Ok, you’ve had a good night’s sleep and are raring to hit the road for day two. I really hope you’re doing this in early spring (although in early spring, it might still snow in the mountains you drove on day one! Timing is indeed ‘interesting’ for this trip!), if not, get an early start because we’re talkin’ HOT DESERT and I don’t mean Baked Alaska!
We’ll be heading south along the shores of the Salton Sea, that oddity that used to be part of the Gulf of California until a turn of the last century earthquake raised the land south of there and cut off this arm, making it a land locked salt sea (hence it’s name). At one time it was touted as a Wondrous Resort, but as the salinity has increased (imagine this, an Ecological Bad Thing, NOT caused by either humans OR Republicans OR Big Oil), the fish die off more frequently and really stink up the place. Sadly, it’s pretty much closed up, taking people’s dreams of living on the New Riviera with it. There’s a kinda hard scrabble flint edged attitude amongst the inhabitants in their scruffy trailers and sometimes engine-less motor homes. It’s a bargain for Snowbirds on a Budget.
About half way down the western edge, your gonna turn west, through the Anza Borrego Desert. This place gets REALLY hot, so if you’re a top down kinda traveller (like us), plenty of sun screen and even long sleeve shirts that have SPF protection and some kinda hats are deregiuer. Just like Death Valley, if there’s actually been some rain, the little wild flowers, eking out an existence are marvelous. Even without the flowers, there is an awesome beauty to the landscape. Lunar is the term that usually comes to mind.
Heading south out of the Borrego, you’ll hit the town of Ocotillo. This road was part of the Great Overland Stage Route, and it’s hard to realize what that must have been like. Long, hot, dusty, and unbearably slow, it took some special people to travel this route regularly. Make sure you gas up in Ocotillo. There isn’t much opportunity along I-8.
Yeah, OK, I said it. The “I” word. You know I wouldn’t send you on the Dreaded Interstate unless I had to, but, there is no other way through Carrizo Gorge. Even though it’s Interstate, it’s a pretty neat drive. Deep rocky canyons and spectacular rock formations are the order of the day.
Just past the gorge, we’ll get onto the Old Road. This is the remnant of US Hwy 80. It’s less travelled, has no trucks and obviously is preferable to I-8. If you want, you can keep on I-8, they parallel each other. Old 80 is just more interesting.
About where the interstate shifts a bit north, we’ll head for the hills and lunch, by taking the back way into Julian. Most people have at least heard of this old mining town that’s now famous for it’s Apple Pies. Yep, another Pie Stop! There are a couple of places in town, but to me, Mom’s is THE place. They were the first and make all their pies from scratch! If you time it right and hit Julian early, you can smell the baking pies as you hit town. MAN, there isn’t much better than that! The only equal would be hitting Gilroy at Garlic Pickin’ Time! See, THIS is why I love an open car! The ability to smell the world around you is far superior to our usual air-conditioned-bottled-air-’freshener’-scented isolation in modern cars.
Now Julian is tiny. Parking is a pain. A lot of the shops have the usual happy crappy in them, but there are some neat ones. In addition to Mom’s, there are other eateries, B&B’s and places to get organic honeys and jams. Check out http://www.visitjulian.com/ for more info.
Now if you have a group, or don’t want to fight the parking, here’s a tip. Mom’s has a place just north of town in Wynola. It’s on the highway and is hard to miss. Wynola actually looks even neater than “downtown” Julian. There are some antique places and even a guy who makes HARD CIDER! Tough to beat that. The Mom’s in Wynola is really just for pies, but hey, pie for lunch? What’s wrong with that?
After Julian, we’ll be heading east again, back through the heart of the Anza Borrego to a town called Borrego Springs. To do this, we descend Montezuma Pass. This is a Montezuma’s Revenge of a different sort. This is a really great road, but be careful of the Motor Home Idiots. A month or so ago, one went “sailin’ on out there”. I guess it’s not an irregular occurrence.
Through Borrego Springs we’ll head back to the Salton Sea, then back north to Indio for night two. Although it’s been a short jaunt (under 200 miles), it’s been a challenging trip, and one where you actually have time to dawdle and still get back to the joys of a cool motel pool in time for the real heat of the day.
Next month, in part three, we’ll hit a couple of museums, Joshua Tree, and lovely Mecca. Until then, keep the shiny side up and the greasy side down.
