Roy’s Motel & Cafe
000 It's all about us
Roy’s Motel Cafe • Amboy, CA • Day One
Located in Amboy, CA, this motel, cafe and gas station with its iconic sign is widely photographed, and a “must shoot” spot on Route 66.
We arrived well ahead of sunset hoping that Mother Nature would put on a show for us. We also assumed the classic Roy’s sign would be lit up after the sun started going down.
At Sunset
The sunset was indeed spectacular, but initially, it did not appear that the sign would be illuminated.
Rick was chatting with a local at the cafe and asked about the status of the motel. He learned that the motel is currently closed for renovations, scheduled to reopen later this year (if I recall correctly).
Rick then asked if the sign would be lit. The answer was not what we wanted to hear: “I don’t think so.”
Oh well, we conceded, it is still a great take. We resigned ourselves to wrapping up earlier than expected and heading back to Barstow for dinner. Thankfully, our disappointment was short lived.
As we were wrapping up our session, a woman who I believe is the manager, Nicole Rachel, emerged from her conversation with a couple of other tourists and exclaimed, “Oh! I forgot to turn on the lights!”
Boom! The sign was lit, and just like that our creative batteries were recharged. Blue hour was approaching and the lighted sign opened up a new world of compositional opportunities.
A couple of minutes later, Nicole made her way back to the motel, saying, “I forgot to turn the lobby lights on!”
Dinner would be later than we thought.
The four of us were the only photographers there, so we convinced ourselves that Nicole was doing all this for our benefit. I’m sure we were wrong. I’m sure the sign and lobby are lit every night for the benefit of patrons and passersby alike. making it all about us makes for a better story!
Thanks Nicole!
Be sure to check out Roy’s Instagram page: @visitamboy.
Roys, Last Gasp of Golden Light
Cafe and Garage
000 About This Series
From April 12 through April 20, 2025, I was on a Route 66 Photography Adventure (The Trip) with three good friends and like minded photographers. This series is recap of The Trip in stories and images.
All of the images were shot on that historic road or within a couple of miles of it. Neither the images nor stories are necessarily presented in chronological order.
Enjoying the series? Drop a comment.