To see the previous posts from this cross-country trip, click here Land Trips | Cruising “C Ghost”
Throughout our entire trip, which as of this morning included 7 states, the price of gas varied very little, ranging from $4.50 – $4.79 per gallon. That all changed today the instant we crossed into California. When we did need to stop for gas, we found the price had jumped by nearly $2 per gallon! (featured photo). This is obviously not because of a shortage of gas, otherwise we would’ve seen big increases in the other states as well. Thankfully we have only one more leg of the trip to go.
Once we got out of Phoenix this morning, the next 200 miles on Interstate 10 toward Los Angeles were mostly desert. There were few services, no rest stops, and very little cell signal coverage. The one place we were able to stop for lunch and gas was a tiny place called Chiriaco Summit. It had a nice little breakfast/lunch cafe and a snack shop. The staff lived in trailers behind the building.
In addition to the cafe, Chiriaco Sumit featured a totally unexpected surprise – a museum for General George Patton. We had plenty of time, so we decided to stop in (it was right next to the cafe).
The inside had some great story boards of Patton’s life and a large number of artifacts once belonging to him. It also chronicled the history of both World Wars with a collection of all the different uniforms and weaponry in use during those times.
Outside the building was a collection of tanks used in WWII with several of them designed by Patton himself. There were also jeeps, fire engines and supply trucks, all of them having seen action in the war.
It was a great museum! Why it is located in the middle of the desert, 100 miles from nothing in every direction, we have no idea. The museum itself left only one possible explanation – Patton took to training his troops in this part of the California desert since it was very similar to the climate and ground conditions in North Africa.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, and we made it safely into Burbank California (on the northeast end of Los Angeles). We decided to stay here tomorrow both for a rest day and to do some touring. Should have some good pictures for tomorrow’s post.