Sunday, November 1st, 2009
I made it!
the Route 66 shield at Cadiz Summit, CA
It was late at night, after over 11 hours of driving, when I finally arrived at the corner of Lincoln and Olympic in Santa Monica: the official end of Route 66. I had read that the end was sort of underwhelming and indeed it was. Most people move onto Palisades Park at Santa Monica Blvd. and Ocean Ave. where there is a Will Rogers plaque, which is a more symbolic – and more photogenic – place to end the journey. I did drive on to the park but it was impossible to find parking with the trailer, and my friend and LA hostess Melody was waiting for me at her home… so I continued past the park and the monument, turned off the time lapse camera, put away the EZ Guide that I had been following religiously for the past five and a half weeks, programmed Melody’s address into the GPS, and drove on.
I have to admit that the end of the road came with a mixture of sadness and relief. Without my singular goal and daily rhythm of drive-camp-eat-blog-email-backup files-sleep-repeat so clearly marked out for me, I was hit with a wave of emptiness and fear: what next?! At the same time, I can’t tell you how good it felt to put the map book and the time lapse camera away, and be able to drive whatever route I choose and without the pressure of documenting it as accurately as possible. As it was, I was already struggling with the reality that I ended the trip in Los Angeles at night time, something I have rigorously avoided doing the whole trip, for the sake of the time lapse document. But, I figured, it’s LA, glamour and lights and all that – and ending the trip at night time might be a sort of fitting and neat end. If it looks bad when I do test sequence with the images, I’ll just have to re-shoot it. At any rate, the release of that particular tether was definitely a relief.
I know I am going to be processing this journey for some time, and I don’t just mean the films. I know, it wasn’t a radical vision quest in some remote land, it was just driving Route 66 across America… but this trip was indeed life-altering for me. At the start, this was just going to be a great road trip where I would get to see what was left along this famous highway and to document it photographically. Because I lost my full-time job, I finally had the time to be able to do just that – to learn about the Route and to personally witness its deterioration and its restoration. But somehow along the way, it grew into a much larger journey about my own personal growth. Being alone on the road for so long, camping in unlikely places, experiencing random encounters with people I met, having strangers connect with me on the blog and getting attention from the media because I turned the lemons of job loss into a lemonade of adventure… it all brought me so much more than I ever imagined possible.
For one thing, I feel more confident. I can feel it in the way I walk, my comfort in my own skin and body – I find that odd, but it’s palpable. I realize that I am capable of more than I thought I was. The first few times I parked in a parking lot and put the trailer up, I can’t tell you how exposed and vulnerable I felt. It felt like there was a big sign with an arrow pointing to my trailer reading, “woman traveling alone HERE!”, and I just hated it. But after almost six weeks living in that little mobile space, I can’t believe how used to it I have become. A big part of me just wants to keep driving.
I’m also quite shocked by the blog. I fully realize it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it was just intended as a place for me to share my personal observations and experiences as well as some info and photos of the road with anyone who cared to read. I expected mostly just my friends to follow along. The fact that total strangers have written me and thanked me for doing what I am doing – and have given me money to help do it! – quite simply blows my mind. I’m just doing what I love to do most: explore and share what I see, through photos and now, through written word as well. The fact that people enjoy it, get inspired by it and want to support my doing it lends some credibility to the whole notion of “follow your heart , just do what you love most, and good things will happen”, etc. One thing I know is true from this: you can’t predict what’s going to happen. Don’t try to look into the future and say what will be if you take an action – you don’t know, and I am living proof. I don’t know what is next for me, but I know already that I have received so much more than I ever imagined possible from this trip. So if you have an inkling, some crazy idea of something you really want to do – just DO IT, if at all possible. You never know what will happen if you do – you can much better predict what will happen if you DON’T. Listen to your heart and stretch your comfort zone. You’ll be so glad you did.
A big lesson for me was learning to accept contribution from others (and I am still working on that). I was always someone who did everything for herself and rarely asked for help. This trip has shown me that people generally WANT to help! And, it’s allowed me to begin to accept that what I do has value to others, and to accept their willingness to contribute to me and what I am up to. This is huge.
What’s more, I now believe that really: people just want to connect to others. This is so cheesy-sounding, but no matter who it is or how different you may think someone is from you, we really are all the same and we just want to feel connected to others. I truly can’t believe some of the conversations and connections I’ve experienced along the road, with people I never would have encountered in my daily life before. Along the same lines, I think we’re too scared. Sure, there were times where I felt vulnerable and scared, of course… but so far, no one has threatened me and people have been looking out for me more than they have been looking out to get me. (In fact, the only place I experienced really negative energy from people in the last six weeks has been here, on my own blog – from people reading in the safety and privacy of their own homes – and not out here on the road, where it’s supposed to be scary.)
