Highway 5 and the lights of the Valley

Today was the jaunt through California along Highway 5. Approximately 550 miles through California heartland and the bottom of the Sierra Nevadas.
The Valley was beautiful and bright. A vivacious sun heating the ground, turning the hills that lovely brown gold for which the state is known. The air half way down was darkened by the smoke from that fire that's been going on since July. It gave the air a smokey blue grey cast. And though it was dark by the time we passed the windmills near Bakersfield, I could see them turning in the moonlight, along with the silhouetted oak trees on the various shades of blue and grey that made the hills as we approached the state border.
Tomorrow we'll make a stop at the Grand Canyon, which I've never seen before. I told Miss Sophia I'd post a picture of it just for her.