POST 1500; LEBEC, CALIFORNIA; 12-20-2015

I'm Late ... "...for a very important date." ...Borrowed from a movie.

Was all set to post this update early this morning during Breakfast at the LEBEC, California Truck Stop ...
... when a real gentleman, a certain GENE JUARUZ, also enjoying his breakfast, started what became a three hour conversation.  GENE will be featured in our NEXT update - perhaps yet tonight.

At 10:00 AM, we departed from YUMA, arriving at the LEBEC, California Truck Stop some 9 hours later.  Our drive included crossing the California Desert, the series of 4,000 foot Mountains, hooking up with Interstate 5 in SAN DIEGO, California - some 200 miles distant from YUMA, patiently crawling North across the Los Angeles Basin - tons of I-5 construction during evening Rush Hour, Slugging our way over the 4,441 foot GRAPEVINE Mountain (TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS) between Los Angeles Basin and the SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, ... finding a stopping place at the new Truck Stop "city" at LEBEC, California.

Too tired to think clearly, parked SPIA and slept until 6 AM.

Discussion with GENE superceded completing this update until now, 5:00 PM on Sunday, December 20, 2015, itself a FULL day with some mighty photographs ... something for later tonight ?

We did not ... COULD NOT ... stop at all today.  Above Cathedral was along side I-5 in SAN DIEGO (or nearby).  I was VERY careful in being ambidextrious wthe the camera and with SPIA.

I-8 crossing the California Desert en-route to SAN DIEGO.

Entering the mountains, featuring untold number of monster ROUND shaped smooth - sided rocks ... Mountain after Mountain of them.

Heading down the mountain into the LOS ANGELES (San Diego) Basin in the middle of Traffic Rush Hour(s).

Our first glimpse of the PACIFIC OCEAN.  The foreground is the Naval Air  Station located in the Marine Base, CAMP PENDLETON.

Camp Pendleton ... the only open spaces near I-5 as we neared LOS ANGELES.  There are actually at least a half Dozen good size CITIES in the LOS ANGELES BASIN, which is fronted on the West by waters of the PACIFIC OCEAN ... and backed on the East by the 4,000 foot high MOUNTAINS as pictured in the next image.

A nice pic to close the busy tiring day.
Oh, Yes, ... crossing the GRAPEVINE, we were pounded by torrential RAINS slammed down by near high winds shoving vehicles around.

Saw only ONE accident, but it was a costly accident of a sedan being shoved head on into a guard rail ... probably saving lives by keeping the destroyed vehicle from tumbling into the adjacent canyon.