Day 4: Tehachapi to 35 miles from CA/AZ border

Well we had a very nice stay with my aunt Carolone who I just met for the first time. Her place in Tehachapi was beautiful and got to get a good nights rest in a warm bed. After breakfast on the morning of October 2nd, we said our goodbyes and hiy the road. Instead of juming on the quick-paced 58, we drove a nice and winding backroad down into Mojave, curving through the never-ending wind mill fields. After getting to Mojave, it was really apparent that we had found ourselves in the real desert. No more orange orchards or pepper fields for a long time. We finally hit the long-awaited Route 66 in Barstow, but turns out it wasn't much to write home about. We ate some lunch and decided just to get out of Barstow, away from the sprawling row of auto mechanic shops and vacant storefronts. We had to stop once, due to overheating, but were soon back on the road once the car and outside temp had cooled down. It also turned out that a lot of 66 was closed down due to recent bad weather messing up the roads, so we were forced to jump on the 40, sorry truckers! We ended up taking finding a dirt road on the map that went straight up from I-40 to the 66, so we thought we'd check it out. It was only 5.5 miles so we thought it'd be a breeze once we got onto it. The first mile was a smoother drive than parts of the paved 66, but once we turned north for the next 4.5 miles, it turned into bump city! The first couple miles was fine, just had to creep the whole way in 1st gear to crawl over the big ditches cut into the road by water. Well about two and a half miles, the road just turned into a sandy wash. We swerved and threw sand everywhere, while I tried my best to keep an even speed and not to dig into the sand, but we got stuck a few times. Luckily it was easy enough to dig the wheels out and rock the car back into movement. I doubt too many Model A's have off-roaded on that stretch before! We eventually made it to the 66 and continued on, laughing about our experience cutting through the sand with narrow tires (although we did air-down a little to make them somewhat wider.) That night we set up our tents and camped out in the desert behind a rest stop, no one seemed to notice or care. Went to bed that night knowing we were only 35 miles from Arizona. I felt like after all of that driving, we were going to be in another country, with how slow our pace is. It's a nice change from the hustle most people have to get from A to B.
Below is a picture of Wally, Caroline's Whippet, warming up my pillow.

Wally, Caroline's Whippet, warming up my pillow!

Caroline and I, before we took off in the morning.

An old station in Barstow.

Our crazy dirt/sand road adventure!

Getting stuck in some sand, easy fix...

Overheating on the 66.

Old station on the 66.