So, I cross over into the USA at Agua Prieta. It is a great place to cross with hardly any waiting. The immigration folks politely ask me to pull over into an inspection area where 3 officers, all women, go through the truck. They are very courteous and businesslike.

After 10 minutes they come back, looking serious, “Sir, we have found contraband in your vehicle.”

Can I make a run for it?

No need to worry as with big grins, they display a potato and a grapefruit. “Sir, I am afraid you will have to leave these items with us.”

I stop for breakfast in Bisbee Arizona.

I then take the smallest roads I can to San Francisco.

Tombstone, Globe, Pine, Flagstaff, Page, Cedar City, Caliente, Tonopah, Bishop, Sacramento, San Francisco. Absolutely amazing drive, apart from one incident in Cameron, Arizona, about which more in future post.

The South West is huge and the trusty Tacoma trundled through deserts, snow, forests, lots and lots of old, semi-deserted towns. We only did about 30 miles on Freeway before we hit 80 in Sacramento.

I finally approach the Bay Area just as it starts to pour with rain and gets dark. My eyesight is still not terrific and being surrounded by thousands of cars, going 65mph on 6 lane highways was almost as bad as going down the mountain road into Ulrique. I am a country boy now.

We made it! Well done truck! She did not falter once in 5400 miles. I read the BBC web site to find that the UK is facing its coldest night for a decade at – 12C. Ha! We were camping out in – 29C at Horseshoe Bends! Didn’t really realize just how cold it was at the time. Crazy!