Naturally the property density lessens as we travel inland. The landscape opens up and buildings will have their own parking. We stopped at popular sites such as Wigwam Motel and the first McDonald’s location.

We didn’t stay at the motel, just took a few snaps and moved on. We went inside one while it was being cleaned. Each unit is a full bedroom, sitting area, and separate bath with shower.

Commode directly opposite to this walk-in shower. Seeing these units on YouTube previously, initially I found the experience slightly surreal.

The McDonald’s Museum was like a time warp. Tons of McDonald’s toys and give-a ways from over the decades were on display and exhibitions were set up from fans who sent swag in from other countries.

Imagine 100x more displays (sorry, I didn’t take enough pictures). Glass cases had submissions from foreign countries such as France, Brazil, and Canada.

The exterior of the museum has taken on a clash of old playground equipment and a Route 66 mural. A clash theme that will continue for another two thousand miles.

An Easter Egg of sorts, there’s a drawing and mention of Albert Okura on the museum exterior. Albert shows up again along Route 66 as we continue.

You can make a comment by pressing the post title way up top.

While meandering along the route out of West Hollywood, we saw many unique buildings, I think the most unique was this Denny’s. I believe we were in Pasadena, CA.

We didn’t stop, just grabbed a shot out the front windshield.

Being exhausted at this point, we located this awesome park in a nice neighborhood nearby the Route.

We walked around the park and there were some other vans on the next street over. Looks like they weren’t visiting, more of an extended-stay for them.

We just stayed overnight.

Our philosophy is we pull over and stay, but if we are asked to leave, no problem. We will be gone the following day in most every case.

Oh yeah, there was a museum in this park as well, it would be worth going back to see. The museum was open Thursdays and Sundays, so we were unable to visit this day as we arrived well after 6pm.

Some of the exhibits on the museum posters were how Monrovia and surrounding areas were built by the evolving transportation systems over time.

You can make a comment by pressing the post title way up top.

From the Pier, we traversed through Los Angeles and saw many sites, mostly old signs & buildings. Not much opportunity to park & get out as parking is super-tough right in Hollywood.

We were getting used to navigating with an app as well, which is a one-year subscription to GPS way points of various sites along Route 66. It’s a pretty good app, but takes a bit to get used to.

We stopped at Tail o’ the Pup for a chili dog, which was decent. Classic road trip fare and the building has LA history and includes a Tiki bar upstairs which we visited briefly (no photos).

There is also a claim of Jim Morrison recording the lyrics to ‘LA Woman’ here in this bathroom:

Arrived in Santa Monica 19APR26. We bummed around at the Pier and beach for a few hours then decided we better get this thing rolling.

We stuck to the route through West Hollywood as much as we could. At least I know where Echo Park is now. We will be returning to the city in a car to see other attractions because the van is pretty big to navigate & park.

Since crossing into Oklahoma, we’ve stopped at and/or searched out to photograph 55 attractions. This will be the last out-of-order update. Will go back to start of the trip next post. Hope someone is out there reading, please comment!

Visited two museums along The Road. In Elk City, saw this gem: Pedal Bomb. Kid’s toy from the 40s:

Currently in Oklahoma. Was in the home city of Roger Miller, a man of means by no means — King of the Road.

Having feelings for these small towns abandoned for super highway travel. Although the little towns are charming, they are also depressing. Not far off the highway, they serve as bedroom communities with very limited commercial upside.

One container each for clothes, that’s it. Space is at a premium so whatever we bring will have to fit in these boxes. I was able to fit two pairs of pants, six long-sleeve tees and about seven tee-shirts. We have one other overhead cabinet for clothes & towels, but that’s it. Will have to utilize laundromats along the way every 5-6 days.

Luckily we’ll have a fairly comfy bed with climate control. Upper cabinet seen over air-handler.

We have a little bit of storage directly under bed and behind the cooler-style fridge. Chairs on the left and just to the right is the lithium battery and charging system.

Just to the right of the bed is a shelving system for daily supplies. Notice the Home Depot shelving lip, keep things from becoming airborne.

All set, ready to roll. At night time, can draw a curtain across right in front of the fridge, cut out any unwanted daylight and keeps the heating/cooling area to a minimum. Can easily draw temps in that area down to 70-72F very quickly.

Pretty much stock condition from nice lady in Pahrump, Nevada in March 2017. 95K miles. Van had some deferred maintenance. Added new steering box, front suspension components (2017, and again in 2025) immediately to make road worthy. You can see all the stock decals, wheels, and old TV antenna. Awning fell victim to high winds at Walker Lake, Nevada.

Van pictured above at George’s Alignment, Las Vegas circa April 2017. You can see I started removing the decals already, see front door… missing stripe.

While storage was affordable, I did store covered for about five years. Gave me a spot to work on it plus keep from driveway jockey-ing vehicles (which I do now.)

Quick overview of our travel rig.

1998 Leisure Travel Wide Body Class B. Dodge 5.9L V8 Magnum power plant. 157k miles. Purchased at 95k miles and brought it back up to road-worthy standards.

Just recently completed front suspension work, fixed Air-Ride system (rear end lift inflate/deflate), complete tune-up, oil change, and transmission fluid drain and refill. Second transmission service since ownership. First one at 111K miles. Good shifting, no issues.

Usually travel in van at a comfy speed of about 58-59mph. Ideally I like to keep engine load under 30% and RPMs when cruising about 1800+-. Temps ideally at 195F or lower. No hurry.

Have seen as high as 15.7MPG all highway, but I usually figure 14mpg just to be on the safe side. 420 miles register on the odometer, I’m filling up.