darthfadar

This is cool! My brother & sister in law will be happy to see these & consider buying one. Congrats.

I've been notified that some great photos of some bridges have been posted on the Hwy 99 yahoogroup: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/High...yguid=176796196 To see the pix, use username 'cuon999' & password 'onetime'

Hi Jim, I hope Mike Ballard pipes in! Shasta lake is actually a reservoir built between 1937 & 1945. From what I gather on the yahoogroups Hwy 99 forum, these bridges were covered by the lake, as it filled. What interests me is whether the bridges were 'demolished & debris left' or 'covered by the water, intact'. Also, Hwy 99 in north Los Angeles County is covered by another reservoir, Pyramid Lake. I've read the highway remnants run deep there Sidenote: Along the same time of 1938 to 1945, the Kentucky River Dam was built & 2 towns were abandoned when the lake started to fill. If you ever get to visit the Kentucky dam, they've got got a nice museum & tour area. In the museum area are pictures of the towns with the water rising. The buildings were standing, even with business signage attached to the buildings. So, that heightens my interest as to what is under Lake Shasta & Lake Pyramid. Kevin

Well, this would be a first for me. But, I'll give it a try! I've heard that Lake Shasta level is quite low & 5 or 6 Hwy 99 bridges are exposed, no longer covered by the lake. I'll be driving by there in December & I'll try to get a few pix of that area, too.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-th...1&cset=true

Article that I received from a friend ( a fan of Rt 6) in Meadville, Pa. http://www.meadvilletribune.com/local/loca..._256225437.html Kevin

I've been on the mend from some throat & nose surgery last Wednesday. The doctor says I'm doing great but the doctor is feeling what I'm feeling. Hopefully, next week's 2nd post op appt will be better than today's. I got this URL from a friend who is now 71. He worked in the TV production biz, his first job was a cable puller for "Highway Patrol" with Broderick Crawford. Some of my best days at work for me was when I could get him to tell stories of his early days in TV production in the 50s & 60s. His story of his first day on the job & how Broderick Crawford stood up for him had me rolling. I'll try to get him to share it or get his ok for me to. Anyway, here is the Burma Shave site he sent. Animated, but still brings back memories & smiles. http://oldfortyfives.com/DYRT.htm Kevin

Most Walmarts welcome overnight parking & not RVing. his has become a problem for some cities & Walmarts that usually ends up creating a no overnight parking ban. Unless there is a mechanical issue, one night should be the limit. No BBQs or lawn chairs out or awnings pulled out. Walmart is great for pulling in late in the afternoon & being gone before the buisness day rush & leaving the area where parked, better than I found it. However, there is nothing to stop one from moving their RV to another business lot with their approval. In fact, we've stayed in a church parking lot mid week w/o an issue when campgrounds were not available. One other note. The Route 66 Casino in New Mexico is good for parking. And, does allow a view of the Rio Puerco Bridge. Kevin

Love this! My wife & I were on the I5 south in Santa Clarita to get to the 14 fwy here in SoCal. Traffic was backed up. We took the the Old Rd (Hwy 99) to Sierra Hwy & this is the first time to see a Route 6 sign. This road goes From Long Beach to Bishop & heads west? Cool! More stuff to look up & consider for future travels. I do love the fact that these is stuff I didn't know & that I can learn about. We're in the Santa Clarita/Castaic, Ca area. Hope it's ok to add to these quiet threads. Kevin

Yes, there is 2 sides to this! I think most important, is Bo. A dog, I would think? Try dogfriendly.com. It shows friendly places to dine, dogfriendly places to motel overnight, dogfriendly RV parks & dog activities. MY wife & I on our quick runs to Oregon do overnight at Quinta Inn. The dogs do get distracted witht he doors of the other rooms & other noises. We do a 'mindset' expect that type of thing will happen & still enjoy the trip. La Quinta offers a continental breakfast & some will bring their dogs down at that time. This point where conversations can be made. But, most did not travel by car but flew & are in for business. Still small talk can lead to some great dialog. I do not advocate buying a motorhome for one trip. There is a lot to learn & things do break. If not mechanically inclined, this will become a trip to nowhere fun. However, there are a number of RVers that are more than willing to provide good advice & help if they find out you are new to RVing. There are 2 websites to check parks (http://www.rvparkreviews.com/) & service (http://rvservicereviews.com/Index.asp). Be willing to think about keeping & using the RV. Please note,nothing will age an RV more than non use,inside & out. Kevin Read Jack Burke's post above for some good ideas.

