MAR 18, 17 .. NEEDLES CALIFORNA

Back, I mean WAY BACK, in early August of 1958 ..

YES, nineteen fifty EIGHT ..

YES, fifty-eight (58) years ago ‘and counting’..

I was age 21 and an enlisted member of the United States Marine Corps with a newly-wed wife (Bev and I were married on August 2, 1958) and we two were driving across the country from Westfield New York (right red balloon) to Marine Corps Base Camp Joseph H. Pendleton (left red balloon) in Southern California.

Talk about the song Moon River.

Two drifters, off to see the world, there’s such a lot of world to see !! 

In 1958, the way to drive from Westfield New York to Southern California, and all of its environs, was to drive from Westfield to St. Louis Missouri and then get onto the legendary highway ROUTE 66.

Lord God in Heaven Above.

On 2-lane roads in August it was a long and a hot drive. In 1958, it was not all that unusual for one’s automobile to NOT have air conditioning. Our auto did not have A / C. 

When Bev and I arrived into Needles, and I will never forget this, it was sometime around 2AM, it was HOT as unholy hell. We two probably stopped for a minute or two or three to attempt to cool off just a little and on we went, headed in the relative cool-of-the-night, for our next stopping point, Barstow California.

That was it for Needles California on a hot night in August of 1958.

Yet, that being said, to be back again in Needles is still somewhat of a Sentimental Journey. I will never ever forget that drive. We were under a time deadline as I had to report for duty to Camp Pendleton thus we could not lolly-gaggle along enjoying the drive.

What a challenging ‘honeymoon’ that drive was! What a way to begin a marriage!

This being a-program-of-honesty, life with yours truly can be, and has been, a real challenge. I wonder if poor Bev ever totally recovered from that ‘honeymoon’ drive and all of the life-changing events (including the birth of our first son one year later) that followed as I led the life of an enlisted U.S. Marine in the months / years to follow.

There are somewhere in the neighborhood of just under 5,000 people living here in Needles. I don’t know whether or not that number includes ‘snow birds’ who own a residence here in Needles and spend a few lovely, sunny, warm months a year here, escaping the challenging winter months up in the Northern tier states and Canadian Provinces.

In the following two maps, you can see the general location of Needles (red balloon).

We drove down here from Laughlin Nevada yesterday to spend a few nights here in Needles while visiting our good friend Michael in Lake Havasu City Arizona.

Can any one of you surmise that I absolutely love the famous Welcome To Needles display?

I also love the below, Welcome To Needles, monument.

“Ah Captain, could it be that, for reasons completely unknown to God and to mankind, you just love Needles California?”

Don’t you just love it! NAT! Needles Area Transit.

Looking past the above sign we see the below closeup ..

The historic ROUTE 66 and the old Needles railway station.

Below is a closeup of the sign in the distance above.

Historic ROUTE 66 is a big deal here in Needles and all along ROUTE 66.

I feel, deep in my heart, a sadness for Needles. It seems that time, and our fast paced civilization, have sort of, to some degree, bypassed Needles.

It looks like time, and our fast paced civilization, at least here in Needles, have also by-passed JC Penney’s as well.

Do all of you? Do any of you? Get it?

Needles California is just emblematic for me. I, your very own Captain, am feeling very much like life, and our fast paced civilization, are passing yours truly by!

Oh Yes! Yes Indeed! McDonald’s is here in Needles. In fact McDonald’s is very much alive, and doing very well! Thank You Very Much.

Ahhhhh Yes! On a blazing hot Needles afternoon, a tall Arnold Palmer (Iced Tea / Lemonade) and a Shamrock Milkshake hit-the-spot!

Who, I ask you? Give the two-of-us a break! Who on this good Earth ever has just-one-drink?

Why are we staying in Needles? Why not stay in Lake Havasu City Arizona where our pal Michael lives?

Our Pal Michael with the gigantic, with the humongous, with the phenomenal, computer layout. Look at the rest of the room furniture to get a true feeling of how large Michael’s computer screen is!

In the above photo, in the extreme left corner of the room, you can see an even larger computer screen that Michael is about to put-on-line using a new computer with a far larger capacity than his present one.

In the above photo, the small screen between the two gigantic screens, is like what most of us ‘earthlings’ use.

Below, on Michael’s computer’s gigantic screen, is a photo of Nachos at Harrah’s from one of my Trip Advisor Posts. I mean come on now? Do Patti and I have some high-tech-savvy friends? You betcha!

I guess (I can’t speak for Patti) I just wanted to commune with Needles.

While we two were staying in Needles, we were told by our good friend Michael in Havasu City Arizona that we should not miss paying a visit to the old, ghost, gold-mining town, of Oatman Arizona that flourished from 1915 to 1924.

Thank You Priceline for yet another great motel here in Needles.

The next two photos below show something that deeply touched my heart.

There is just so much pride and caring and love shown in the presentation of our bath mat and wash cloth.

The cost of our room with blazing fast Wifi? Thirty buckaroos ($30) a night.

Well friends and sports fans, for now, this will have to be it for Needles and for this Post.

Sign us as ..

Cap and Patti

• ← MAR 11, 17 .. OUR TRAVEL PLANS FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS ..
• MAR 23, 17 .. WE ARE NOW IN FLAGSTAFF, NORTHERN ARIZONA →