Day 2
Tropics Motor Hotel
82297 Indio Boulevard
Indio, CA 92201-3129
1. RIGHT on Indio Blvd toward Palm St 2.9 mi
2. CONTINUE onto CA-111 S/CA-86
Continue to follow CA-86 18.2 mi
3. LEFT ON CA-86 N/81st Ave 0.3 mi
4. RIGHT ON CA-86 S 27.4 mi
5. RIGHT onto CA-78 38.5 mi
6. LEFT onto County Route S2/Great Southern Overland Stage Route of 1849
Continue to follow Great Southern Overland Stage Route of 1849 29.4 mi
7. CONTINUE onto County Route S2/Sweeny Pass Rd
Continue to follow County Route S2 17.8 mi
135 mi – about 3 hours 0 mins
Ocotillo, CA
GAS UP HERE!
8. SOUTH on County Route S2 toward Opal Rd 0.3 mi
9. RIGHT to merge onto I-8 W toward San Diego 23.5 mi
10. TAKE EXIT 65 for Ribbonwood Rd/CA-94 toward Campo Blvd 0.4 mi
11. LEFT onto CA-94 W/Ribbonwood Rd 0.6 mi
12. RIGHT onto CA-94 W/Old Hwy 80
Continue to follow CA-94 W 12.6 mi
13. RIGHT onto Buckman Springs Rd/San Diego County Rd S 1 9.6 mi
14. LEFT onto Old Buckman Springs Rd 0.9 mi
15. SLIGHT LEFT onto San Diego County Rd S 1 27.1 mi
16. RIGHT onto CA-79 N 5.8 mi
17. LEFT onto Main St (signs for Julian) 0.3 mi
18. LEFT onto Washington St 0.2 mi
19. CONTINUE onto CA-78 W/CA-79 N/Julian Rd
Destination will be on the right 3.8 mi
84.9 mi – about 2 hours 12 mins
LUNCH STOP! AND YEAH, EAT THE APPLE PIE! WE’LL VOTE TONIGHT ON THE WINNER!!!
MOM’S PIE
4510 California 78
Julian, CA 92036
AFTER LUNCH:
20. RIGHT on CA-78 W/CA-79 N/Julian Rd toward Springview Rd 2.8 mi
21. RIGHT onto CA-79 N 11.4 mi
22. RIGHT onto County Route S2/San Felipe Rd 4.7 mi
23. LEFT onto Montezuma Valley Rd 17.4 mi
24. RIGHT onto Palm Canyon Dr 1.4 mi
25. At the traffic circle, continue straight to stay on Palm Canyon Dr 4.4 mi
26. CONTINUE onto Pegleg Rd 2.4 mi
27. CONTINUE onto Borrego Salton Seaway 13.1 mi
28. CONTINUE onto Borrego Salton Sea Way 7.5 mi
29. LEFT onto CA-86 N 14.9 mi
30. LEFT onto CA-86 S/81st Ave 0.3 mi
31. RIGHT onto CA-86 N/Harrison St
Continue to follow CA-86 N 19.6 mi
32. CONTINUE onto Interstate 10 Business W-INDIO BLVD 1.7 mi
33. Make a U-turn at Sun Gold St
Destination will be on the right 0.1 mi
102 mi – about 2 hours 36 mins
Tropics Motor Hotel
82297 Indio Boulevard
Indio, CA 92201-3129

Road Trippin’
with Steve McCarthy

Ya know, it’s been a long time since I’ve written up a proper trip. This one is a dandy, and any part can be done as a one, two, or three day jaunt. In some ways, it’s a variation of the Eastern San Diego County one I wrote about a few years ago, but this one has some definite twists to it, and not just twists in the road.
If you do the whole three day tour, not only will you get a good dose of California’s variety of landscape (mountains and deserts in particular, and as an added bonus, a land locked lake), but you can compare apple pies and get some really good Mexican food! What’s not to like?
We’ll start in Montrose/La Canada at the UA Theatre where the 2 and 210 freeways meet. Many of you will know it as the place car guys meet on Saturday mornings. This is the logical place, because we’ll be going over Angeles Crest, all the way to Wrightwood.
The beauty of this part is, of course, you have choices for breakfast. There’s of course Newcomb’s Ranch, where all the bikers stop, then several choices in Wrightwood, depending on what time you set out and how long you want to wait for food. Newcomb’s is a neat place, and now that the Crest is open again, they need the biz! The brutal Station Fire really trashed the whole area and their business is still trying to recover. If you go on a weekend, watch for the crotch rocket guys. Some of them are really boogieing! Also, always be on the alert for Mr. Chippy! They are still watching, especially on the weekends, so don’t do anything stoooopid! Also, on weekdays, remember that this is a commuter route and the oncoming traffic can be heavy. Stick to realistic speeds going up, stay the heck on your side of the road and enjoy.
From Wrightwood, the route will take you across the I-15 (a good place to gas up) and up to Arrowhead, the back way. This is a killer road with enough switchbacks to give you achy arms! Past Arrow head is of course Big Bear. This whole section can be crowded on a weekend, so I’d do this mid week if I were you. Big Bear and Arrowhead also offer plenty of places to eat and stop, but hold on, the real food treat is up ahead.
