After a couple of quick maneuvers to get on the correct highway, we left San Jose. The highway runs through the valley for a while, then starts climbing into the mountains. It's a very steep, twisty climb, and I enjoyed it.

We were in mesh gear, knowing it was going to get warm as the day progressed, but at over 10,000 feet things get cold. We actually hovered on the line of being hypothermic- but we knew when the mountains would end, so it was okay.

There were quite a few construction zones- either our lane or the opposing lane would be closed, so there were flaggers and the inevitable lineups of cars. I would skip the queue and go to the front- with no noticeable objection from drivers. There was an Audi A4 in the lineup (very new, no plates) though- he was going quite fast- enough that I let him pass me and didn't have the nerve to keep up with him. Impressive.

The mountains ended, we dropped down to near sea level, and stopped for lunch. It was miserably hot, which was amusing in an ironic way. The food wasn't anything special, but it was a nice break.

From there it was on to the border, about 50 miles down the road. We were headed towards some very menacing clouds- I asked Tamara if we should stop, she said 'not yet'. So we went another few minutes. The clouds didn't look darker, but the rain was starting, so we put on some rain gear. I put on overpants and my jacket liner, but kept my mesh gloves. Tamara put on her jacket liner, and kept her mesh gloves and mesh pants.

The light rain quickly became heavy rain. The wiper on my gloves was completely useless. It's so humid and *wet* that my helmet started fogging. I had to quickly raise it, wipe the inside with my glove, then close it before getting completely drenched.. and that meant only the bottom half of my visor was fog-free. Still, it was enough.