You can’t get there from here

We will be in California for another two months – until June 8. But it is not too early to think about the route that we will take to get back to Massachusetts. We are committed to arriving by July 15, so that means that we need to travel across the country in just 5 weeks (6 weekends) rather than the 13 weeks that we invested in the GTW (Great Trip West, for those of you who haven’t read the older posts). It will be very different than the GTW not only in its duration, but also because I will continue to work while we travel, meaning that our travel days will almost exclusively be weekends. We are dubbing this trip the Quick Trip East (QTE).

Arguably the most interesting part of the trip will be the first segment from Aguanga to I-10 near Palm Springs. The obvious route is north on CA 371, then east and north on CA 74 to Palm Desert, then a few miles on CA 111 to I-10. This route is 54 miles on roads that have no sharp curves, no low bridges and are plenty wide enough for our rig. However, the route also has some large elevation changes – up 2,000 feet and then down 3,000 feet – with most of the drop occurring in a 5-mile stretch involving 7 turnbacks and some vertigo-inducing views.

As Jett already suffers from vertigo even when on solid, flat ground, I think this route would be too much for her. I would have to put her into a drug-induced coma to make this route viable. I decided to look for alternatives.

The next obvious option would be to go north on CA 371 as before – this road is relatively straight and, while it also climbs 2,000 feet, it does so gradually. Then, instead of turning right on CA 74 we could turn left to drop into Hemet, then take CA 79 north to I-10. Unfortunately, the drop into Hemet, though not as dramatic as the drop into Palm Desert, has even more sharp curves and the road is fairly narrow. Not feasible. It was also much longer: 110 miles, more than double the length of Option 1.

The third option was to travel northwest on CA 79 a few miles, then north on Sage Road into Hemet where we could connect with CA 79. But Sage Road was even more narrow and with sharper curves than CA 74 into Hemet. It is 87 miles – shorter than Option 2 – but still not feasible.

After rejecting all these mountain options I decided that we would have to avoid the mountains altogether. One option would be to take CA 79 20 miles back into Temecula, then get on I-15 and I-215 north to I-10. This would be feasible, but MUCH longer: 117 miles. I looked for an option that would avoid the mountains yet be shorter than this obvious route. I found one through Hemet that would work: down CA 79 12 miles, then north on Anza Road and Rancho California Road (through scenic Temecula wine country), then north on CA 79 to I-10. This route cuts off 20 miles (87 miles) and, except for a minor climb north of Hemet, is very flat and straight. Unless someone suggests a better option – or Jett decides to go into a coma so we can take Option 1 – this is how we will exit Aguanga.