Eighth day, June 4: from Victorville to Los Angeles

For me it was perhaps the most exciting day of the entire trip: thinking of going to one of the most mythical cities in the world for music, entertainment, lifestyle; of crossing the mountains behind the city, also famous for the many films shot on winding curves, including the legendary “Duel” by Spielberg. Unfortunately, the road that Stefano had planned to do was closed for work, so we had to make a detour, but anyway it was a beautiful road full of curves. The Angeles Crest is a beautiful street full of curves, you can imagine the difficulty they represented for travelers of the 30s/’40s and beyond. With modern means it makes less impression.

Around 11 o’clock we arrived in Los Angeles, traveling on highways with 6/7 lanes for both directions, with all the cars traveling at the same speed and without the obligation to stay on the right. Stefano had told us that he would take us around Los Angeles by motorcycle, despite not being provided for by the program, and as a first stop he took us to the Griffith Observatory, to have a panoramic view of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, there was a dense haze, typical of the season, which among other things prevented you from seeing the mythical Hollywood sign in large letters. Then we crossed Griffith Park, went to Beverly Hills and finally arrived at Santa Monica Pier, where we took the group photo in front of the End of Route 66 sign (End of the Trail).

At the beginning of the Santa Monica Pier is the restaurant of the Bubba Gump Shrimp chain, clearly inspired by Spielberg’s film “Forrest Gump”, with Tom Hanks. Outside there is a bench with Forrest’s suitcase and the shape of the shoes in which to put your feet for the classic ritual photo, a ritual that I couldn’t escape.

At the end of the tour we went to the Eagle Rider headquarters to return the bikes, we stayed there for a while while the employees checked out for each motorcycle and then with the van they took us to the hotel, the Hilton Los Angeles Airport. In the evening we went to the final evening of the Tour in the local South Bay Customs, buffet dinner, motorcycles and engines on display and excellent band on stage playing blues, rock, country. I had the great honor of receiving the route 66 flag with dedications and signatures of all the Tour participants! The photos below were taken by Chiara, whom I thank for all the photos she sent me, without her I would not have had testimony of some moments. We went back to the hotel and after a beer offered by Chiara, paid for a very expensive price, we went to sleep laughing like crazy!