Last day

Well here we all are then back home.  We left Los Angeles on the flight at 21.20 last night and arrived at Heathrow 15.30 today.  Mr and Mrs Pakes are waiting for the jet lag to set in which will probably happen on Monday so don't be surprised if Mrs Pakes falls asleep at work.  I will be fine because I slept on the plane and then on the coach to Portsmouth. We weren't very happy to have left the lovely warm weather in California and arrive in the cold windy weather on the Island.  I am looking forward to going back to school and telling the reception class all about my adventures. So see you there and bye bye from the blog.

Day 16

So we left Victorville this morning and went on the interstate all the way to Los Angeles. We arrived at Santa Monica which is the end of route 66.

We then went into The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company for lunch and had popcorn shrimp which was delicious.

 Then we went and had our photos taken at the official end of the route.

Then sadly we had to return the Harleys to the dealer in L A and return to the hotel for the farewell dinner.  We have met some lovely people over the last two weeks and hope to stay in touch with some.  Mrs Pakes has had a great time and is not sure whether she wants to go back to work or not, but she will have to take me back!

Here are Mr and Mrs Pakes saying goodbye to the motorbike which has taken us 2,913 miles, WOW.

Day 15

Well, we left Las Vegas in the relative cool of the morning and headed for Victorville, California, our last state.  We went across the Mohave desert and shortly after reaching it our tour guide told us to stop and he turned around and went back the way we had come. We were abandoned in the desert!

Apparently one of the group was suffering from heat exhaustion, well it was very hot.  110 degrees Farenheit( 43 degrees Celsius). Shortly after we went through a forest of Joshua trees, which are becoming quite rare. I refused to sit on one after the cacti episode.

  We were soon back on the road and stopped at a place called Kelsoe which is basically just a train depot with a small museum. I tried a cowboy saddle for size while we were there.

We carried on and had a very late lunch ( 4.30) then we went to the Bottle Tree ranch, as seen on Billy Connolly, and met Elmo himself.










We then arrived at our hotel in Victorville, had a meal and went to bed, ready for the last leg in the morning. All feeling quite sad about having  to come home.

Day 14

Mrs Pakes says sorry she didn’t post the blog last night but the internet wouldn’t work!

After we left Williams we stopped at a place called Seligman for breakfast and I met Elvis and a Mater look-alike.

 








Then we carried on to Kingman to a Harley dealer where Mr and Mrs Pakes bought gel neck coolers which they said were very nice. We then went on to the Hoover Dam.

 It was a very hot day and when we left the dam it was about 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).  We then went to Las Vegas where we saw the fountains at Belaggios,which were fantastic had a quick walk round and found Las Vegas to be manic and still hot so went to our air conditioned room to rest ready for a very hot day again tomorrow!  Mrs Pakes didn’t even put a coin in a slot machine.

The internet is still too slow so Mrs Pakes will add photos later.  Internet is much faster at Hilton in Victorville.

Day 13

So today we went to the Grand Canyon and this is the first place we stopped. You can't go anywhere can you without some reminders of home! 

Then we motored back to the airport and I got ready for take off. Not much more to say really.

Then it was back on the bike and we rode to the end and back.

It was an amazing day and Mrs Pakes got very excited when she saw a golden eagle. Apparently she's never seen one before.  Sadly we were advised not to stay for the sunset so Mrs Pakes had to download one from the net.

We were also told today that we had to miss something that was planned so instead we are having to visit Hoover Dam. What a blow tee hee!



Day 12

We left Gallup and rode into Arizona. Our first stop was the painted desert and the petrified forest. Amazing.

That's a very large tree trunk that I am in front of!

We then had lunch, I had a very nice dinner, then motored on to Winslouw where we stood on the corner.

We motored on down the highway and arrived at our hotel ready to go to thenGrand Canyon in the morning.

Day 11

We left Santa Fe and left route 66 for a while and went on the turquoise trail where we stopped at a place called Madrid, where they filmed Wild Hogs, a famous fim apparently, but Mr and Mrs Pakes have never seen it but will do when they get home, then they can say we've been there.  We then went into Alberquerque for lunch, where I tasted some guacomole which was great.  Then we saw some cacti and Mr Pakes sat me on top, OW!

We rode on and came across some very strong cross winds for the rest of the journey which Mr Pakes managed brilliantly.While we were riding down the rode we passed a freight train which Mrs Pakes videoed and when we watched it Mr Pakes worked out it was about three quarters of a mile long! We saw some fantastic scenery again and then stopped off at the continental divide, this was near where Billy Connolly dropped his trike!

We then rode on to Gallup and arrived just after 6.30, the earliest we have arrived so far.                                 

Day 10

Ok so Barton has had the day off today so Mrs Pakes is having to fill in. We had a nice lay in and then got up and opened my birthday cards.  My friend Jill very kindly sent me some dollars so I was able to go on a spending spree. After a lovely lazy start to the day, sitting in the shade reading my book, Mr Pakes went off with some of the group to a firing range to shoot pistols.  He had a great time and fired off 100 rounds. Meanwhile I went shopping with one of the girls and bought a hairclip and some earrings to match, thanks to Jill.  In the morning when I was asking where there was a bookstore somebody said, come and look at the horses, so I went outside and there was a parade of horses going down the street, something to do with Santa Fe day!

