Going, Going, Back, Back, to Cali, Cali

So here's the last day. 800 miles and 11 1/2 hrs. From Flagstaff to Loomis. The previous night I had driven through the petrified forest, didn't really see anything in the darkness. This day I drove near the grand canyon but not close enough to really see it. As some know, my radio is a bit sketchy in my car. I took the risk of changing cds this morning and while the Daniel Johnston cd came out fine, the cd player lost power and was left open without taking a new cd. After a while I was able to get it going again and had some more music, but in the meantime I was wishing I had XM radio.


It was warm enough in the Arizona desert that I had to roll down the window and eventually turn on the a/c.


Transporting any fruits or vegetables? Why is California the only state I came into that asked this question before quickly sending me on my way?


The Mojave desert really is a desert. There were several dust devils whirling in the distance. You can kinda see one in this photo if you click on it. There was a smattering of rain through the desert. It had a nice smell to it, like someone spilled bleach in the laundry room downstairs from your apt. Aside from the cd player incident, things were going pretty good. But somewhere around Barstow, things began to go terribly wrong. I ended up getting on the freeway I needed to be and then planned to get off and get gas since I was dangerously low. Of course, there were no gas stations on this side of town, nor chances to turn around and go back into town. My only option at that point was to try and make it 27 miles to the next gas station. I did end up barely making it, but I'll tell you, I became very good friends with my car's gas light in the meantime.


I went over the Tehachapi Pass. It was surprisingly nice this time of year. It only got up to about 5000 feet which was about the same height as the high plains in Texas (unless I'm just imagining this through delirious memories).

Among the sights seen was an army of sleek dragons emerging from the fog for Don Quixote to battle.

Something like 2400+ miles and 35+hrs of driving in 3 days, crossed into a new timezone each day, 8 different states, and I nearly drove myself insane.