When we got to Los Angeles last night, both Michele and I felt like we were home. As different as Los Angeles is from the Bay Area, they are closer to each other than they are to anyplace else. (One thing that Michele kept remarking on is how idiosyncratic each state is and how it is noticeable almost as soon as we cross a state line.) We started the day at Foxy’s Restaurant next door to our motel in downtown Glendale – where I had a couple of eggs with hash browns just like my dad used to cook – and then jumped on The 5 to go over the San Gabriel Mountains and up the west side of The Great Central Valley.
We cross the Los Angeles River which, even on the first day of November, has water in it and I am reminded of walking along it last spring and…thinking the river could be a major public asset.The traffic is light going north in the morning. Just before we start up the steep grade into the mountains, we pass the Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades Facility that aerates the water that has been in a pipe for much its 280 mile trip from the Owns Valley. The Aqueduct, completed in 1913 mostly by hand, with 142 tunnels, transformed Los Angeles from a small desert city of about 320,000 to a mega-metropolis of over four million (it also destroyed the Owens Valley as farmland and dried up Owens Lake, turning it into a dust bowl). I’ve been driving over the Transverse Ranges on this highway since 1959 when it was four lanes and designated US 99 (it was widened and became I 5 in 1968). While it might not look it…this is an amazing piece of road building that tops out at 4,233 feet (Liebre Summit).Once we are in the Great Central Valley, it is flat and straight for almost 200 miles.
Although it seems longer.We get gas at Petro Santa Nella…just before going past San Luis Reservoir and then Pacheco Pass at 1368 feet.Then we are in the upper Santa Clara Valley…through San Jose, going against traffic…up 280, and finally…Home, 7,885.8 miles later.
When we got to Los Angeles last night, both Michele and I felt like we were home. As different as Los Angeles is from the Bay Area, they are closer to each other than they are to anyplace else. (One thing that Michele kept remarking on is how idiosyncratic each state is and how it is noticeable almost as soon as we cross a state line.) We started the day at Foxy’s Restaurant next door to our motel in downtown Glendale – where I had a couple of eggs with hash browns just like my dad used to cook – and then jumped on The 5 to go over the San Gabriel Mountains and up the west side of The Great Central Valley. 
7885 miles: Epic road trip.
Some great photos, fun facts and astute insights… Thanks for having us along with you!!
Thank YOU for following it, Kirk.