 Route 66 is the great example of Americana. Stretching from Chicago to Santa Monica in California, it has been described as both the "Mother Road" and "The Main Street of America", a two-lane ribbon of asphalt that permitted the flow of people, freight and tourists diagonally across the United States from the 1930's to 1970 when it was bypassed by a modern four-lane highway.
Today, Route 66 is a strip of roadway caught in time, a "must do" destination for national and international travelers who wish to recapture the essence of the "real America" as it was in the early to mid 20th century. They are riding motorcycles and driving vintage cars past magnificent scenery, old abandoned mining towns and the travelers' rest stops of another time. They are travel enthusiasts and searchers of American history following the routes of past immigrations heading west.
To the north and to the south of Route 66 as it passes through the Mojave Desert are two great California parks: Joshua Tree National Park (to the south) and Mojave National Preserve (to the north). Both were created by the U.S. Congress through the Desert Protection Act of 1994. Mojave National Preserve includes mountain ranges, Kelso Sand Dunes, Joshua Tree forests, lava tubes, petroglyphs (cow cove images), dry lake beds and is traversed by the "old Mojave Road". Joshua Tree National Park is a Mecca for rock climbers, campers and photographers for it unique monzogranitic boulders and famed Joshua Tree.
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The following photo essay is one man's vision of the section of Route 66 crossing California's piece of the Mojave Desert in the southwestern United States.
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ROAD WARRIORS ON ROUTE 66
Top left: Easy Rider?
Top Right: John Atwell, Joseph Atwell, Daniel Owens, Scott Romaine, Colin Atwell, Joseph Charles Atwell and David Cole, all from England
Center left: Ireland
Center right: Kevin, a long-haul truck driver
Lower Left: An Iranian group on their way to Sedona, Arizona
Lower Right: Carmen and Jerónimo from Extremadura in Spain
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Kevin Wong is a resident of Joshua Tree Town and a noted travel and landscape photographer. His local knowledge and experience of the area around Joshua Tree allows him to plan and lead photographic tours of Route 66 as it passes through the Mojave Desert in California.
For more information on Kevin:
www.mojavedesertexcursions.com |
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