Any way we had a lovely rest day and I enjoyed my birthday, rang mum tonight which made her day!  Barton will be back tomorrow after a well deserved rest (he spent the day in bed). Off to Gallup tomorrow.

Day 9

We woke to a fine drizzle this morning , so I decided to travel in the truck with Graham.  

Mr and Mrs Pakes put on their waterproofs and we rode on down to the cadillac ranch which is just outside Amarillo.                             

You can just see me sitting next to a gonk which was left on one of the cars.  We then went on to the midway cafe where we had some warm pecan pie and ice cream, which was delicious.

  We stopped an hour later for lunch and the sun had come out by now so Mr and Mrs Pakes were able to take off their waterproofs.  We had a quick walk around the town which had quite a few buildings left from the original route 66.  After that we rode on our way crossing into New Mexico where the scenery changed quite dramatically from quite flat to rolling hills and valleys.  We had to stop for petrol on the way and arrived at our hotel at 7.30. The room is very nice with a separate lounge and bedroom. Tomorrow is a rest day so we are planning to have a lie in which will be lovely.

Day 8

When we woke up it was raining, which we found lovely because the temperature was down to 67 degrees farenheit (20 degrees celcius). we stopped off at Clinton and went to the Route 66 museum where I waited to be served with a milkshake.

We then stopped off at another museum and had our photos taken under the biggest route 66 sign in the world. We carried on down the road and rode down a section of the route that is closed to traffic and rode under the trees, which was great.  On down the road we met Harley and Annabel, who you can see on Billy Connolly's trip. They were great!  We carried on and were soon in Texas where we had a photo shoot with all my friends. I've made a few now.

We then went on the motorway and stopped at a viewpoint overlooking the Texas prairies, which seem to go on for miles but doesn't look like it in the photo. We were also warned about rattlesnakes so I didn't go off the path.



When we got to the hotel we were told to go to the restaurant over the way which served a 72oz steak. If you could eat it within an hour you didn't hve to pay. Several people tried but they all failed.

Day 7

Tulsa to Weatherford, only 200 miles today.  We started the day by having to go to the Harley Davidson dealer for some running repairs. This meant that we started our journey an hour late.  We started off and went to a place called Seaba where they had a, wait for it, motorbike museum! So while I went in with Mr Pakes, Mrs Pakes sat outside with some other ladies and took photos of a swallows nest. We saw some lovely old bikes including a Triumph Bonneville which was still in it's crate since 1979. We also saw this C.H.I.P.S bike.

We then went for lunch at the Rooster cafe where we had a chicken fried steak, which was actually beef. We then carried on our journey but had to miss stopping at the round barn because there was a storm brewing, we had just ridden through some dust clouds blown across the fields and the temperature seemed to cool. Next we went to the Cherokee trading station where I met a buffalo.

We also saw some real ones!

We left the trading centre and went down what is called chiropracter road by our tour guide. It is a cement road with joints so is a bit bumpy. On the way we went over a bridge that is almost a mile long.

From there it was just a few more miles to the hotel. Again the temperature was seen to be 94 degrees farenheit (34 degrees celsius)

Day 6

From Rolla to Tulsa 320 miles!  We were up early again but had to take our breakfast back to our room as there weren't any seats left in the foyer which doubles up as the dining room. We started off driving down some long straight roads through Missouri, along through Joplin,which last year was it by a tornado, then along some twisty, hilly roads that eventually led to Kansas. 








In Kansas we stopped on the Rainbow curve bridge where we met the man who inspired the character Mater in the film cars.

We then continued on down the road to Tulsa, Olklahoma, stopping briefly on the way to see the whale that was once part of a swimming pool, which was closed a few years after it opened.

After that it was a few short miles to the hotel.  On the way today we saw several thermometers with the temperature ranging from 86-94 degrees farenheit (30-34 degrees celcius)  Mr and Mrs Pakes went out for a meal later and when they came back they said that going ouside after eating was like stepping into an oven!  It is going to be hotter tomorrow but we don't have quite so far to go.

Day 5

We got up early again, had a quick breakfast and went on our way.  The first picture shows the landscape as we left Springfield and the lovely weather.



We went through several towns one of which had an original square and lots of the original buildings. Mrs Pakes saw lots of big birds flying overhead and Gary the guide said they were turkey vultures. Mrs Pakes then got very excited for some reason! We carried on our way and we rode down what was said was a dead end road but turned out to be the Chain of Rocks bridge which we  rode over with special permission from the trust.



Here I am on the bridge which goes over the Mississippi River!

We stopped for lunch at a Cracker Barrel diner but soon found out that in the bible  belt after everyone has gone to church they go out for Sunday lunch, so we had to wait a while to get a table. When we did the  food was great.

We then headed on to the Meramac caverns which was once a hideout for Jesse James.  Here I am in his hand.  They also sold 28 flavours of icecream which we had a taste of, very good.

Tomorrow we head for Tulsa which apparently is our longest day covering over 300 miles. Mrs Pakes is not sure how she will cope with the distance but doesn't really have a choice! Tee hee.