Day 3: Barstow to Ludlow -- 52 miles
Anurang "Ringtail" Revri cruising through the Mojave.
The desert is full of butterflies, like this one outside the Bagdad Cafe.
Me outside the Bagdad Cafe. We watched the movie of the same name on video the night before. The Bagdad Cafe isn't actually in Bagdad; it's in Newberry Springs. We'll pass Bagdad tomorrow. Once a thriving town, Bagdad is just a wide spot in the road now. This cafe used to be called the Sidewinder. It's been re-named the Bagdad Cafe in honor of the movie that was filmed here a dozen years ago. That movie was named for a real Bagdad Cafe that vanished with the town of Bagdad.
The guest book at the Bagdad Cafe is full of comments from Japanese and European tourists. This one is complaining that the water tower from the movie wasn't there anymore (snif snif). It was a fake water tower, built just for the film.
Our support van parked at the Bagdad Cafe.
A "braze" of Rivendells at the day's second rest stop. We saw more lizards than cars on this stretch of the old road.
A typically "authentic" Route 66 diner. Ludlow hasn't been the same since a quake a few years ago. Notice the semi on the interstate in the background.