Day 1

The first day is under our belts. Here is a picture of us as we headed out this morning at 7:25 AM:

We woke up about 6:15 and took a quick walk before we climbed in the car.

We pulled into the Holiday Inn Express in Lathrop, CA at 7:29.

Distance: 632 miles
Drive time: 10:04
Average speed was 62 mph
Mileage 29 MPG

Our first stop was Starbucks for coffee, then we hit the road. Carla took the first tour of duty behind the wheel and I soon remembered (but too late) that we need to set ground rules when she starts driving. I didn't get a chance to drive for 4 hours!

We stopped for lunch at a Subway joint somewhere in Central Point (north of Medford). Then dinner at a little cafe called "Rocky's" north of Stockton. I realized too late that I should have gotten a picture

We didn't see any trains yet; but I can hear one just now outside our hotel window.

Tomorrow we have about 360 miles to Santa Monica. We plan to get up early and hit the road. Hopefully we'll have time for a walk on the beach before we take off to the Dodger game.

Preparations

We are getting ready to go. I've got all my directions posted and mileage recalculated. Google directions say we'll travel 2960 miles in total from Home --> Santa Monica --> (Route 66) --> Gallup --> Moab --> Boise --> Home

I had the oil changed and the tires rotated. My suitcase is 1/2 packed. I've got a little bag filled with the various wires and cables to keep me connected and charged up.

I set up my radio scanner this weekend, but don't know if it will work well or not. I found some various radio frequencies for the BNSF railroad in SoCal and Arizona; stored them on my scanner in hopes of hearing some radio traffic while we travel.

I'll have my laptop with me and hope to post pictures and accounts of our days' adventures each night. We'll see how it goes.