Canada to California: The final leg!

We made it to New Mexico on the third day! Look at that beauty sign: Welcome to New Mexico. Smack dab in the middle of nowhere.

The scenery here was just gorgeous.

The flat roads in the desert.

We drove underneath a pink overpass, there were a few more of these in various pastel colours, which were kinda neat.

We stopped for gas on what I assume was Route 66. ;)Got out to stretch our legs a bit.Alfie spotted a dog and was immediately on high alert.The good ol’ U-Haul.

Alfie had a grand ol’ time stretching his legs and hearing his voice. But it was time to put him back in his carrier. Oh puppy dog eyes.

Said our goodbyes to that cool lookin’ gas station and kept on driving until we swapped seats again where I was then driving for another leg of the trip. Excuse my appearance. At that point we hadn’t showered in a few days. I know.

Once we arrived to Arizona, we got gas again, and noticed that a few wires were hanging off the back of the U-Haul. Apparently they were necessary and we needed to find a Walmart or something similar before the sun set. The wires were connected to the brake lights.

…and Scott took over the drive.

Lots of red rocks and driving through mountains.

Ice peaked mountains in the distance.

We made it to Flagstaff at suppertime and that’s where Scott easily fixed the U-Haul dangly wires. I skyped my parents from the free hotel wifi across the street as I sat in the U-Haul. This was the first bit of the trip where we got a little warmer thanks to the Arizona sun shining down on us. Around 9pm we stopped for more gas at The General Store. Have no idea where in the state we were at this point, but I knew it must be documented.We drove all through the night this Sunday evening and didn’t stop for much of a rest. When I think back on it, it probably wasn’t the most ideal, seeing as we missed the mountains and great scenery. However driving all throughout the night keeps the roads empty and more safe for us driving that beast. At midnight we hit the state of California. Finally! We did have 8 more hours of driving ahead of us to get up to Northern California. We were in good spirits at this point. Once we arrived at the border of Cali, there was some sort of inspection, where they were stopping every single car. The crossing guard asked Scott to open up the U-Haul to see if we had any illegal plants and we were almost devastated that we’d have to open it up. Thankfully, the guy only made him open the massive doors a few inches and asked him to close it again. Which he couldn’t, since everything shifted during the long haul. So the crossing guy had to help Scott close the gate to the door and we were on our way, once again.

Scott and I swapped seats and I took over driving around 3am, and I think this was my longest drive of the trip. Definitely 3 or 4 hours but nothing like the hours Scott put in, trooper. I really didn’t feel safe driving and having Scott and Alfie rely on me not to wobble the back of the trailer, or fly off the road. But none the less, I did it lol.

This is where I stopped documenting our trip because once Scott and I swapped seats again, we got some McDonald’s for breakfast (surprise!), and enjoyed the last few hours of our trip with the sun so warm, we could wear t-shirts! I think I’m going backwards with the photos here, because I remember tweeting out that these were taken in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Let’s go with it. In Canada, we started out wearing a ton of layers, cranked the heat and the more southerly we drove, the layers slowly came off. By the end of the trip we were both wearing t-shirts. It was phenomenal. Look at that sunshine.

Got me an iced coffee for the road. Tasted like water, but I drank it all.

We arrived in to the bay area around rush hour. I didn’t take photos of the cars on the freeway, since that’s boring. Instead, a bunch of palm trees to calm our nerves. Since Scott was supposed to start his very first day of work on this day. It was a mad panic to get to a hotel in time for him to get a quick shower, and head out again for his first day.

Sunny California? The weather was much left to be desired. But still 3x as warmer than Canada at the moment. Oh In-n-Out burger, I’ve missed you.

We drove to a hotel on El Camino Real, one of the largest roads in the area (or state? I don’t know). And that’s where we stayed for about a week until we found a new spot to live. More palm trees in our hotel parking lot!!

That my friends, concludes the journey across the continent. We made the drive from Canada to California in 3.5 days. To be honest, I’d probably do it again. I’m surprised at how comfortable the seats were in the U-Haul. Our U-Haul must’ve upgraded their seats or changed them since our legs never ached, nor did we really “need” to stretch our legs. Thankfully it was a pretty comfortable ride.

So! Have you ever been on a road trip before? Where did you go?

Stay tuned and I’ll update this weekend, or maybe on Monday about what I’ve been up to the rest of the time we’ve been here.