I agree, its all about perspective. I think even 6 years ago, I wouldn't not have considered a motorhome. But, I'll try to rebuttal your 7 points above.. a- Our 10 year old MH cost us $50,000. What is the value of your vette? The previous owner kept the MH garage kept & it looks pretty darn good! Like a classic car, it can be painted & the interior remodeled. Even on my blue color income, I can budget that. The MH is fun to drive & 'ugly' is in the eye of the beholder. (Some year vettes are better looking to me than others). It does require careful driving & the slower the speed the better,but isn't that how a blue highway should be driven? b- Yes, my mileage of our 36' MH, at best, is 9.5 MPG pulling a Honda CRV. However, I am not paying nightly fees to stay in a room I may need to inspect. Also, if we choose we eat in or out. If we choose to eat in, most of the time the food has been prepared at home, vacuum sealed & frozen. We simply microwave the item when we're ready to dine. Not every night is geared to pulling out the BBQ or using the convection/microwave oven. So, I'd say on a normal days travel, our budgets are even or better than yours. c- I'm actually surprised at the cost of my insurance is. Consider a new SUV is $40,000. (I have no idea what a new vette costs). Maintenance on a MH is like maintenance on a house or a car. I do a lot of the work myself. I feel each repair saves me $200. MY MH has not been prone to many costly repairs if I was to have sent it to a mechanic. d- Our MH has some tax write off advantages. Even in California our one time tax was $900 & our yearly registration is $300. Again, comparable to buying, let's say an Tahoe or Escalade. e- We do have the privilege of parking our MH on our property. Our daughter & son-in-law do not in Portland. Their monthly cost to park their MH on a private lot is $40. Also, while traveling Walmarts, Cracker barrel restaurants & other businesses will let you park & sleep overnight, no charge. However, we do make a point of spending some of our $ there. f- Emptying the tanks is not a big challenge. It doesn't sound like a pretty job, either. My wife & I can go 5 days (& a day or 2 more) before emptying the grey & black tanks & refilling the fresh water. We usually just stay at an RV park & do this. However, there are truck stops with sites for dumping & filling for fresh waster. g- Most RVs have battery, inverter & generator power. There is simply no need to hook up & disconnect for short periods of time. Again, a motel can inspect great until you get an unruly visitor next to your room or above or below you. There was one time when I had a noisy neighbor at a park. I went outside & asked if I could help with anything. The reply was a cordial 'no' & the noise stopped. Again, I'm not trying to convince or convert anyone on RVing. It is a personal choice However, you may want to see this attachment. There is some money involved here. (Not mine)

White Castles were available in the freezer section at markets in most states. Their website shows restaurants in the midwest to NY state. Frozen burgers just can't be the same as fresh

It's definitely no tale! In fact, when we make our gumball runs to Portland for holidays & birthdays, etc, we are asked to stop at the most northern In N Out in Redding & get a number of burgers. This turns into quite a scene since we take our 2 dogs with us & we're packed into our Honda SUV to complete the 7 hour drive. It then takes many weeks of Frebreze & Lysol treatments to eliminate the aroma from the Honda. The cardboard pine tree freshener from the mirror doesn't stand a chance. Sigh...I no longer eat these in the quantities that I used to. I opted to drop 60 pounds from February to June to avoid using a CPAP machine for sleep apnea. Waist size went from a tight 41 to a loose 34. And wouldn't you know it, all my blood levels became acceptable & I feel pretty darn good. However, I have not given up the occasional Foster Freeze Twister...as a meal replacement.