You’ll be taking the back way down from Big Bear, roads that I remember well from the old Bus Driving Days. Man, it seemed like every weekend, we’d be hauling Girl Scouts, Campfire Girls, YMCA kids, or even the odd (very odd) Women’s Christian Temperance Union campers up and down that hill. For the latter, I always wore my trusty Loch Ness Monster Pub T-shirt. The tales I could tell! Anyway, this route is a lot of fun, and will wind up in Oak Glen, above Yucaipa. This is where you want to stop for lunch. Oak Glen is known for it’s apple orchards, and apple orchards means Apple Pie!
Now I gotta tell ya, I’m an Apple Pie Freak. To the point where I have Apple Pie instead of birthday cake! Oak GLen has great pie, and although you have several choices, Law’s Oak Glen Cafe is probably the best. It’s of course debatable, but believe me, it’s good! You can also stop and get fresh squeezed cider at a number of places. Add a little brewer’s yeast and…
So, after lunch, you’ll drop down for a brief jaunt on the I-10 (get gas now, NEVER in the mountains!) and quickly back up into the mountains. This time it’s the San Jacinto’s, past the little community of Idylwild then down to Palm Desert over the Pines to Palm (or is it the Palms to Pines-I guess it depends on which way you’re going) Highway. This is another really twisty bit that will guarantee the need of some kind of relaxing beverage at the end of the day. The last bit is through some city streets to Indio and our stop for the night.
Indio is an odd place. It was at one time a major stop on the southerly route across the country, and has become a pretty large city, but it’s still mostly bypassed by travelers. Every spring there is the huge music festival at Chowchilla, just down the road, so watch your dates. Motel rooms are impossible to get at that time!
We found a classic on Indio Boulevard called The Tropics Motor Hotel. Frank the manager is a great guy, and the place is proper old time roadside motel. There are a couple of others nearby so you do have a choice.
The best part of stopping in Indio is the El Mexicali Cafe. 82720 Indio Boulevard, Indio, CA (760) 347-1280. This place is family owned and run, been there since ’82, and has the most wonderful appetizer! It’s a fairly mild yellow chili, stuffed with shrimp onto which you drizzle (of all things) soy sauce! Weird sounding but REALLY good!!! When we stopped there, the waitress was so insistent that we try it, that even when we passed (stooopid us!) she brought us a couple on the house! MAN was this good! The rest of the meal was exceptional as well. This is some of the best Mexican food we’ve found. Ever.
Next month, I’ll take you on a southern tour past the Salton Sea, through the Anza Borrego Desert, and then to Julian for Part Two of the Great Apple Pie Challenge!

UA La Canada 8
1919 Verdugo Boulevard
La Canada, CA 91011
1. LEFT out of parking lot on Verdugo Blvd 0.6 mi
2. RIGHT on Foothill Blvd 0.3 mi
3. LEFT on Angeles Crest Hwy 64.3 mi
4. SLIGHT RIGHT toward CA-138 E 0.1 mi
Think Seriously about gas when you cross I-15! Gas gets REAL expensive as we head to the mountains!
5. SLIGHT RIGHT on CA-138 E 27.7 mi
6. LEFT to stay on CA-138 E 1.1 mi
7. RIGHT to stay on CA-138 E 0.3 mi
8. LEFT on CA-138 0.9 mi
9. KEEP RIGHT AT THE FORK TO MERGE onto CA-18 N 14.1 mi
10. SLIGHT LEFT onto Hilltop Con 89 ft
11. Hilltop Con turns slightly right and becomes CA-18 N/Hilltop Blvd
Continue to follow CA-18 N 12.4 mi
12. RIGHT on CA-18 N/Big Bear Blvd 0.5 mi
13. LEFT to stay on CA-18 N/Big Bear Blvd 3.5 mi
14.LEFT onto Big Bear Blvd 6.6 mi
15. RIGHT on CA-38 W/Greenspot Blvd
Continue to follow CA-38 W 39.2 mi
16. LEFT on Bryant St (signs for Yucaipa/Oak Glen) 2.4 mi
17. LEFT onto Oak Glen Rd
Destination will be on the left 5.0 mi
179 mi – about 4 hours 21 mins
LUNCH STOP! You MUST have the Apple Pie! We will conduct a survey and judge whether Oak Glen or Julian has the Best Pie! A coveted The Drive Award will be given to the BEST Place!
