Day 1 of 11, Driving Across the US

After Megan's delicious coffee, I hit the road at 10:15am. I had an aggressive drive in mind, but no reservations and I was beat from the move.

I headed east towards Hayward, then followed I5 south toward Bakersfield. I was dying to see Joshua Tree National Park and it was a long, long way from Marin. I was all prepared to listen to talk radio and had some CDs to pass the time, but I never even turned on the radio that day.

Somewhere east of Bakersfield on SR58, I encountered the Tehachapi Pass. I knew I had some hills to climb, but I had no idea what would take my breath away at the top of the pass. An amazing wind farm explodes in front of your eyes from nowhere! It's stunning - wind turbines of all shapes, sizes and design crowd the top of the pass. It was also really cool how the landscape changed from green to brown within just a few miles.

As I drove toward my destination, Twenty-Nine Palms, I just got too tired and had to find my first place to sleep. I chose Barstow, CA and found a Best Western at the edge of town. Barstow was acceptable because my friend Jenny said they had not one, but two Starbucks! It would be the last Starbucks I would have until I got to Charleston, WV. And that was a funny adventure.

The Best Western in Barstow was fine. Nothing special. I found a supermarket and bought a roast chicken, a Ravenswood Zin and a bag of raw carrots and broccoli. Welcome to dinner on the road.