Our daughter was requested a few years back to return to Portland from SoCal with a number of In N Out Burgers. I ducted taped a cooler with these burgers inside. Our daughter said that there was a numner of conversations of the tempting aroma in the plane. If this SWA plane is still in service, it probably still has the Burger scent in it.

Save enough $ to get an In N Out T shirt. I have not seen a bad shirt from there. When in December will you be there? I may consider a drive to have a meal with you. BTW, find the Silverton casino & take in the Bass Pro Shop if you have some free time. However, I can't imagine that Illinois & Michigan don't have a good local burger. So, what's the secret there? I've heard about the White Castle Burgers being their own special type of burger.

There is a participant on a Route 66 list who offers vehicle window stickers showing membership & interest in 66. These attach on the glass inside a vehicle I wonder if the was an American Road type sticker available, if this would help when we are on the road less traveled? I'd get a couple of these, if these are in either black or white & placed on the exterior of my vehicles. I'd place the white on the tinted window of my cars & the black on the rear or side of my motorhome which doesn't have a rear window. Kevin

I'm lucky to have a good travel team. My wife Val both drives & co-pilots. She's great at making sure I don't destroy any power or water pedestals at RV parks. She's, also got a great sense of direction. The rest of the team is Foster a beagle mix. He likes to sleep as we travel. The other is Rocky our 3 year old Boxer. Both are dogs are rescues. Rocky was found at the Big Bear City pound. Both are great travelers. Thanks for the tip on using Word. Good call!

If anything, I am more selective where I park, instead of camp for a night. There are at least 3 lists that I know of on yahoogroups that deal with overnight parking. One is casinocamper, overnightRVparking & walmartrving. The key is your are parking for a night or 2 & not setting up for camping. I've overnight parked at Walmarts where the city ordinances allow. These are good since the Walmart has 24 hour security patrolling the lot. The casinos have security. The overnight parking list has a lot of locations & the moderator keeps a very up to date list of locations. The last place I parked was at a Vista Point on Hwy 89 on my way to Reno. Some of these pix are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14627740@N00/...57601259262739/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/14627740@N00/...57601273192977/ Again, I must of mishandled my post regarding my RV & what I feel are the advantages I enjoy. Kevin

To follow up for KTSOTR, Bob's Big Boy Burbank is alive & well. They did try to revive the carhop service about 10 years ago but it didn't take. They do have a classic car night each Friday & Jay Leno has been known to stop by & participate. The fiberglass Bob mascot is now chained & bolted at the entrance. He seemed to wander off too much. Was the San Val on San Fernando Rd? Perhaps you remember the drive in on Alameda between Buena Vista & Victory? I can't remember the name. It was replaced by a shopping center in the early 90s. Do you remember the Pickwick bowling alley? That is still alive & kickin'. The Winchell's donut chain is just about gone, I don't see many of those, anymore. Fortunately, in my opinion, a chain called 'Pizza Man He Delivers' is pretty much gone. Neither the donuts or the pizza were something to look forward to. As far as chain restaurants in upstate New York that are gone, I'm surprised there has been no mention of Carroll's Hamburgers which I believe extended into the New England area. It was a predecessor to McDs. It was my whole family's first exposure to fast food. The owner of this chain sold & converted most of these to Burger Kings in the early 70s. Money talks... Some info is here: http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1355 Another chain that has disappeared was called 'The Red Barn'. I know this chain extended into at least Ohio. It had a 2 piece chicken meal, a side & soft drink for 75 cents in the late 60s. This chain was bought by a large corporation that just didn't know how to run it (just like Stuckey's). There is a website that deals with the Red Barn history & what a number of these buildings are used for now: http://www.barnbuster.net/ A twist on the small franchise was the Helm's Bakery Truck (panel wagons) that would drive up & down neighborhoods like Good Humor Ice Cream Truck. The Helm's man would open the back doors to the panel truck & pull out a drawer that seem to pull for 10 feet, filled with all types of donuts. This business died in the early 1970's.

