We went through Amarillo and driving the strip of I-40 at the top is very decieving compared to the rest of the trip as it only took about two hours to get across, whereas every other state was four to six.
Going through New Mexico, it was almost like we could feel the heat come through our car. I love New Mexico and Arizona, the colored deserts and overpasses. It seems like a different world. We passed through a very small town with numerous Adobe-style huts.
As we hit Arizona, we started to come out of the desert and into the forest parts of Flagstaff. It was so beautiful. We felt like we were back in Tennessee with the tall pine trees and how green it was. It also dropped in temperature about 30 degrees. We made the exective decision to continue on for a full 15 hour drive to Needles, Calif.
The funniest part of the whole trip occured when we crossed into California at the agricultural check point. They stopped us and of course asked if we had any produce or livestock/animals. We said we had two dogs and the guy told us the reason he asked was becuase we are prohibited from bringing in sugar gliders and quaker parrots.
Once we got through the checkpoint (we were nervous) we stopped at a small hotel. The dogs, again, decided it would be the most fun to make a sandwich out of me rather than sleeping in their beds. It was surprisingly comfortable though.
We awoke the next day to only eight more hours to drive. We stated driving through Mojave and passed Edwards AFB, into Tehachapi Pass. We started seeing the wind turbines on the mountain and then quickly discovered we were going to drive through the mountain.
This wouldn't have been daunting if the atmosphere hadn't dropped the tempurature from 80 to 40 degrees and we were subject to driving through . No that was not an omitted word, that was the word "this" behind the fog on the mountain. It was crazy!
After getting through the pass, it dropped us out into the farm country. We drove up 223 just below Bakersfield that took us through the farms and milk country. It was pretty interesting to see the dairy farms, I had never seen one before.
We took a break from eating really bad food and stopped at an IHOP, which was apparently the busiest IHOP in the country. When we got on I-5, it was smooth sailing. We got to drive through Gilroy, AKA garlic country, and the rural areas south of San Jose before passing the illustrious welcome sign, "Welcome to San Jose Population 1,023,083".
I can't even express how excited the dogs were to see Corey, and of course I was too:). It was great to be a family again, but I did cry after dropping my dad off at the airport. It is overwhelming to think that you are that far away.
I am happy here and glad to call San Jose home, as are the dogs:
