of the history, mainly as I had not seen the movie, so she tried to connect some of the dots for me.

Once done with my drink, I left to continue the ride.

Road crossed back over to the north side of the freeway again, and then it ends.  The Marine Corp base here took over the road after the freeway opened, and you can no longer access this section.

Back on the freeway to reach other side of the base, then we could get back off and onto the Route 66 alignment, just as we entered the edge of Barstow California.

Followed the road up to my motel and got checked in.

Once unloaded, I rode the bike back down the road to a convenience store to buy some cold drinks and more water as I had used up nearly all my hydration pack today.

I brought them back to the room and put them in to cool off (though found the fridge had not been plugged in, so not cold yet.

I then spent some time checking things online and arranging to meet up with some people in Los Angeles and in Palm Springs in the coming days.

I decided I was hungry enough for dinner, so rode down to the Del Taco and picked up a few burritos to bring back to the room.

Ate and then started working on the usual nights stuff.

Got all the footage moved to the laptop, edited a few photos, updated some online data, and then created the route for tomorrow.  Booked my hotels for next few nights as well.

I then wrote the blog for tonight and will get it online shortly.

Tomorrow we will leave later in the morning, try to get out late as we can as I do not have far to go tomorrow.

It will take bit over an hour to get out of the desert and into the L.A. area around San Bernadino.

This is where my Route 66 adventure will end.

I have no interest anymore in riding the city roads through LA to reach the end in Santa Monica.  Perhaps I will come back and do it another time, but just done with this road at this point.

I will instead ride on the freeways to the south end of the city to meet up with a friend for dinner and stay in that area for the night.

On Saturday, I will then ride over the mountains and some back highways to get over to Palm Springs to meet some friends there.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route: