A ridiculously early start allowed us to be on the world famous pier for 6am. It was the end of Route 66 for most but the beginning for us, so with numerous photos and video taken to record the start of this once in a lifetime adventure we prepared to embark. The Brickster chose to be vehicle DJ for the first leg of the days drive, choosing Slade's Gudbye to Jane as the beginning of our trip soundtrack. I could'nt think of a more perfect accompaniment to our start. He had obviously spent a lot of time thinking what the first track should be and I was already looking forward to what was going to be served up next. It was going to be perfect!

I started the engine, engaged Drive and slipped into the rush hour traffic of a disappointingly overcast Santa Monica. We really were on our way and both of us had tears of joy, expectation, pride and fear in our eyes. Twelve years of planning was finally happening. The drive through L.A. was uneventful with the continual changing of lanes fast becoming a challenge to the concentration, particularly as DJ Brickey Brick was serving up some stonking sounds. My passenger soon identified an 'Historic Route 66' road sign and to the sound of China Girl by David Bowie we ventured onto the off ramp, cutting across 5 lanes of concrete and causing a Buick Regal a degree of difficulty in doing so, and headed for 'America's Mainstreet'.

At the bottom of the off ramp there were no road signs so we were immediately lost! We decided to take a punt, turned left and pulled into a 'gas' station. We took on board some coffee, water and Pringles for the day ahead and pulled back onto what we now knew was the right road and headed east. We followed 66 through Fontana, passed a quaint Wigwam motel and quickly realised that Route 66 suddenly petered out.

We identified that we could pick up the route just before Barstow but this involved driving through Waterman Canyon, a drive of hairpin bends, sheer sided drops and beautiful scenery. To someone who was not comfortable with heights I did not enjoy this but relaxed when we reached the top. Ade chuckled himself silly by playing encouraging music such as 'Jump' by Van Halen and 'Down Down ' by the Quo.

We picked up 66 again at Barstow where we decided to stop for lunch at Peggy Sues Diner a 50's style burger and shake joint. By the look of the waitresses it appeared that many of them had been working since it originally opened but the quality burgers on offer more than made up for the grey pony tails and varicose veined bobby sox.

Onwards then towards Vegas, this time with Mr Brick at the helm and yours truly supplying quality audio. We stopped briefly at a place called Amboy where we took pics of the deserted town in temperatures of 112 degrees heat. For several miles we had been shadowing a rail track that offered trains of 130 plus carriages so we felt it important to wait at an appropriate crossroads and use the universal tug sign encouraging the driver to toot his whistle. He surely obliged and we were proud little boys. To the sound of Boney M singing about Rasputin we headed for Needles and then onto Vegas.

Here we discovered our hotel, The Terribles Hotel, upon which we discovered it was soon going to be called something else as new owners were now in charge. Great! We had decided to meet up with City Hot Shot Martine Carry who was in town and would be joining us for the next few days as his wife had decided that he was allowed out for a while, and headed down to a local bar whereupon we discovered it was the weekly Surf Nazi night with several showcase bands on show.

We decided that to 'hang ten' for a while as we really wanted some beer and were pleased to discover that Ray Stevens, singer of the 70's hit 'The Streak!' was at the bar. He was happy to take a picture of the three of us whilst we congratulated him on his one hit wonder. Back to the hotel for a nightcap and it was the end of day 2.