Here! Here! or Hear! Hear! I think as a newbie to the list my own reply post to Denny seems to have gone vapor. My post stated what my preferences of using a Class A motorhome. However, KTSOTR has some great points for his choice. If my post doesn't appear, I reformulate my answer in a day or 2. Kevin

Again, as a kid, I got the opportunity to travel with my dad from upstate NY into Pennsylvania. I was impressed with the tunnels that the Turnpike traveled through. Some of these are now abandoned. Now, I know I traveled through some of these tunnels & remember water seeping through the ceiling tiles. My imagination would let me believe that a lake full of water was about to break through any time, I prayed we'd make through before the water rushed down... Anyway, I have found a few websites about abandoned portions of the Turnpike, including some tunnels. The Turnpike is not exactly a classic American road. But, it was built as a toll road way before the 1956 Interstate Act. I hope you enjoy this website, as much as I have. http://www.pahighways.com/toll/abandonedturnpike.html

Thanks for the welcome, again! Yes, I'd be glad to share the travel info & pix of the trip to Reno. Actually, I did travel to Reno via 99, 89 & 88 & returned via 395. So, where would be the best place to post this report? BTW, I did take some pix of the interior of the Peppermill casino that has some really wild lighting. Would that be a point of interest to report on, too? Kevin

Hi, I'm Kevin. I've had an interest in roads since I was a kid in the 50s riding with my parents from upstate NY to my grandfather's farm in Maryland. Not knowing about Eisenhower's Interstate Act, I was certainly entertained & confused by getting on & off the interstate & traveling 2 lane roads in between. Seeing & visiting diners (cool, good food served in railroad cars) & visiting some very old gas stations & needing to use their yucky restrooms...seem embedded in my memories. It was all cool until the local drive in restaurant was leveled to make room for Route 481. My thought even as a preteen was, "That just even right." I even noticed that as more superslabs were built the, the style of broadcast radio changed, also. (That's not right, either!) Having move from upstate NY to southern California in 1968, the only way to get somewhere fast was th interstate. However, when I waited for the school bus on Colorado Blvd, I stood underneath a Route 66 signpost. All these factors, planted a seed for the interest in the old roads. Today, I've a few blocks from Hwy 99 in northern LA county. Anyway, when I drive 2 lane roads today, I find town similar to the drives I had when I traveled as a kid. If you ever see a motorhome with a California license plate of "OLD HWYS" on a motorhome or a Honda CRV "OLD HWYS" or a Ford pickup of "OLD ROAD", give me a honk & let's stop & have a pop.

I, also, travel mostly by RV. I have a 36' Class A motorhome & tow car. When I reach a town to visit, I unhook the tow car & leave the motorhome at a RV park or a large parking lot (getting the permission of the business to park while touring a town. While I do get RV magazines, not much is dealt with traveling "On the Road" like Charles Kuralt did. Though my motorhome is 10 years old, some locals in these smaller towns haven't seen the likes of motorhome in their town or village. I feel that most RVers still travel to get to a destination via the superslab & miss some great opportunites to see these small towns. My most recent trip was from SoCal to Reno, Nv for Hot Augusts Nights event via Hwy 395. There are some neat towns along 395 & just a few miles off 395 are some great places to RV. In fact, one can just pull off 395 at the Smith River near the Nevada border for an afternoon's or night's rest. It's a different mode of traveling but I don't miss loading & unloading suitcases every night. Info geared to RVing in ARM is helpful, the more the better! Kevin

One of my favorite items there is there is the milk shakes. In N Out has extra large diameter straws for drinking these extra thick shakes. Though the posted menu is limited, there is an unpublished menu which can be reviewed here: http://www.tiburon-belvedere.com/cgi/home.cgi?c=In_N_Out No salads, though! Kevin