So when it comes to hotels out here, AAA is pretty much useless. We had planned to camp in Kingman tonight, because there were really no cheap motels between Barstow and there listed in the Triple A guide. But we ended up spending more time at places than we had expected to, and it was already past 9:30 by the time we arrived in Needles. Since we didn't want to backtrack at the beginning of tomorrow morning to see what we might have missed in the dark tonight if we had kept going to Kingman, we just decided to stop in Needles to see if there was someplace cheap to stay.

The first hotel we entered - displaying a large AAA-recommended sign out front - would have cost $69... even after the clerk offered me every discount she could think of, including ones I clearly didn't qualify for. I told her I was going to try to find something cheaper, but she insisted that $70 was the best we'd do. Still we drove on, and a block later I walked into the "Best Chalet Lodge," where a five-year-old girl was standing on a stool behind the counter, trying to rotate the computer screen so that I could see whatever was on it. Her dad walked out, said hi, and told me that a room would be $27.50.

Of course, I told him it was a shame that I couldn't find a room for less than $70 and explained what the other hotel had told me. He laughed and asked if a short Indian girl had told me that. When I said that it had been a skinny white girl, he realized his mistake. "Oh yeah, Destiny's working tonight." After enjoying my confused expession for a minute, he explained that his motel was owned by the same company that owned the first motel we went into... so of course she knew his prices.

And the room we got wasn't half-bad... a king-size bed, desk, microfridge, cable TV, shower, AC, use of a pool/jacuzzi, and enough empty floor space for about 5 Ultimate players. It was the same we would have gotten anywhere else, only it was $27. But I guess that's the general trend: things closest to the offramp cost more. A Mobile station at the end of the offramp was selling gas for $2.09/gallon, but a block later another Mobile had it for $1.99. And the same trend seems to hold across offramps - places when you just enter the city sell the same products for more than places further in. I guess they just figure you'll buy the first thing you see, so they can charge you more.

We saw more of the "Mother Road Revival" today, especially in Barstow, where everyone seems to be advertising Route 66. But the resurgence there was started almost by accident. Mridu Shandil, who along with her husband owns the Route 66 Motel, told of buying the motel in 1979 without knowing anything about the historic value of the property. Only later did they find out that their hotel was built in 1922, when a picture of the city in the twenties - showing their buildings already constructed - was published in the Barstow centennial celebration magazine. Unfortunately, by that point, the Shandils had already removed parts of the original ceilings and some old television sets. But after seeing the picture, they changed the motel's name to the Route 66 Motel and started seeing an increase in business almost immediately. Without any advertising, there were travelers taking photos of the place the night the sign was changed, about six years ago. Mridu says that at that point they realized the importance of 66 and tried to get the town to advertise that part of its history more, but the town refused. In its mind, Route 66 was dead... and they even tried to knock what is now the Route 66 Motel down because its buildings were so old and they felt it was a blight on the city's landscape. But the Shandils were able to prevent that from happening, though other historic buildings across the street weren't so luck. This, Mridu said, had always made her sad. But her husband Ved was able to raise enough support that a Route 66 Museum could be started in the old train station... and today the town is on the rise again, thanks to Route 66.

Amboy, the town where you'll find Roy's, has a population of 20 and is little more than a few shacks in the desert.

Not all stories of change on the Mother Road are as positive. Many begin the same way... a historic business/establishment is sold because the owner can't afford to keep it, and the new owners that allow the place to continue running don't know as much of the place's history. But not all of the new owners appreciate the history if and when they learn of it; though the building remains, the "spirit" of 66 is gone. Take Roy's in Amboy as an example. It was closed when we arrived, but I spent a few minutes talking to an old man who was sitting outside waiting for AAA (in this sense they definitely aren't useless - he had run out of gas and they were coming to the rescue). He said he's been in Roy's a few times before and that Roy had been a great guy, but the new owners were unfriendly and just out to make a profit. They even charged for a glass of water, he said.

So again... I ask Mr. Knudson if forgetting 66 is REALLY the worst thing that could happen.