Arrived at San Diego from Sedona, AZ. It was pretty long trip, but Wendy and I was excited about the few hours on road, especially when we see the few miles of desert at the border of Mexico.
My Impression of US Cities
As anyone, before really setting foot to a place, we have some fixed impressions about it. It may comes from TV series, movie, or a photo. People always make mistakes about the impression.
I thought Las Vegas was just about few streets with some big hotels. I was completely wrong. It is a huge city! From the entrance of I-15, the lights of the cities look like a sea!
My impression about San Diego was also few Mexican style houses, but it turned out San Diego is a modern city with the feeling of Seattle, WA. It is actually the 8th largest city in population in U.S. I now know it is much bigger than Seattle.
From Summit of Summer to Normal Temperature
The outside temperature changes dramatically today. In noon, near Phoenix, it was as high as 113 °F (45 °C), and at night, in San Diego, it is as low as 66°F(18°C).
Travel by car is the best way to learn about geography. The high mountain (called Peninsular Ranges) separate the humid and cool wind (in winters, warm wind) from the ocean. The worlds on the east and west side of the range are completely different, just like the Himalayas separated the comfortable lands in India and the tough climate in Tibet. When you travel, you experience the two world within just few hours. The highest point of the road is 4181 feet at Crestwood Summit (picture), and the lowest point is few feet below the sea level somewhere near El Centro.
I will write more about the very “unplanned”, “stay where I like” style of my trip in the future.
虽然感觉自己被你们公司的HR忽悠了,但是我还是顶你一下吧。
Vegas is not a huge city, but it does have quite a few huge buildings (casino, hotel, resorts, shopping center), and the lights. The casinos are pretty concentrated (located on the Strip). I never been to Macao, but I expect it will be similar.
It’s amazing that you get to travel so much and see new places.
I grew up in the U.S., but I never saw most of America. I’ve never been to the South, the Midwest, or any of the areas you are describing. There are so many places on my to-see list: Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Chicago, New Orleans.
My only (very brief) trips to the West Coast were to San Francisco when I was 12, and a plane stopover in Los Angeles.
Enjoy your trip!