975 miles and 17 hours later, we made it safe and sound to sunny southern California.  We left at 6:15 am and my mom drove until 1:30 pm.  I took over at a gas station and continued the rest of the way until 11:00 pm.  When my dad died, my uncles made the same trip from California to Oregon in 14 hours!  We would have been here earlier, but there were a lot of rest stops and I refused to drive five miles faster than the speed limit.  Maybe I’m getting old, but over the years, I’ve become a lot more laid back.  Why speed and endanger yourself to get to your destination 10 minutes earlier?  I don’t even get annoyed in traffic jams anymore.  Why stress yourself out over things you can’t change?

(L) On the road in Oregon.  (R) McKenzie enjoys the view

The view on the open road.

 Still in Oregon.

(L) “Oregon thanks you. Come back soon.”  (R) “Welcome to California.”  Why, thank you.

It starts to look dry once we hit California.  I made a point to notice where the landscape stops looking like Oregon, and starts looking like California.  It’s somewhere near Yreka, where there are no more lush trees.

Mt. Shasta had some nice trees, though.

Above are typical snacks to keep me awake.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find ANY Icees.

Tonight we’ll be making the drive to Palm Springs to visit my aunt “Nicole” - one of my mom’s four sisters.  I heard plans of visiting a casino, buffets, and shopping.