We left the suburban wasteland of Eastvale at 7 a.m., which was too late, as we already had to fight traffic on I-15 at the 60 Freeway, I-10 and I-210 exchanges. A bit of stress was relieved when at the steepest part of the El Cajon Pass, the BMW handled the load of the U-Haul trailer with ease (it wasn’t designed to be a utility vehicle, and I still miss my truck).
When we reached Barstow, there was a major urge to continue on I-15 to Las Vegas, but this, again, is not a vacation road trip, so we headed east on I-40 through the high desert to Needles. The temperature only reached the high 90’s! Every time I cross the Colorado River into Arizona, I kick myself for not stopping for a few photographs, as the water of the river is sky blue!
Soon we are headed up to a 6,000-foot elevation to Flagstaff, with another missed opportunity to see the Grand Canyon. The rest of the trip to New Mexico is uneventful except for the glorious and endless variety of cumulus cloud formations, with an occasional downpour, breaking up five minutes later into bright sunlight.
We got into Gallup, New Mexico just before sunset, had a satisfying meal, and checked into a new Springhill Suites, happy that Day-1 of the trip is over.
