The fabulous Mt. Shasta.
Day 18 of the PapiBlogger Family Road Trip started with a short farewell moment at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and took us on one of most scenic drives yet from northern California to Oregon.
PAPICAM GIVES YOU THE GOLDEN GATE VIEW
We bid farewell to San Francisco with a quick drive to the Marin-side overlook of the Golden Gate Bridge. Jonathan’s first good view of the bridge caused him to comment that it was beautiful but short compared to the 23-mile Lake Pontchartrain Causeway that we gave up driving after just two miles. Of all the bridges I’ve ever seen in person I think the Golden Gate is definitely the most beautiful I’ve seen.
Below is the Chevrolet Traverse’s PapiCam video of our drive through the Golden Gate.
Jonathan and Elena are eager to compare the Golden Gate to the Brooklyn Bridge when we get to New York.
VAST MILES OF UNPERTURBED LAND
One of the most incredible impressions you get from driving as much of the country as we have thus far is how vast and wide open our fast growing country really is. I thought about that today as we drove through the mountainous north of California and Oregon. We drove through miles and miles of sparsely populated, gorgeous little towns not unlike what you find in less hospitable desert areas of Texas, Arizona and Nevada. I’m not saying I want the U.S. to be as populated as China but if and when we get there, I think we have enough land to accommodate the growth. 
The biggest challenge you encounter in northern California is that it is so unpopulated you don’t find any major shopping areas. Even finding McDonald’s restaurants, one of the most reliable points of connections for us throughout the trip, is often challenging.
MT. SHASTA’S BEAUTY
Even though the drive was long it’s the mountain driving that both makes it feel longer and more beautiful. The further you drive to and through California the more tall and green the trees you encounter. The highlight of our trip was driving by Lucerne, California near Mt. Shasta, where we briefly got off to take some photos late in the day. The quaint small city is modeled after Switzerland, a fact they brag about.
SPRINT NEXTEL ROAD TRIP TIP OF THE DAY
Even if it means losing a night’s stay at a hotel you’ve already paid for, don’t risk driving beyond your driving team’s physical limits. Today, for example, we were supposed to conclude our drive near Oregon’s Mt. Hood but my wife called the trip off. She correctly noted that more than 13 hours and nearly 600 miles was enough for one day on the road. To reach Mt. Hood we would have needed nearly 3 more hours on the road.
We were fortunate and very grateful that the hotel where we were slated to stay, the historic Timberline Lodge is giving us a make-up night tomorrow at no cost to us but the outcome of our request wouldn’t have mattered either way. Know your driving limits and don’t exceed them because smart driving is a matter of safety.
Noticias Newswire 
