Since I’ve lived in Texas I’ve flown to the west coast many times but I never had a good enough reason to drive out there. When my Mom got a new job in Sacramento I realized the time had finally come to drive out there together with a bunch of her stuff and, of course, Miss Sasha.
We rode through west Texas on the first day and stopped at Balmohea State Park in the morning to get a nice swim in before barreling through the heat. The water was so clear that many people were snorkeling and I regretted not bringing mine. I now have an even stronger desire to take a trip out here and visit Marfa and Big Bend… someday when I get a more roadworthy vehicle. 
We drove through New Mexico and then Arizona and saw every different kind of desert. There were so many rocks and cacti I wanted to take home.
It was too hot to stay in our friend Terry’s guest trailer in Tucson, which is where we made it too later that evening, 
but we did have some outstanding Ethiopian food at Café Desta. As we drove further west the next day it got hotter and hotter. In Yuma Arizona it was 117 and I couldn’t even keep my skin against the car window.
We finally made it through the mountains and stayed in Escondido with relatives who have the most wonderful backyard I have ever seen with avocado, orange, lemon, lime, fig, apricot, peach, and even a couple avocado trees surrounding the swimming pool. The perfect set-up.
Sasha was happy to get out of the car and relax under the lemon tree which had the biggest lemons I have ever seen.
As we got closer to the coast the weather got even cooler and I really wondered why everyone keeps moving here from there. 
There are tons of beaches and the weather is gorgeous and avocados are just as plentiful as beef is over here. And there are vegan restaurants everywhere. We stopped in Laguna Beach at The Stand so we could bring the dog and grab a bite. I had a towering potato bow.
We drove past Malibu to Santa Barbra and the temperature dropped so much I couldn’t even get in their lovely water, we did walk along though and got Vietnamese food. 
It was lovely.