US Route 101

U.S. Route 101 is the westernmost highway of the 1926 U.S. Federal Highway System. A north-south federal highway, it "mirrors" U.S. Route 1 on the U.S. east coast U.S. 101 originally connected our borders with Canada and Mexico between Blaine, Washington and San Ysidro, California. It was, and remains, a major north-south transportation corridor serving Washington, Oregon and California. It is also the longest U.S. highway in California. The highway in 2013 serves in the shadow of the much newer Interstate 5. U.S. 101 also survived the Great California U.S. Highway Mass Extinction of 1964. The 377 mile San Ysidro - Los Angeles segment was decommissioned in the 1970s because a parallel segment of Interstate 5 was nearing completion at the time. For his fourth U.S. highway adventure book, Mike Newlon drove his 1969 Porsche 912 southbound on the full surviving 1,540 mile length of the highway. As with his previous books about other U.S. highways, Mike's perceptive eye and digital cameras present readers with the highway and some of its previous alignments. In addition to the highway itself, Mike's book brings readers the historic architecture, the magnificent California Redwoods, the spectacular Pacific Coast and very active geology along the highway.