Law's Oak Glen Coffee Shop
38392 Oak Glen Road
Yucaipa, CA 92399-9749
AFTER LUNCH:
18. LEFT on Oak Glen Rd toward Hideaway Ln 7.6 mi
19. CONTINUE ONTO Beaumont Ave 2.0 mi
20. LEFT on Oak Valley Pkwy 0.6 mi
21. RIGHT on Pennsylvania Ave 1.4 mi
22. LEFT to merge onto I-10 E toward Indio 4.4 mi
You might want to think about some gas!
23. TAKE EXIT 100 for 8th St/CA-243 toward Idyllwild 0.3 mi
24. RIGHT on CA-243 S/S 8th St 0.1 mi
25. TAKE FIRST LEFT onto W Lincoln St 0.5 mi
26. TAKE 2nd RIGHT on CA-243 S/Banning-Idyllwild Panoramic Hwy
Continue to follow CA-243 S/Banning-Idyllwild Panoramic Hwy 28.8 mi
27. CONTINUE on CA-74 E/Florida Ave
Continue to follow CA-74 E 36.7 mi
28. RIGHT on CA-111 S 9.5 mi
29. LEFT on Monroe St 1.0 mi
30. RIGHT on Fred Waring Dr 449 ft
31. TAKE 1st RIGHT on Interstate 10 Business E (Indio Blvd)
Destination will be on the right 0.2 mi
93.2 mi – about 2 hours 17 mins
Tropics Motor Hotel
82297 Indio Boulevard
Indio, CA 92201-3129

Road Trippin’
with Steve McCarthy

Marianne and her sister Peggy (no, she doesn’t work for some credit card customer service) took their own Road Trip last month. By themselves! Women can actually do this with no muss or fuss. All that crapola about Women Drivers is about as accurate as thinking that Real Men don’t eat quiche. Out dated nonsense at best.
They were off to visit their aunties, one in Clovis (up near Fresno), one in Saratoga (up near San Jose) and then down to Peggy’s favorite spot, Pismo Beach. Mostly they kept to I-5/99, then over Pacheco Pass ( a pretty nice drive) then down 101 (which is always a nice drive). Our daughter Meaghan and I went up to meet them in Pismo. After lunch, Meaghan and Peggy went home and I stayed a night with Marianne there, benefitting from Peggy’s vast knowledge of one of California’s Classic Beach Towns.
Although Pismo and the other four cities (Grover Beach, Oceano, Arroyo Grande, and Halcyon) have grown together to make their own Mini-opolis, Pismo still retains a lot of the character of a proper Beach Town.
And what, may you ask, are the requirements for Classic Beach Town status?
Well, Number one, there has to be a beach. Pismo has it, several miles of it, good surf, and the bonus of being able to dig your own clams! Pismo clams!
Second, a Pier. Almost every proper Beach Town has a pier. Newport, Redondo, Huntington, Santa Monica, hell, even little ol’ Cayucos all have piers. Great for fishing, strolling, or just watching the ocean. What is this fascination humans have with watching the ocean? Some Primeval Urge to connect with when we crawled out of the water and walked on dry land? A Freudian Fetish with the surging rhythm of the crashing waves? We all seem feel calmer, more peaceful at the water’s edge.
Third, there has to be funky happy-crappy stores that all sell the same t-shits and sweatshirts (OK, “hoodies”) emblazoned with the name of said Beach Town and way over priced. Of course if you’ve ever planned for a nice warm day in the sun and been confronted by a summer fog bank, what ever price they want for a sweatshirt is well worth it. These same shops also have to sell Things Made of Sea Shells. Shell covered boxes, shell covered hanging dust catchers, shell covered Thingys and shell covered Stuff. None of this stuff is of course made locally, or even in the US of A. Pismo has this in abundance, right down to the also obligatory Blown Glass Shoppe. Oh, and Salt Water Taffy! Ya gotta have a bag of this tasty, sugary, sticky confection, and in Pismo, Tomasko’s is THE place. Taffy by the barrel full. Enough to pull every filling our of your head and make you love it!
Fourth, is of course, Food. Lots of Beach Food! This is something that Pismo really shines at. First, there is the Holy Trinity of Eateries. Mo’s BBQ, the Splash Cafe, and best of all, Brads. Not only are all three on the same street, Mo’s and Brad’s are next door to each other, and Splash is across the street. All three have lines down the sidewalk any where near meal time and all three are worth waiting however long it takes to get seated.
