Wigwam Motel, Route 66, Rialto, CA

For my husband's birthday I decided to book a room at one of three remaining Wigwam Motels in the US -- it's in Rialto, CA just west of San Bernardino. We have a favorite restaurant in Riverside, so it was just a short drive down the 10 freeway to have dinner and get back to our teepee. As you know if you've driven along any stretch of Route 66, the towns that depended on tourists in the 50'S and 60's are full of abandoned motels and other businesses. Rialto is no exception. I've seen the Arizona Wigwam Motel from Route 66 and from the train which runs right in back of the motel and always thought it would be fun to stay there -- then we saw a program on "unusual buildings" just a month or so ago and the Wigwam in Rialto was mentioned. The Rialto Wigwam Motel was built in 1949 (same as me) and has not changed much. Inside the room the ceiling is flat, not the high, pointed ceiling you'd expect. It's pretty spartan, but we were there for the experience, not Five Star accommodations. By the time we returned from dinner there were quite a few cars parked next to the teepees, so I guess the motel will survive a while longer. The manager was very nice. He gave my husband a free postcard and coke because it was his birthday. If you are interested in a bit of Americana, give it a try. It's not for everyone, but it was clean, about $70 for a room with a "sitting area," it has cable TV and it's not far from the 10 freeway between the 15 and 215, and close to Riverside. Not much else to do in Rialto -- we had breakfast at a Denny's Diner and that's very predictable. Time is running out on some of these landmarks...we told the manager we'd spread the word on the Wigwam...