THE TRIP HOME
This morning I took I-15 up from San Diego in order to avoid the rush hour gridlock in LA's I-5 and 405 corridor. It was a good adventure because I got to see places like Temecula and Murrieta. I also came upon a wreck that had just happened -- two cars were totally engulfed in flames. It looked like everyone was alright and a fire official happened upon the scene at the same time. So I moved on to get out of the way.

The LA basin was incredibly windy with rolling clouds of brown dust sandblasting the car. There were some brush fires adding to the yuk in the air, too. As I got up closer to the San Gabriel Mountains, though, it was relatively calm and a chamber of commerce day. I discovered that the 210 now extends east at least as far as I-15 so I took it west all the way in and made a pit stop at the Fuller Seminary bookstore in Pasadena. Talk about gridlock. The line was a mile long with students waiting to buy books for the winter term. Been there, done that. So I didn't do it again. I left without buying anything.

I headed up over the Grapevine and dropped back into the Central Valley -- which was visibly socked in with winter fog. But once I got down to the valley floor the sun was shining. The almond trees in the Bakersfield area are already getting their spring leaves.