After a wonderful relaxing visit with our daughters and friends, it is time to say goodbye to San Diego and head to our next destination- Yosemite National Park. As we had previously driven up all the other main roads leading north from southern California (CA 1, US 101, I5), we decided to take the inland route – US 395 which used to go from the Mexican border to the Canadian border east of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges. The southern end of US 395 from Victorville, CA to Mexico was replaced with I 15 which goes through Escondido where the Stone Brewery is located. As we passed the exit for a last stop at Stone Brewery, Peggy vetoed my suggestion to detour saying that 10:15 AM was too early. (Guess I haven’t fully converted her yet.)
As we drove along I 15, the sun broke through the clouds and I was consoled with the views of the hills and varying shades of green. There are patches of tiny yellow wild flowers which blend in with the surrounding grasses making the the grasses look yellow green.
After leaving “the 15” and picking up US 395, the bright sun, which had stayed with us for about 4 hours, disappeared behind clouds that started getting thicker and finally opened up on us. Fortunately, that happened in a desolate region of road and we were able to maintain speed so that the rain went overhead instead of getting us wet. About this time we started looking for gas and found a true oasis – a Shell gas station, bathrooms, and a Subway in the small town of Pearsonville. We stopped for gas, put the top up and went in for lunch. The rain stopped as we were getting ready to leave, so down came the top and off we went. The next stop was Bishop, CA where we planned to spend the night before heading up to Yosemite.
The scenery along “the 15” and US 395 is magnificent. Starting in San Diego “the 15” takes you up to Riverside, CA, then to San Bernardino, after which is passes through a gap in the San Gabriel Mountains and into the Mohave Desert region of California.
The Mohave Desert region is fascinating. The only thing constant in this region is its dryness. The terrain includes mountains, highlands and lowlands. From Victorville to Ridgecrest, CA it’s wild desert. North of Ridgecrest, you have snow capped mountains on one side and desert on the other until you get to Lone Pine where you have mountains on both sides all the way to Bishop.
(As an aside, US 6 which, from 1936 to 1964 was the longest US highway in the country running from Long Beach, CA to Provincetown, MA, now terminates in Bishop but is still the second longest running US route in the country (second to US 20).)