Mo’s is a great place for Que! They have their own open pit, and make their own sauce. They tend to like Southern style, offering Southern, Carolina, and Georgia as well as their standard sauce. This is not the Kansas City smokey stuff, this is sweet and fruity. Don’t be a One Style Que Fiend! There are indeed lots of different styles, all of it good. Mo’s is exceptional! http://www.smokinmosbbq.com/
Splash Cafe is the new kid on the block. They date from 1989. They claim to have the best chowder ever, and indeed it is good. Thick, hot, creamy (none of that fako Red Clam Soup that Manhattanites tout, this is the REAL DEAL), and wonderfully filling, this is great stuff. The stuff of legends. http://www.splashcafe.com/
Except for the fact that Brad’s is across the street. Now Pismo is a Two Chowder Town. Residents and visitors divide into Bradites and Splashians and polarize over this issue to a degree that makes the California Legislature look like the Soul of Compromise, Cooperation, and Brotherly Love. I’ve tried both. Several times. I really like Splash’s. I LOVE Brad’s! It has the sweetest clams I’ve ever had in a chowder. It’s almost thick enough to stand your spoon in. It has the perfect clam to potato ratio, every spoon full has both. The dusting of paprika on the top adds just a hint of smokiness and heat to push this chowder over the top into the realm of Ambrosia.
The rest of the food isn’t half bad either! We split the Seafood Combo and Chips. It was crisp and not greasy, even the large hunks of fried up calamari were tender and tasty, No mean feat that. Too often, calamari is a plate full of rubber bands. On top of that, the staff (thanks for a great meal Grace!) is attentive and friendly. Well worth the 15 minutes we waited in line to eat. Don’t let that turn you off, like I said, all three have lines, a testament to their collective excellence.
I got to speak with Amy, the manager about Brad’s and the story gets better. The place has been there 60 years, all in the same family! Brad opened it as a burger place, that place burned down and he re-opened it as a proper cafe, specializing is seafood. His daughters, Sherri, Gerry, and Mary Ann still put in a day’s work, and to top off everything, for the past couple of years, they offer a FREE Christmas dinner to any one who shows up. Turkey, Ham, Stuffing, the lot, no questions asked. I mean, how could any self respecting Road Tripper NOT support a place like this?
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brads-Restaurant-Pismo-Beach-CA/178112068895609
Now these are not the only places to eat. There’s great Italian food at Giuseppe’s and a high end place called Steamers. Both are a nice alternative, especially if you are staying a few days. For lunch, drive over to Oceano to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Diner. This place is in two old railroad passenger cars and does a mean tri-tip sandwich.
No overnight stay in Pismo is complete with out the best cinnamon rolls ever. It you are used to that gloppy mess of corporate goo called Cinnabon, get your self to Old West Cinnamon Rolls! These folks have the stickiest, gooiest, most tender buns you’ve ever bitten into (yeah, I know, pretty salacious for a family website!). You can get ‘em plain, iced, encrusted with walnuts, all manner of buns. All good! Their coffee is also better than GotBucks.
As with all Beach Towns, there are lots of motels, and even a classic Beach Hotel, the aptly named Pismo Beach Hotel, built in 1937, and nicely renovated. There’s every price range, from Motel 6 to luxury spa.
Pismo Beach is a neat town, plenty of great side roads to explore for day trips, close to wineries and plenty to offer the Serious Road Tripper, or even the casual mom-and-pop-in-the-mini-van-with-the-kids-and-the-golden-retriever. Get yourself up there and discover your own favorites. And by the way, yes Peggy, we got that set of glasses you were pining for in Paso Robles!

Road Trippin’
with Steve McCarthy

I’m not really a morning person. Yeah, these days I seem to get up early, but that’s just a function of age and habit. I’m not what you’d call awake before about 10AM. Thirty years of teaching and needing to be out of the house before 7AM to get ready for the little dears has made it tough to sleep in. This means I’m rarely awake enough to bother with breakfast. A cup of hot chocolate (I really hate coffee- I know, sacrilege in this Starbucks driven world- but then you know me, an iconoclast to the hilt) and a breakfast bar is about it. If Marianne is making bacon, well, naturally I’ll have some of that, but really, I’m just not a breakfast guy. Unless we’re on a Road Trip.
If it’s Road Trip Time, I’m a breakfast-o-holic. Our usual deal is to hit the road at O’Dark-Thirty, and about an hour or so down the road, pull in and get some eats. As a creature of habit, for me it’s always the same thing. Pancakes. Unless there’s Waffles. Then either sausage (only if it’s link sausage in the casing, don’t give me those patties!) or bacon, lots of maple syrup and butter and a cup of hot chocolate. I tell ya, nothing beats good flapjacks in setting up the day for a long drive. Ya got yer protein from the porky goodness, carbs from the pancakes, sugar from the syrup (hopefully but rarely is it REAL maple syrup) and maybe blueberries for some fruit. What more can you ask for?
