The movers came early in the morning, so I left Riverside at 2pm, tuesday June 22th. At the end of last summer, I made myself a promise, that my first summer in Los Angeles would also be my last one. Just a few hours earlier and I would have kept it... Packed and Loaded:

I start on I-15, about 40miles, half of it up hill to pass on the other side of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Here you go, in the Mohave desert about 3000ft elevation. I look behind me one last time, mount Baldy which was part of my everyday life for 1 year 1/2. I used to see it from my balcony (like (here).

Bye bye Southern California, I am leaving with no regrets...

I-15, always in repair and with a lot of Las Vegas traffic. Half an hour later, Barstow, in the Mohave, very dry desert, almost no vegetation, color in the gray, brown and beige.

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Switching to I-40 that should lead me almost to Atlanta. Barstow, famous mainly for its solar power generator:

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After that, it is 4 to 5 more hours in the desert, going downhill untill Neeles where I cross the Colorado River and pass to Arizona. Weatherwise, this was also the hottest part of the trip, 108°F (42°C).

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In Arizona, the desert starts to change, higher elevation, more vegetation, even a forest near grand canyon. It also becomes more and more red. The plan was to see Grand Canyon early tomorrow, so I drive as close as I can and find a motel at around 9pm there..

In the motel/gas station souvenir shop, I finally found "Cactus Candy", which I wanted to try for a long time but I could not find any in California:-)

Unless you are a dentist looking for new customers, nothing to be too excited about;-)