Nov 22

Left Sacramento for the long drive (472 mi/792 km) to Hemet with Kylie and the puppy who has had just one day into our lives and to get accustomed to the house on wheels.
The "grapevine" is that section of highway that runs 6.5 miles at about a 6% grade between Fort Tejon and the bottom of the mountain giving entrance into the San Joaquin Valley, en route to Los Angeles.

As pictured above, the original 1915 highway was a serpentine road with 119 switchbacks and an elevation of 4, 144 ft at the Tejon summit. The name orginated because early Wagoner's had to hack their way through thick patches of Cimarron grapevines. The entire route is 30 miles and the average speed was originally 15 mph. With several 1,000 ft drops and sharp switchbacks it was known as one of the most deadly routes in the US. Today, there are always vehicles pulled off to the side due to overheating but water is available.

Above - about 5:00 pm (after driving over 9 hrs, including those quick puppy pit stops) we are on the I-5, driving through Los Angeles and came to grid lock traffic. This being a Sunday, we thought this can not be rush hour traffic. It wasn't and we were fortunate to be travelling south and carried on our way after fifteen minutes. Next day in the paper we found why the northbound traffic back gridlocked for miles .... an SUV sideswiped a big rig at 9 a.m., killing 3 of the 5 occupants in the SUV. Could it be, this was the traffic jam 8 hrs later, when we were passing through? Must've been, as I saw five fire trucks heading north without sirens so assume it took this long to redirect traffic and clean up the accident. Not something we see where we live.

Just short of 15 miles from Hemet, we pulled off in to Beaumont and 'camped' for the night at the Walmart parking lot. It was a very long day for all and Kylie and Tazz did great. At one point, they shared MY seat at the front - looking out the big picture window. Kylie still will not play or entice the puppy at all but tolerates being near her.