Now every one has their own favorites to get the day going and I’m not about to try and break you of your favorite day starter. It is perhaps the most personal food choice you can make. Some people love eggs. Me, I’m not an egg fan. Put it down to my Mom making Christmas ornaments out of whole egg shells and me having to eat scrambled eggs every morning for what seemed like months. Still, lots of you love ‘em and your choices are endless. Hell, that greatest of all French cookbooks, Larousse Gastronomique lists some 250 or so different ways to do eggs, and that’s not including omelet variations! Eggs are a very personal choice and people are exceptionally particular about having them perfect and their way. I get that. Then there’s the SoCal invention, the Breakfast Burrito. Again, very personal choice as to what it should contain. A Talmudic Debate can arise just bringing up the topic.
The point of all this is to give you our Top Spots for Breakfast On the Road. These are the non-corporate, locally owned, mom and pop diners that once were the staple of Road Trip Life. These are the places that sustained generations of Fellow Travelers, both professional and recreational. There was an old saw about “Eat Where the Truck Drivers Eat.” Once I think that was true, but usually it meant that the food was cheap and plentiful, not necessarily good. Today, most truckers still prefer that (it’s coming out of their pocket and their profits after all) and the Mega Eateries know this and cater to it. It’s just not that good a guide any more. In unfamiliar territory, it is a good indicator if there are a lot of cars in the parking lot that look local. Locals know and support places that are good. Places that give good value and good food. So, in unfamiliar territory, let that be your guide.
This list is just the tip of the iceberg of course. It’s not definitive and best of all, it’s local. All of them are within an hour’s drive from Monrovia.
1) LeRoys. 523 W Huntington Dr, Monrovia, California (626) 357-5076 · leroysrestaurant.com. This place is on old Route 66 and is in our backyard. It’s a serious diner that is open only for breakfast and lunch. It’s almost always crowded, and prepare for a long wait on Saturday and Sunday mornings. It’s also terrific!!!! Pancakes that flop over the edge of a dinner plate, good bacon, good sausage and a great staff. It’s been an institution for decades here in town. In fact, as I’m writing this, I’m in a bit of a rush because I’m meeting my sister Sue and her husband Rog there for breakfast this morning!
2) Worker Bee Cafe 973 Linden Avenue, Carpinteria, CA. (805) 745-1828 Dear Constant Readers and you who have my book will have heard of this place. It’s one of our favorites and a must stop if we were headed north on 101. The couple who run it are wonderful. He cooks, she wait’s tables. He’ll come out to chat and the locals all give him guff and he gives it back. The waffles are quite good and again the place is crowded. The decor is wonderfully kitschy, filled with Bee Themed Stuff. As it should. Like all good diners, they also cater to families and will bring out a bucket of small toys for kids to fool with while they wait for the food. As with LeRoys, they only do breakfast and lunch.
3)Summit Inn Restaurant, 5970 Mariposa Rd, Hesperia, California, (760) 949-8688. This is another classic Route 66 Diner. One of the originals and one of the few real one’s left. Get there NOW because there are new owners and it seems a bit up in the air if they will keep it open. That would be tragic. This place is right at the top of Cajon Pass and is perfect if you are headed east. The staff are what you’d want. They call you “Hon” and serve up good food with a smile and some conversation. This place is open for dinner and serves exotica like buffalo and ostrich burgers. Seriously, make a stop there and SAVE THE SUMMIT!!!
4) Bun Boy 1890 West Main Street, Barstow, CA,(760) 256-8082. OK, Barstow is more than an hour away, but this place is another classic Route 66 spot. It’s pretty far off the interstate, but why the heck are you on the interstate in the first place? If you take Route 66 from Victorville, it’s just as you get into Barstow. There’s a huge parking lot from the days when the trucks rolled by and the food is great! Truly homemade everything, and all the funky decor that you’d expect.
So, there’s four places to start with. Please support your local diners so we won’t be reduced to McJackKing slop as our only choice. Try ‘em all, and if you have one to add to the list, let me know at steve@theacemagazine.com. Good Eating, and Good Road Trippin’ to ya!

Road Trippin’
with Steve McCarthy

OK, Ladies, this one’s for you. Your husband buys you a new car! Your dream car! Then he spends the next seven years and something like $75,000 making a few “improvements." Raise your hands if this sounds at all familiar. Wow, there’s a Big Surprise. Look at all those hands in the air! Hmmmm, my wife,Marianne, is leading the charge. Uh, oh.
No, I didn’t spend $75k on the Mustang (or the Blue Meanie, I think, I’m not sure, I don’t keep track of that stuff, too scary!) I did add a few touches after the unfortunate incident with the Camry that crossed our bows sideways on the I-5 in the OC. No, the King of All Tinkerers with the Wife’s Car, the Champion of Making Just a Few Improvements, the Sultan of Swaps is Louis Mattar. This guy is a Hero for all of us.
