Amboy, or Amgirl?

9:03 pm - PST - Tuesday - 61º F, 23% humidity, wind 7 mph out of north northwest......wonderful sunset.....but where?  And why a second blog post on Tuesday?  Read on.....

We were up a little after 6 am.....I guess we were both excited that Tuesday was moving day....after all we had been sitting in one place, albeit a wonderful, beautiful place.  After finishing my blogpost about Monday I changed clothes and headed outside to finish getting the trailer ready for VW insertion, put the Predator generator away, and stow the solar panels for the first time in 26 days.

By 9 am we had closed up the trailer with the VW once again securely inserted, and were ready to turn over the Detroit Diesel......in a few minutes we were merging on to S-22 eastbound to Salton City and the ARCO Travel Center.

We arrived at the Travel Center where we spent the next hour dumping our black tank, then filling our fresh water tank, and finishing with topping off our 60 gallon propane tank with 32 gallons.  Next it was 6 miles down SR-86 to Red Earth Casino where we took on 97 gallons of Diesel #2 at $2.65/gallon....the best price in the area.  Finally about 10:30 were on our way to our next destination.....the Walmart in Indio off I-10 at the Monroe exit......we needed to restock our pantry and fridge.  From there we continued west on I-10 to SR-62 which took us north through Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley and 29 Palms to Amboy Road, and our eventual destination......Amboy, CA, which is located on the old Route 66, which is now called National Trails Highway.  In 2005 Albert Okura, owner of Juan Pollo, bought Amboy from the Burris family for $425,000, then spent $100,000 in repairs, and is now maintaining this old Route 66 landmark in a state of 'arrested decay'.

We arrived in Amboy around 3 pm......why Amboy you might ask?  Amboy has a special place in my heart, because 9 years ago I passed through this little town while on a 450 mile bicycle trip with my good friend Claude Banker (you can read about that epic bicycle trip here).  At the time the caretaker of Amboy for Mr. Okura, Farrell, was very accommodating to us, and allowed us to pitch our tents over by a row of trees on the property.  When we pulled in Tuesday at 3 pm I walked into the restored diner to ask if we could park the Newell overnight and guess who was there......9 years later.....Farrell, and he directed us to the same exact location for the night......sometimes it's pretty cool when things don't change one single bit.......

The gas station was reopened by Mr. Okura, and these, indeed, are the current prices......just in case you thought you might be paying too much at the pump.....lol.

The old hotel lobby in its mid century splendor preserved just as it looked decades ago.

.....we got the Newell situated in our overnight spot, and then took a 1.5 mile walk along the dirt air strip where small planes occasionally land.......

 Our night camp.....the same spot Claude and I pitched our tents 9 years ago almost to the day....

 Wonderful Amboy sunset

......we sat outside watching the long, long sunset until after 6 pm......I love the long views!

The Verizon broadband is very spotty here in Amboy.....right now I am writing this blogpost on 1 bar of 4G......most of the afternoon we had 1X.......just in case the 4G disappears in the morning I decided to be opportunistic and write about Tuesday on Tuesday night!

Thanks for stopping by!