downtown. Follow 1st St
north across the Mojave
River over a trestle
bridge to the 1911 Harvey
House, nicknamed
‘Casa del Desierto,’
designed by Western
architect Mary Colter.
Next to a small railroad
museum is the Route 66
‘Mother Road’ Museum
(%760-255-1890; http://
route66museum.org; 681 N
First Ave, Barstow; donations
welcome; h10am-4pm Fri-Sun
Apr-Oct, 11am-4pm Fri-Sun
Nov-Mar), displaying black-
and-white historical
photographs and odds
and ends of everyday life
in the early 20th century.
Back in the day, it was
also a Harvey House.
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The Drive » Leaving Barstow
via Main St, rejoin the National
Old Trails Hwy west. It curves
alongside the Mojave River
through Lenwood. After 25
minutes you’ll arrive at Elmer’s
Place.
6 Elmer’s Place
Loved by Harley bikers,
this rural byway is like
a scavenger hunt for
Mother Road ruins,
including antique filling
stations and tumbledown
motor courts. Colorful as
a box of crayons, Elmer’s
Place (24266 National Old
Trails Hwy, Helendale; (^) h24hr)
is a roadside folk-art
collection of ‘bottle trees,’
made from recycled soda
pop and beer containers,
telephone poles and
railroad signs. Elmer
Long, who was a career
man at the cement
factory you’ll pass
just out of town, is the
proprietor and cracked
artistic genius. If you
see someone with a long
white beard and leathery
skin cementing a statue
of a bronze deity to some
elk antlers, you’ve found
the right guy. Want to
leave a little part of
yourself along Route 66?
Bring a little something
for Elmer Long’s colorful
forest, constructed
lovingly out of little
pieces of junk.
The Drive » Cross over
the Mojave River on a 1930s
steel-truss bridge, then roll into
downtown Victorville, a trip of
about 20 minutes.
7 Victorville
Opposite the railroad
tracks in quiet little
Victorville, visitors poke
around a mishmash of
historical exhibits and
contemporary art inside
the California Route
66 Museum (%760-951-
0436; http://www.califrt66museum.
org; 16825 ‘D’ St; donations
welcome; h10am-4pm
Thu-Mon, sometimes 11am-
3pm Sun). The museum
building itself was once
the Red Rooster Cafe,
a famous Route 66
roadhouse. It’s a bit of a
cluttered nostalgia trip –
piled with old signs and
roadside memorabilia –
but worth a quick look.
The Drive » Get back on I-15
south over the daunting Cajon
Summit. Descending into San
Bernardino, take I-215 and exit
at Devore. Follow Cajon Blvd to
Mt Vernon Ave, detour east on
Base Line St and go left onto
‘E’ St. This trip takes about 40
minutes. If you’re hungry, pull off
in Hesperia at the Summit Inn, a
classic diner (p321).
8 San Bernardino
Look for the Golden
Arches outside the First
McDonald’s Museum
(%909-885-6324; 1398 N
‘E’ St; donations welcome;
h10am-5pm). It was here
that salesman Ray Kroc
dropped in to sell Dick
and Mac McDonald a
mixer. Eventually Kroc
bought the rights to
the brothers’ name and
built an empire. Half of
the museum is devoted
to Route 66, with
particularly interesting
photographs and maps.
Turn west on 5th St,
leaving San Bernardino
via Foothill Blvd, which
continues straight into
the urban sprawl of
greater Los Angeles.
It’s a long haul west to
Pasadena, with stop-
and-go traffic most of the
way, but there are more
than a handful of gems to
uncover. Cruising through
Fontana, birthplace of the
Hells Angels biker club,
pause for a photo by the
Giant Orange (15395 Foothill
Blvd, Fontana; (^) hno public
entry), a 1920s juice stand
of the kind that was once
a fixture alongside SoCal’s
citrus groves.
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