Googie wonderland: Fontana, California's Butterfly Car Dealership

While we're still in this Route 66 Rialto-Fontana, California neck of the woods, I would be remiss if I didn't include another awesome eccentric road sight right nearby. I'm no authority on Googie architecture, but I do believe the above structure is called a butterfly. And a beautiful butterfly at that, with a deep neon "V" cleaving the front of the place right down the middle. If you're above a certain height, I imagine you have to tilt your head to one side if you're standing in the center of the room. How appropriate, too, that this is a car dealership as cars, California and Googie go together like butterflies, butterfly nets and something else having to do with butterflies.

A 'Wam Welcome: Rialto, California's Wigwam Motel

One of the true icons of old-fashioned roadside travel are the wigwam motels found in the south and southwestern USA. The brainchild of a Mr. Frank Redford, a total of seven wigwam village motels were built, beginning with his group of teepee-shaped cabins arranged in a court near Horse City, Kentucky in 1937. Today three well-preserved villages remain open for business in Cave City, Kentucky, Holbrook, Arizona and Rialto, California. We were lucky enough to pass by Rialto's Route 66 location on a spectacularly sunny day last January. This is what eccentric roadtrips are all about: blue skies, the old highway, and a motor court full of 52-foot tall faux-Native Americana. I had heard this location had fallen on hard times and had a sullied reputation but that couldn't have been further from the truth when we arrived. The place sparkles as if it had just been built. The teepees are nicely appointed with flat-screen TVs and modern door locks. A kidney-shaped pool gleams, and an office with souvenirs and a friendly staff await you. God bless the people who own these places and keep them alive...let's give them all a 'wam round of applause.