We left LA at 4:00 AM and I drove the first leg of the journey halfway to Sacramento. The flat landscape around the 5 freeway begin to show up in hues and blues. When Appa took the wheel, we switched to the 101 freeway and continued all the way to Mendocino county. Mendocino and the neighboring towns are almost homogeneously caucasian, with numerous health food restaurants, book stores and a bohemian feel catering to a University crowd.

Then we approached the long stretches of redwoods where the tree kings reign over the highway. We drove through the Avenue of the Giants and stopped at various spots to check out some distinguished tree specimens. It was an honor to drive through those elderly redwoods, so tall and majestic that even the sunlight is arrested in passing. I slept through Eugene and Golden Beach but Appa said these were some of the most beautiful coastal roads he had ever seen. My late night sleeping routine was getting to me, but what little I saw from the 101 freeway of the Oregon coast impressed me and could probably rival even Big Sur.

We drove all the way through the night taking turns, and finally reached Vancouver early in the morning after driving about 25 hours.
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