Roy's in Amboy, Calif.

In the 1930s, where did Route 66 motorists stop when passing through the Mojave Desert? Roy's Motel and Cafe in Amboy. Its Googie sign was a beacon of civilization to weary travelers whose cars had croaked in the desert heat. Through the 1960s, Roy's owners Buster Burris and Roy Crowl did a brisk business selling tires, thick malts, and overpriced gas.

In the 1970s, Interstate 40 was built and bypassed the tiny town. Road trippers no longer stopped to fill up at Roy's and it tumbled through tough years. Then in 1995 Albert Okura, owner of the Juan Pollo restaurant chain, paid $425,000 in cash for the entire town of Amboy (pop. 4). Okura recently re-opened the gas station and the cafe and motel are undergoing a face-lift.

We pulled up at Roy's just after the gas station had closed. It was about 6 p.m. and a thermometer on the cafe door read 111 degrees. We were hot and tired. We peeked into the windows of the shuttered cafe, where old-school bar stools line a Formica counter. At that moment, I would have given anything to belly up to that bar and order a chocolate malt. It sounds like some day I will be able to do that.