2,867 Miles

california route  from Google Maps

We are moving to Irvine, California. It is a lovely city 2,867 driving miles from here. So says Google.

It is an easy route. That hasn’t always been the case.

Across the GWB, then Interstate 80. We’ll cross New Jersey then Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, before getting on Interstate 76 in Nebraska.

That’s 1,673 miles down. There’s still 1194 to go!

I-76 heads toward Denver where we’ll pick up I-70. Then under the Continental Divide in the Eisenhower Tunnel.

Past the Rockies the population gets very sparse. Between Green River and Salina, Utah, I-70 sets the record for longest distance on any Interstate between gas stations–110 miles! We’ll drive through an area known for its dinosaur finds, many exposed.

No one comes here by accident. Everyone’s just passing through. It’s places like this where you realize the Mountain West is mostly empty.

Next up I-15. I’ve driven this part before. Unusually ‘twisty’ for an Interstate. Mountain passes, then down in elevation and through the desert, past Las Vegas, all the way to Los Angeles. This part of the trip contains some of the ugliest land known to man!

Our new home is around 40 miles south, in Orange County.

It’s tough to say how many days, but my early guess is Tuesday departure, Sundayish arrival.

This will be an electronically aided drive. We’ll have a computer with cell service to the Internet, plus my cell phone. Helaine’s car has a few outlets. Batteries alone won’t be enough.

I even bought a cable to allow my phone to play into her car’s “AUX” channel. Pandora or virtually any radio station in the world… where there’s cell service.

We’d both like to log our progress. I’ll figure a way to digitally record that. Probably won’t post it real time, because it’s creepy enough with AT&T knowing where I am every moment of the day.

I plan on blogging during the trip, with photos and video. You are encouraged to read.

Oh, I forgot to mention, Google also calculates the driving time to SoCal: “In current traffic 43 hours.”