The last day of Route 66 travel. It seemed a little surreal but it was finally here. We woke up early, not because of the planes but just because. We cleaned up a bit and then I wanted to take a bike ride. We had hauled the bikes along with us specifically to ride on the bike path on the beach by the ocean. Keith agreed to come with me so off we went. I went slow waiting for Keith to catch up but he never did. I stopped at the top of a small hill and couldn’t see him. I texted to ask if he was ok figuring he just turned around to go back. He had and texted for me to go on. Shortly after that the back brake on my bike broke. I stopped and tried to fix it but to no avail. But I continued on since the front brake still worked and I just wanted to ride. I rode for 9 miles (doesn’t sound very far) and it felt wonderful. I went back and tried again to fix the brakes but still no luck. I will have to fix them when I get home.
We were supposed to meet Bard and Linda at Santa Monica pier at 1 but Keith didn’t want to go so I went alone. He and Joey worked and took naps while I was gone. We all arrived at the same time but they parked on the beach and I parked above it on the street. I walked to meet them and waited on the pier for them to get up to it (Linda walks very slow). It was great fun. The pier is like a mini amusement park with food and rides. I took all the “end of Route 66” signs I could find. This was the real end of this portion of our trip. We walked and talked and people watched. There was a man doing caricatures and I thought that would be a great gift for Keith. Besides I always wanted to have one done. So I sat there and watched my sisters giggle and sneer as he did the drawing. After it was done and I got to see it, I didn’t think it looked a lot like me but there was a resemblence and I knew Keith would like it. Then Barb and I went on the giant ferris wheel that went over the ocean. That was so fun. After we had exhausted the things to see on the pier, we wanted to do a little shopping in Santa Monica. But the places we had gone to shop at before just didn’t seem to be there anymore. So we decided to just go back and meet at Diana’s in a couple of hours.
I went back and picked up Keith and Joey. We decided to take surface streets to Diana’s from then on even though it really made me anxious. Not just because it made us late every day but because the traffic and stop lights were driving me absolutely crazy. Some streets had a stop light every block and you couldn’t make 2 in a row. Coming home wasn’t as bad because the traffic was less but going just about gave me a seizure. We finally got to Diana’s and she had snacks and dinner waiting. AND WINE. We talked and talked and talked. Joey was again a good girl and was even able to go off leash while we were in the back yard. Diana’s food was amazing but I know I gained back whatever weigh I had lost the first 3 weeks of the trip. But I loved talking to everyone. We went back to camp, Joey did her zoomies and we went to bed.
Route 66 end Day 22