From Pacific Coast to Gulf of Mexico – Day 2
Day 2
- 0803 – Depart from hotel after having a so-so breakfast. Fill USD10 gas at station nearby at Bishop. Im going to miss this small town. It got character.
Mountain on the background.
- 0807 - Big Pine. Snowy mountain on the right, plain mountain on the left. The view is stimulated by the chunks of black granite stone sticking out from the ground. The sun is shining and the reflection and shadow created by the stone formation just spiced up the scenery. Umph.
Black granite exposed!
Snow on the right (west) - taken at Lone Pine
One of these mountains is Mt Whitney.
Plain on the left (east) - taken at Lone Pine
- 0906 - Lone Pine ~little town, lot of charm~ To the right is the highest peak (14,505 feet) on United States and not far up to the left, Death Valley, the lowest point in North America (282 feet below sea level). You get all the extreme here in US. Weather is clear and sunny.
The deadliest of the valley
- 0959 – Peasonville. Granite exposed again with a touch of greenery.
Exposed Again!
- 1006 - Arrived at US-395 South Junction. Everything is going green now. Alternate name for the highway is 3 flags highway I suppose.
- 1029 – Johannesburg, San Bernardino county. I thought I was in South Africa.
- 1050 - Unspectacular barren prairie. I miss Sierra Nevada.
- 1103 - Fill in gas (USD 20) at 76+coffee+gum at Kramer Junction. Nice little stop-over. Now I got to see cactuses on the way south. Weird one.
Sure scary at night
- 1147 - Arrive at Adelanto. Traffic is slow due to single lane road with trailers and trucks all over. Looks like a ghostly city with no soul.
- 1158 - Hesperia. They are everywhere! (truckers and trailers) Not good.
- 1205 - I-15 junction. Its going green again. Some good views on early portion of the 4-5 lanes highway.
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Downhill I-15
- 1217 – I-215. Straong sidewind. Can feel the car swaying to the side. Still green.
- 1220 - San Bernardino. Traffic slow down going south to San Diego. To be honest, I hate the interstate highway around these area. Too many cars, and plain boring view. This is the section of the road trip I hate the most up till now. Heavy traffic going out from downtown. Not sure why though.
Heavy traffic on the other side.
- 1250 - Perris. Its getting hot. Feel like the weather in Malaysia, just a bit drier.
- 1410 - Arrived at Best Western Golden Triangle Inn, at Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Hot hot hot. Gonna get ready to meet up with friends from Malaysia.
That night we eat out at Bismillah, a Pakistani restaurant beside Best Western hotel. I actually ate there in the evening as well. They serve buffet for both lunch and dinner. Have a good chat with my friends. Get to sleep a bit late.
This road trip always provides me with spectacular view while going downhill. It kept me thinking, in life, when we are on top, there are always two mix feeling when looking down. Proud. Or humble. As for the sceneries, I’m totally humbled.
Tomorrow, Tucson AZ. Hope everything going well.
My GPS total mileage is 716.3 miles.
Now my average speed is 59.9 mph. Hehe.
