• 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.

• 

  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.

It all started in Mid December 2008. I am on a job attachment in USA for 6 months and I believe this is the only chance I have to see America first hand. Apart from the job assignment on technology transfer, I believe the main portion of the attachment is for me to learn the culture, working and life itself. Through this road trip, I want to see the mass landscapes and a little bit of soul searching. Im not even sure what kind of soul searching Im looking for, maybe by seeing the god’s creation I will be more grateful to what I have, less what I did not, and appreciate the intention of living. I dont know, for sure.

The preparation

1. Renting a car, I got a Kia Rondo. Not the best of the lot, but enough space for luggage and managable fuel consumption.
2. GPS. To keep me on the true path? Bought a Garmin 260 for USD110. Good deal eh?
3. Prepaid phone card. My lifeline.
4. Weather forecast. By renting a room in hotel/motel that offers internet, I would be able to get the latest weather forecast. I dont have a snowchain, and Im driving during winter. Heh. And google map to assist on route selection.
5. Camera/Camcorder. Bought a cheapo Insignia. Maybe I should buy an SLR next time, though any camera wont do justice of the true beauty.

The route

I will reveal the route step by step. Surprise!

DAY 1

• 0815 – Hyatt Summerfield, Pleasant Hill, CA. Car OK. Luggage OK. Weather Superb. The MAN hurmm..ok.

Kia Rondo and Hyatt

• 0835 – Arrive at Antioch. Never did I knew that it is a beautiful riverside city, though I work nearby. I should explore more. Serious.

Bay view from Antioch riverside

• 0907 – Ryde, a small town by the river. Before it Isleton. Goodbye Diablo, welcome Sacramento.
• 0941 – Arrived at Sacramento. Look for coffee joint, couldnt find one in the city center. Found Starbucks, nope nope…boycott that joint. Saw a lot of mandarin speaking chinese smoking chatting and drinking coffee though.
• 1110 – Stop at El-Dorado Hill. Fill in gas for USD10. And coffee. And a little smokey dokey. Going through CA/US-50.
• 1120 – Pollock Pines. 4000ft…6000ft…and going up. First time seeing snow! But the road is clear and weather is superb. The road is by a river, providing a spectacular view.
• 1207 – 7000ft! On the way down I could see Lake Tahoe in the distance. Jawdropping. I love Sierra Nevada.

Snowman at 7000ft

Lake Tahoe on the background from high elevation

• 1215 – Junction to CA-89. Still snow all over. Saw people skiing on a plain snowy ground.
• 1233 – Get to CA-88, drove to Nevada by accident since the road I supposed to take is closed in winter. No snow, no ice, just a barren brownish prairie all of a sudden. Surrounded by snowy mountain though.
• 1250 – Getting to US-395 through NV-756. This is going to be a long drive south. Nice. Stop by 7-Eleven for gas (USD10) and coffee and doughnuts on 1310. Lake Topaz can be seen on the left side of the road going south. Flabbergasted again.

Lake Topaz. Enchanting.

• 1357 – Arrived at Sonora Junction, CA-108. Snowy.

• 1412 – Arrived at Bridgeport. Weather still crystal clear. Snowy mountain on right hand side. All of a sudden while going downhill from Willow Springs, catch a view of Mono Lake from high Elevation. MasyaAllah, the scenery just caught me, grab me by the throat, bulge my eyes out of the socket and loosen my jaw joint.

Mono Lake.

• 1441 – Tioga Pass road. Closed for the winter. My next road trip will be through this road. Not far from the junction, there is a road downhill featuring Mt. Dana and Mt. Gibbs. There is an overlook just beside the road. It says “Owen’s Valley”.

Mt Dana & Mt Gibbs at Owen's Valley

• 1539 – At last. Arrived at Bishop and check-in at Best Western. Eat at Carl’s Jr nearby. Good place for a good night sleep. Took these pictures of fancy cars downtown Bishop. Tomorrow? San Diego.

Fancy as you like it

60's

My GPS telling me that Ive travelled 361.5 miles. Still a long way to go.

Till then, see ya!