After taking some time to stretch our legs in historic old town Sacramento we had to hit the road – having two 380 mile days in front of us. We made plans to have dinner at Rusten House in Lancaster with my little sister’s son, Deuce, his wife Gretchen, and their awesome kids Rylee and Ryder. Back in the day there were a few great Mexican food places in the Antelope Valley. When I was very young we’d go to the Taquito Inn on Palmdale Blvd at least once a week. In the spring and summer we’d take my dad’s transistor radio and listen to the Dodger games while we ate. Later the Rusten House and El Toreo took over the top spots of Mexican Restaurants. Deuce and Gretchen like Rusten House so that’s where we went. It was a good pick.
Ryder and Rylee both had birthdays in the past couple of weeks; it was so fun getting to see them. They are great kids with great parents (and a very nice grandma).
I felt terrible about not contacting old high school buddies about our being in town but we got in late, wanted to spend time with the awesome Rutledge crew and had to head out early next morning in order to meet our other commitments. I hope to check in with everyone at the super reunion this fall.
All we had time for was to swing by my old house on the way out of town.
I suppose it’s doing okay given that the house is about 60 years old. I remember when that big old tree was just a sprout. We also had two other trees on the lawn including a beautiful maple on the left side. We also had a beautiful lawn that was my responsibility. I suppose the water crisis in Southern California is the cause for the desert theme of the lawn now. There was a flower box under the bank of windows in the middle and the window on the left was a full length style with some great etched glass on the bottom that turned passing car headlights into delightful bent rectangles. Somewhere along the line someone must have installed central air conditioning because the two enormous swamp coolers on the roof are nowhere to be seen. Apparently they don’t use the pool anymore: it is empty when I look on Google Maps.
We put the peddle to the metal stopping at a nice little diner in Needles, California for lunch. We were chasing a snow storm that had passed through the area a day or two before us. As we got up into the high country of Northern Arizona there were patches of snow on the ground.
We got to Seligman, Arizona before the sun went down so we had some time to walk through town, do some souvenir shopping, and watch some trains. Seligman is the heart of the Route 66 revitalization in Arizona. We love to support this nice little community.
I’ll be capturing many photos like this when we do our Route 66 trip later this Spring
Click on the image below to expand it and get a better view of the residents hanging out.
You can see our hotel – Canyon Lodge – across the street.
Even though train watching wasn’t high on our agenda this trip, I couldn’t resist the opportunity. While Carla shopped I wondered over to the railroad tracks where a long container train was stopped in a siding.
That train sat on the siding all night while trains passed it going both directions.
I could see headlights miles out to the east and had time to set up my shots. Too bad I didn’t remember to go to shutter priority. The trains travel about 70mph through this area. While waiting for the next train I wondered the back streets of town and caught a nicely lit copse of trees.
Carla caught this version of the train I caught above with her iPhone as she was walking over to meet me
