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Day 1: The adventure begins

 

Finally, hit the road today to begin my road trip across all 48 contiguous states in USA.  I've been thinking about this trip for years, planning the route and other logistics for many months and then waiting many days to recover from a last minute Covid bout. All that is behind me as the rubber hit the road today. 


 I started late, around 10:30am from home. The packing and loading of my bags, saying goodbyes took a while. I hope to settle into a rhythm of leaving by 9am most days.  My first stop today was in San Ramon to get blessings from my mom and celebrate Raksha Bandhan with my sister.  


 

It was a long drive today, covering 463 miles from Los Gatos, California to Medford, Oregon.   There are a few forest fires burning right now in Northern California and I wanted to get past them as quickly as possible.  The air quality was bad near Weed, the site of the Mill fire.   The evening smoky haze driving on I-5, with Mt Shasta  in the distance.   

 

It was a sweltering day, the start of a week long heatwave all over California. It was over 110 degrees in the middle of the day. I was worried about being uncomfortably hot inside all the glass in my Tesla Model 3.  But, it stayed cool and comfortable. It was great to take a nap or eat lunch in my cool cocoon during supercharging stops. Glad to be heading to cooler weather in Oregon and Washington.

Took a small detour to go to Burney Falls on the way. It was beautiful with the mist and spray from the waterfall providing a welcome respite from the heat. I hiked the Burney Falls Loop Trail, touching the Pacific Crest Trail briefly.


 


 

I crashed for the night at an AirBnb farmhouse near Medford, tired after the long drive. It is a cute, rustic, peaceful studio away from the city life. Took a short walk in the morning before I head out.



The raw numbers for the day:

  • 463 miles driving, 6600 steps walking
  • 3 Tesla Supercharger stops
  • 2 states - California & Oregon


Comments

  1. ManeeshaSeptember 5, 2022 at 8:29 AM

    Adventure begins for the wife at home as well. Since the wise man is not at home, I am responsible for keeping it all safe and tidy. After being morally against locking the doors for decades(a sign of distrust against humanity), last night I stuck a fork in the lock for entrance door to make burglary attempts inconvenient. Ha!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ShivSeptember 5, 2022 at 1:52 PM

      Best thing to do - teach all intruders proper table manners and how to hold a fork while eating...🍴😂

      Delete
    2. ManeeshaSeptember 6, 2022 at 7:09 AM

      Done. I take Black Commandos very seriously.

      Delete
  2. ShivSeptember 5, 2022 at 1:51 PM

    All the best and safe travels. See you later this month.

    ReplyDelete
  3. VisheshSeptember 8, 2022 at 7:58 AM

    "I've been thinking about this trip for years, planning the route and other logistics for many months and then waiting many days to recover from a last minute Covid bout. All that is behind me as the rubber hit the road today." I loved the poetry of these lines. :) So happy for you to be in the opening stages of this culmination!

    I'm glad that the Tesla will be able to keep you comfortable through the various climates you'll drive through.

    ReplyDelete

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