Yep, in 1947, he bought his wife a new Caddy. Over the next seven years, he made a few improvements. SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND 1950s DOLLARS worth of tweaks and swaps and fiddling. And yes, his wife loved it, shared in it and stayed married to him. Like I said, a Hero!
So what did he do? If you go to Balboa Park in San Diggy, hit the neat little car museum. Mattar lived in DayGo and instead of the Smithsonian, his wife’s Pride and Joy sits there. Ya see, this car is the Ultimate Road Trip Car. Mattar set records that will never be broken. From September 20th to the 27th of 1952, he and two other guys drove non-stop to New York. And Back. 6320 MILES WITHOUT STOPPING!!! Literally. In Kansas City, Camden, NJ, and Omaha, they drove onto small airports where a moving gas truck drove along side to fuel up the 230 gallon gas tank on the trailer they were towing.
Not satisfied with that, His second run in August of ’54 took him from Anchorage, Alaska to Mexico City, also non-stop, and 7,482 miles. That’s in a world without the Dreaded Interstate. Mostly a world of two lane blacktop, and not a few dirt roads, especially on the AlCan Highway and in Mexico.
No, lest you think that this was just a car towing a huge gas tank trailer, let me enlighten you about the rest of the modifications. The car can automatically change it’s own oil and refill the radiator. The tires can be automatically inflated as the car drives. In fact, using the catwalks added all around, two guys can change a tire while the car is moving at about 25 mph. Behind the rear seats is a vanity mirror. the arm rest folds down to either support an ironing board or a hot dog cooker. Under one rear seat is either a small washing machine, or, remove that and you have a potty. there is fresh water (30 gallons worth in the trailer, and 50 gallons in the trunk!) and a drinking fountain tap under one tail light. The radio antenna is replaced by a shower. The car has two TV’s and an in car telephone-1950’s, remember? This was really far out stuff then! The list goes on. The whole rig weighs in at 8500 pounds or so. And not a computer in sight!
Get yourself down to San Diego and check this thing out. Words and pictures hardly suffice to convey the whole story. Good Ol’ Youtube naturally has footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT8azxnVAC4--it’ It’s a bit long, and at times a bit hokey, but still, it’s fascinating! In particular, watch ‘em change a tire on the run with no safety harnesses, no helmets, just doing it! Can you even imagine trying this in today’s world of hyper safety and the nanny state?
So, to usher in this Possibly Apocalyptic Year of 2012, I offer Louis Mattar as the second in our Road Trippin’ Pantheon of Immortals, right up there beside Horatio Nelson Jackson, the first Road Tripper. Let these two inspire you to Hit the Road! Who knows if you’ll have another chance?

Road Trippin'
with Steve McCarthy

To GPS or not GPS?

That is indeed a question. Is it nobler to bear the slings and arrows of a map or to arm oneself with something more modern? OK, enough of paraphrasing Hamlet. It's too easy. It IS coming on the season of gift giving bacchanalia, and tech toys are a staple. GPS has been around for a while, so many of the bugs are worked out. Or are they?
First, GPS, like every other bit of techno-wizardry is a TOOL! Nothing more,nothing less. If it can't do the job, no matter how glitzy and sexy it might be, why bother. Now anyone who knows me will tell you that I am more than a bit of a neo-luddite. I got a 'pooter when they began to address my needs. I still don't have a cell phone. I'm about as anti-tech-for-tech-sake as a guy can be in this ever technological age. Hell, I drive a TR3 ferchissake! I don't even have electronic ignition! So who better to give you the skinny on GPS?
OK, I bought one. The day before our massive 4600 mile road trip that you've been reading about for the past few months. I got a Garmin on the advice of several more tech literate friends. The nuvi 1450 was pretty highly rated on several websites, so, after hunting one down (took several stores to find just that one) I got one at Radio Shack. I did not get the one with lifetime maps, figuring that we'll use it mostly on road trips on back roads, their not making any more of them, so who needs the updates. IF however, you need one because you regularly do deliveries, or are a chauffeur, you might think seriously about the extra hundred bucks or so that life time map upgrades will cost you. Think about your needs, then get the one that fits. Bragging rights are lame and expensive. This is not then a side by side comparison, it's just six months of living with the thing, using it on road trips and around town.