So although I’ve finished driving Route 66, I’m not at all done sharing what I saw and experienced. You still haven’t met Mike the homeless guy at the Two Guns ghost town, Ed the beekeeper in Needles, or the Navajo-speaking Mexican at the post office in Holbrook. I have photos and notes up the yin-yang, and I’m going to keep writing, so please keep reading. And anyway: I still have to drive home!
Melody above her Route 66(z) shield
After my quiet arrival in Santa Monica, my friend Melody made up for the anti-climactic end of the road. Not only did she have “Congratulations!” balloons waiting for me; she had made a “Route 66” shield out of white tape on the road in front of her house with an arrow pointing to her driveway, where a large “FINISH” line was also created in tape. Classic Melody. (Actually, the shield said “Route 66 z”, since it was the end / post Route 66 – hence the “z”.)
Speaking of “z”s, I need to get me some. Good night for now.
Stay tuned.
Tags: end, los angeles, melody, santa monica, Time Lapse
November 1st, 2009 at 4:01 am
A friend of mine just emailed me one of your articles from a while back. I read that one a few more. Really enjoy your blog. Thanks
November 1st, 2009 at 7:48 am
Congratulations on reaching your goal. And for remaining wonderfully coherent and insightful after driving 11 hours. I’ve really enjoyed your westbound reporting and I look forward to your return home and to some future return to the road. You asked for “more pavement, please” and I’m betting you find some. Not necessarily Route 66 pavement, although there always seems to be a bit more of that to find, but you show signs of having acquired an addiction that will have you looking for interesting pavement and finding pavement interesting. Thanks for sharing. Well done!
November 1st, 2009 at 7:49 am
Congratulations! I’ve enjoyed following your journey on this blog. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to travel the entire route 66 and now I know. Outstanding job! You did a great job of capturing it with pictures and with words. Your journey was an inspiration to all of us who have a dream. Thank you. I look forward to seeing more.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:35 am
Sandi! You made it! Big hugs and big congratulations! How perfect that you’d have a Melody waiting for you at the end of that long ribbon of road you’ve described so eloquently. And what a nice thought that you ended your journey by driving right into the arms and home of a friend.
Thanks for the wonderful words and the photographs along the way, and the inspiration that’s come from them. You’ve made me smile every day. Staying tuned . . .
November 1st, 2009 at 10:31 am
I know! How about let’s drive down to Tierra del Fuego!
November 1st, 2009 at 11:10 am
[...] whole thing’s worth reading, and about many of her thoughts, I can [...]
November 1st, 2009 at 11:25 am
Very nice. Very Cool. What a great friend you have in Melody! I’m so glad for you having discovered (confirmed) so many good things about yourself. Of course your fine character and abundant talent has always been apparent to your family and friends. Really great to see you so happy.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:02 pm
It’s been so much fun for me personally to check in on you and see how you’re doing daily. I know it’s been a long road and dramatic journey that leaves you feeling satisfied yet unfinished. But that’s what so beautiful about it all. You’re not finished. I actually had some joyful tears for you when I saw what your friend Melody did for you. That’s just so perfect.
I’m so happy to hear that we can still all check in and hear some more adventures of Sandi Wheaton and her journey on route 66. Keep keepin’ us posted! Yippy!!!
November 1st, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I’m so glad you have more to write, Sandi. You are an incredible writer.
I’m sure those who have stuck with your blog relate to you and your adventure in more ways than can be counted. I have two large dogs and live with only them, so they travel where I travel. Fifteen years ago I began working with Michael Cohen, who lives on San Juan Island in Washington State, and his Project NatureConnect. For this reason, my friends are all over the globe, and one of my best friends, Arja-Kaisa, born in Finland but Canadian, lives in Nova Scotia. Had I not decided to stay in the U.S. and do what I could to help Barack Obama make the changes America needs, I was going to sell my condo on San Juan Island and move to Vancouver Island or some area of Southern British Columbia. My great grandparents were Ontario Province Canadian. I think more like a Canadian than I do an American.
When I was considering moving to Canada, I bought a 1986 Winnebago LeSharo. I was heading to Lillooet from Friday Harbor, but my engine began to overheat, so I never got to my destination. I did go through Whistler, where the 2010 Olympics will be, and I spent some time at West Beach on Orcas Island. This was in 2007, and for the past two summers, I have left Pearl, my RV, stored at STAR in Friday Harbor.
