Day #29, October 28, 2016 Needles to Santa Cruz - The final day

Today was the final push to get home...a distance of 514 miles. We got an early start at about 6 am so the traffic was not bad. They are replacing a lot of bridges on Interstate 40 across the Mojave Desert so there are sections of about 55 mph. However, the majority of travel speed is 65 to 70 mph.

At Barstow, you transition from Interstate 40 to Route 58 that takes you through Boron and then on to Bakersfield. We did stop briefly at Tehacapi for Starbuck's coffee. Tehachapi is famous for the Tehachapi Loop, where the freight trains loop upon themselves in climbing up the mountains. I believe this is the only place in the USA where the trains loop upon themselves.

Tehachapi Loop (Click the link)

Getting through Bakersfield was the slowest part of the transit. It is mostly city driving with a lot of traffic lights until you get to Buttonwillow where you join Interstate 5 to the north. We got fuel at Buttonwillow and ate a quick lunch at Subway sandwiches so that we would not have to stop unless we needed a restroom, which we did because of the coffee we were drinking.

We were happy to arrive at our home at about 3:30 pm, exhausted, time zone shifted and ready for "wine time."

Our total travel distance was 6,926 miles at an average speed of 58 mph and an average fuel consumption of 13.4 mpg in the Nissan Armada beast! We were happy that the price of fuel was reasonable at about $1.99/gallon in most of the mid-country states.

The USA is a very diverse country with amazing geography and people. I would highly recommend a cross-country adventure to you. Now having done it twice, I could do without the Great Plains states where there appears to be endless flatlands. :)