Any day driving a big rig in California feels long, mostly because of the 55 MPH speed limit for trucks and also the enormous amount of traffic. Plus, when you leave one side of a large city (Los Angeles) and 50 miles later you still aren't out the other side you know things are going to drag.
Made it up to my pickup about an hour early. Turns out each driver backs his empty trailer to a dock and picks up the (now full) trailer of the previous driver that he has left. My original trailer was a nice new one with the big super single tires; the new one is an older model with the dual tires. Runs true though which is a big plus.
On the way back down to LA I flipped a virtual coin and decided to turn left at Bakersfield and head out into the Mojave to eventually hook up with I-215 and I-15. Turns out this wasn't the better choice, as there was a lot of construction, the Tehachapi mountains were harder to navigate than the Grapevine, and it was a bit longer.
Eventually I prevailed and drove out to Palm Springs where I was a few nights ago. I have to deliver this load in Nogales no later than 1 PM PST tomorrow, which is now about 450 miles away. Another early start should take care of that.
