My plans for traveling to California allowed for enough days BUT my getting a cold and fever has meant less mobility and more sleep. Checking out late and moving from one hotel to the next in an effort for free nights and lower overall cost. Finally I left Vegas yesterday afternoon. Just an hour out the storm clouds were dark and foreboding hanging low to the top of the mountains in the distance. I was headed for the those mountains. A few cars had already played bumper cars with the side railing and I did not want to be one of those.
I continued my climb up the mountain without incidence. It always amazes me how barren the West is.
Dirt.
Tall mountains of dirt and rocks.
Scrub brush. Barren.
Miles and miles of empty land. In the cities we cram people into 2 inch squares while in the West they have lots and lots of space. There were some old homes, abandoned with the window gone. A trailer park in the middle of nowhere. Why? I am sure these people would feel suffocated in a city while city folk would feel unprotected from the elements.
It is an amazing land with the shapes of the mountains, dark clouds, and glimpses of light coming thorough to form light beams from sky to land. Picturesque but no where to stop to capture it. As dusk settles in, so do the trucks, many trucks take to the highway lined up one after the other in the truck lane with maybe 10 or 20 feet between them as they climb the mountain. Each with a different load. Car trailers. Heavy equipment carriers. We are surrounded. Picture is from Library of Congress Photos.
As dark hits, the colder air does too, we are cresting the mountain, the fog sets in. All I can think of are the pile ups on highways when the fog hits. We are now going down the mountain, applying the brakes to maintain a controllable speed. Also, without a car in front it is now hard to see the road or the direction is going. Winding, curving, watching the white lines to figure out where the road is.
Be glad when I am through this fog.
Lonely Planet California (Regional Travel Guide)
As I come down, I am in the outskirts of the city of Los Angeles all called other names but an out growth of the main city. I had written down earlier a La Quinta in San Bernadino that was only 6000 points to stay a free night. I must stop and find a place where I can see my book and read.I am on Interstate 15 right now.
Crossroads of I215 and I10.
I continue on the road in the dark. Very hard to see. Wonder if I have passed it.
Finally I see the sign for I215 and take that route. Go on for a number of miles and again wonder if this is correct. Finally I10 and I head back East. Whew the exit has lots of hotels and restaurants. This is an ok area then. I go into the hotel and use their phone to make the reservation with my points. It is clean and nice. Sleep. I had slept about 1/2 hour at a rest stop because my eyes were closing. I watched a little TV and the end of The Blind Side
Sleep 10pm
Hope. Tomorrow will be sunny. My cold will be better.
Cloudy and overcast without any sun.
Cough is horrible but sneezing seems gone and fever is gone. Maybe
Off to find the Pacific Ocean today.
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San Diego.
Scarlet Macaw, Seaworld, San Diego, California, United States of America, North America Premium Photographic Poster Print by Tomlinson Ruth, 30×40
Seaworld Halloween
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Eileen Ludwig, travel writer of Freelance Tourist brings to the world insights about places to travel, discounts, Staycations, Restaurant Reviews, movie reviews, and fascinating tibits. She is owner of three other sites: Photography, Web Design School, and Social Media School Each are in different stages of development and evolution.
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