First, yes, it is a useful tool in many ways. Second, it does have serious limitations for Road Trippers. Let's address the positives first. Probably the number one feature that is helpful is hitting the "Home" button if you are in really unfamiliar territory and got yourself turned around. No matter how turned around you are, it will at least get you to major roads and you can reset from there. Second, IF you take the time to program in your route, it is easier than reading a map in a bouncing car. the Garmin has a feature that can call up the next several turnings so you can see what's next and what's next after that. Third, it gives you plenty of notice as to when you'll be turning, unlike some navigators I've driven with ("Hey, turn HERE!" and having that notice makes things a lit easier. By the way, Marianne is NOT one of those, she gives great directions in plenty of time. Usually. Like all people, myself included, she sometimes goofs. Rarely, but stuff sometimes happens. Next, it's pretty handy for finding restaurants and motels. We were really grateful for this on this summer's trip when when we were finally rolling into Grand Junction and needed some eats and a place to sleep. Between the GPS and the AAA guide, we were satisfied on both counts. Lastly, the extra bells and whistles are kinda fun. You're not limited to the one annoying voice that sounds so perturbed when you don't do what it wants you to do "reCALculating..." or the same icon that follows the road. Several are down loadable from the Garmin website as well as fun voices you can get form places like www.pigtones.com. I now have "Sean Connery" telling me that he was "just out walking my rat and got lost..." and randomly asking me if I expect him to talk. I also got Yoda and Clint Eastwood. The five inch touch screen is pretty easy to use (don't bother getting anything smaller, they are worthless!) and the constant orientation that follows the road is a good idea. The trip info is good and you can add a panel to the display that gives you a variety of info, such as direction of travel, elevation, time, speed (and local speed limit!), time and mile to destination, arrival time and others. These are customizable to your needs. Pretty cool. Another useful tool is the traffic link. Around LA, it will tell you in close to real time if there is bad traffic up ahead, and where it is. It's not infallible, but more useful than "Traffic on the fives" which never seem to address the problems where YOU happen to be. Especially if it involves the San Gabriel Valley. It's like we don't exist. but I digress.
The so-so features are few. The trip info is useful in knowing how far you've gone but setting up your mileage and the "Eco Challenge" are pretty useless. Since the thing is not directly hooked into your car's computer, you have to set what you think is your average mileage and the price of gas. Since both of these things vary so much, it's only a mere approximation. The Eco Challenge also will track your driving habits on a rather arbitrary graph. Allegedly, it factors in your speed, braking and acceleration to give you a score. It seems to me that this score is heavily influenced by your speed and minimally by the other two. It has no way of knowing what gear you are in and how many revs you are turning. A blast up a mountain road at 40mph but in second gear at high revs will get you a better score than 55mph in fifth on the freeway. The other so-so thing is mounting it somewhere. California Law dictates that you can only mount them in either lower corner of the windshield. Not always the most useful place, especially if you are relying on a navigator. You both need to see it. Mounting on the dashboard is an impossibility in many cars, and on most, dangerous. It would seem that just above the glove box, slightly to the left of the passenger would be good. Just where the airbag will deploy, making the GPS a lethal missile. Not such a good idea that.
So, what are the down sides? The thing has way too many languages. Sure, Garmin is global, but do they really need Basque (and not Gaelic!) and Slovenian? Some are just annoying, like the British lady who always sounds inconvenienced when she is forced to recalculate because of your incompetence. The other bad thing is the Bad Traffic Avoidance function. Just turn it off. It seems to over react to any slow down, and wants to send you on the most round about way to get somewhere. Seriously, in testing this, it took me almost an hour longer to get to Monrovia from Long Beach to avoid a ten minute slow down. Naturally, the default is sending you down the Dreaded Interstate when ever possible. To set up a backroads drive, you have to set several via points to force it to take the route you want. If you take the time to set all this up, It does an OK job, but you still need a map and an idea of where you want to go. On more than one occasion, the poor thing was just overwhelmed and wanted us to go places we couldn't. "In 400 feet, turn right" which would have sent us over a cliff. Yeah, it's entertaining, but...
The WORST thing about GPS however is the tendency to send you down a road you really shouldn't be on. This probably doesn't apply to us Veteran Road Trippers as much, hell, we WANT to drive the weird twisty roads. But Justin and Madison Average in their minivan loaded with their 2.2 kids, the labrador, and the giant stroller probably shouldn't drive on some of these roads. Case in point. In heading south on the 101 from San Luis Obispo, the damn thing will want you to go over Hwy 154 and San Marcos Pass. this will cut the Gaviota Corner on the 101. Now I like 154. It's a pretty neat road, but not for Mr & Ms. Average. It's even worse for truck drivers. The guy who took his car-carrier rig over Angeles Crest and lost his brakes in La Canada, killing a couple of folks took that route on the advice of his GPS.
My point is you have to bloody well THINK. All the technojazzystuff in the world will not replace that most uncommon of all things, Common Sense. You really do need a map and a brain to Road Trip. You really need a brain and the ability to use it and think for yourself. Should you ask Santa for a GPS? Sure, they have their uses. Just don't turn off your grey matter. So, (delivered in a somewhat Scottish/Connery accent) "Drive your so called car to the route I've highlighted, God I miss the Aston Martin DB-5!"