I retired from teaching in Los Angeles last February, so I am being frugal with my retirement income. Whereas I was going to join my 1959 high school friends in St. Louis for our 50th reunion, a baby shower for my grandson and his wife and my sister’s wedding, for which I was photographer, put me behind on time for the trip to St. Louis. I will have to go another year. I don’t want to have no fun on the way there.
Everything you write about following your dream is true to what I have found out about life. In Project NatureConnect, we call it ‘following our attractions.’ Nature works on attraction. I’m looking forward to meeting up with you on Friday, Sandi, and going to the wetland, grocery shopping, out to eat, or doing anything that will help to further your dreams.
November 1st, 2009 at 2:41 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by David Dotterer, Chris Wakeford. Chris Wakeford said: more pavement, please | pictureRoute66.com: But somehow along the way, it grew into a much larger journey about.. http://tinyurl.com/ydtbwc2 [...]
November 1st, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Sandi, thanks for sharing your travels, your thoughts, and your beautiful images. Even on our vacation in the Florida Keys I looked forward to your updates. Good luck with this project and hopefully more to come!
Sharon
November 1st, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Sandi,
Congrats! And what a great friend waiting for you. Just a reminder that if you’re heading through St. Louis on your way home – you’re more than welcome to stay! As long as you don’t mind the boys!
Get some rest and we look forward to hearing about your trip home and then we anxiously await the photos and stories you have not yet shared!
Maureen
November 1st, 2009 at 4:50 pm
I am moved to tears by who you are and your integrity and gumption . You did what you said you would do. Congratulations.
Give yourself a standing ovation babe!
November 1st, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Yeah!!!! I’m so freakin proud of you!!!
November 1st, 2009 at 4:58 pm
( If you have a few mornings to putter around Santa Monica ….you must have a breakfast on the boardwalk by the ocean at the “Fig Tree’s Cafe” in Venice beach. It is a sweet 20 minute walk from the Santa Monica pier along the waters edge. )
November 1st, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I’ve enjoyed following along with you on your Route 66 travels, and I’m glad to hear there are more stories to come.
This seemed like such a great way to embrace the change and the journey ahead as you see what life offers after a “downsizing” (one of us here lost an automotive-related job and is back in grad school now, while I’m out online working to reinvent my writing career after having several print clients go under). So many of us on embarking on new journeys, both literal and figurative, and your blog helps capture some of the spirit and an optimism for the journey ahead.
November 1st, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Funny how a bursting of joy for you turns into tears for me.
You are the “Wheaton” of humans.
I am so honored to know one such as you.
Keep soaring little eagle, the best is yet over the horizon.
P.S.
Melody is a really great friend.
November 1st, 2009 at 5:50 pm
So proud of you! And what comes after the “end of the road?” Can’t wait to see!
November 1st, 2009 at 5:56 pm
This blog was especially interesting to us as we were just talking this morning about how life altering this experience will be for you. I don’t think you know the half of it yet. I think you will look at everything differently from now on. What a growth experience for you! The fact you accomplished this, and it was no mean feat, does not surprise me at all. I don’t know why I was so worried when you first talked about it, although I don’t think I showed my worry to you. What a great group of friends and acquaintances you have made, both in person and via the blog. It was so pleasing to see the vast majority of readers were with you, with very few negative comments. Human nature is mostly good. Nice to know that.
November 1st, 2009 at 6:48 pm
We were especially interested in this entry as just this morning we were talking about what a life altering experience this will be for you. You probably don’t know the half of it yet. No doubt you will look at everything differently from now on. What a growth experience! I am not at all surprised at your accomplishment, which was no mean feat. I don’t know why I was so worried when you first talked of doing this. It’s wonderful that you have made so many friends and accquaintances through this blog, and hardly any negative comments! Human nature is mostly good. Nice to know.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Great job following your heart and making the trip on Route 66, et al. I know that feeling you get when your at the end of the road, or the completion of a long trip. That’s your mind telling you that your going to take away an awful lot of memories, or as your fellow frostback Paul Anka said ‘memories or times that your borrow, for use in your tomorrows’. Now you can get on with the rest of your life with a whole set of new things to do. And, I’ll bet, someday you’ll pack up and hit Route 66 again. This time to check out the validity of those long ago days on the road.
Your story is very unique, yet reminded me some of the Steve Vaught journey a few years ago. Vaught walked across the country, east from San Diego, CA to New York City. He did it for many reasons, mostly to find himself. It took him about a year with many stops and starts. But he did it. He has never really come to terms, it seems, with his post walk life. The last I heard he was still in San Diego trying to get something going. He still maintains his website ‘fatmanwalking.com’ which I’d recommend you read (if you haven’t yet). He had quite a following during his walk.
Best of luck with your post trip life. Have a good trip back home.
November 1st, 2009 at 11:12 pm
“What a long strange trip it’s been” (Jerry Garcia)
Congratulations Sandi !
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:04 am
I’m raising a glass to a whole lot of “whew”…welcome to the club and I can’t wait to see everything as you get it sorted, processed, and published. Cheers!
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Sandi,
Iv’e been following you since you left Missouri.( My grandmother owed the U Drop Inn at Shamrock, TX) My wife and I just missed seeing you at the Big Texan in Amarillo. Glad you made it! I will keep you bookmarked and check in to see the pictures and the video. Once again congrats and glad you made it.
Denver and Diana
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Congrats on the safe arrival at the “end of the road”. Love the posts, looking forward to the end result. You could always look into a north-south route (US 41 Keweenaw to Florida) if you feel too much moss gathering….
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Beyond more pavement, please, I would be interested to hear of any further debrief of your Route 66 trip Sandi and how you complete on the accomplishment and any conclusions you make or that arise over the next little while.
Will you be continue to blog here about such things?
November 2nd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
You made it & that’s just great. You proved yourself & not much bothered you.
Congratulations & I wish you good luck in your return home.
Again, don’t hesitate to email me if some technical question arise.
Take care.
Gaetan (Uncle of Kathy)
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Congratulations and thank you for sharing your experiences on this blog!
My friend and I had driven back from Chicago to LA just 2 months ago in Sept. Your blog sure brought back some good memories of my trip. I wish I had spent more time on the original Rte 66, but unfortunately we only had 9 days to complete it. But still, we were able to visit many of the original Rte 66 sights. Being two petite young women, we were a bit wary of safety and just being out of place, but everywhere we encountered friendly locals who are proud of the Rte 66 history and ready to share it with us!
One of the highlights of my trip was getting to spray paint my name in big white letters at the Cadillac Ranch, and later finding out it made it on the Today Show’s “Where Are We Now?” segment! If you’re interested, they have a video of it at NBC’s website: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/33136551#33136551
I look forward to seeing some more of your pictures from your trip!
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:21 am
i must say that the end for me was very anticlimatic as well … i wanted more, a little sign perhaps, but alas just another random intersection in the urban sprawl … i did go down to the park to see the plaque … even photographed it … to me the road ended in devore, with that little last remaining original slab of concrete 66 running thru an industrial complex …
congrats on a marvelous journey … you have accomplished what few in life will ever try …
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:58 am
Congrats Sandi! What an experience it must have been! Reading your stories and seeing the pictures made me feel as though I was along for the trip. You may have reached your destination, but your journey is far from over. You proved you can do this. You can do anything you want now. Not that anything ever stopped you, but I’m sure your eyes gaze forward with more confidence than ever before.
I was never able to explore Route 66 (yet anyway), but thanks to your adventure and willingness to share your personal experience, I was able to get a great taste through your eyes.
I can’t wait to see what else you have in store!
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:35 pm
It’s easy to be a “good friend to Sandi”
In addition I am also her annoying fan, a faithful patron (Her Joshua Tree prints grace my living room, hall and bathroom) and I have had the privilege and honor to be with her on a shoot in Joshua tree. If I say any more, I would be stepping over the line of friend to annoying fan. So I will just say: Sandi, I am always here in So Cal whenever you need a place to land that is cheaper than parking at a truck stop!
As the balloons said: Congratulations!
November 4th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Rather than trying (and miserably failing) to match the heartfelt eloquence all over this post and your admiring comments section, I’ll just say, Sandi, that you kick ass. You may even be a new personal hero. I’m looking forward to reading whatever else you have to say about this trip and, frankly, any others you care to take. Maybe you’ll even come to Texas sometime!
November 5th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Oh Sandi,
I’m sooooooooo happy for you! And I’m soooooooooooo proud of you! This experience has already paid off for you, but this is only the beginning. You’ve only scratched the surface of what this will lead you to and bring to you. Can’t wait for the book, the documentary film, and/or whatever else this is the start of (Yes, I know I ended with a preposition!). Whoever would have thought that losing your job could be the best thing that happened to you this year? Love you.