I last did that drive about 4 years ago, coming in just south of Lake Tahoe, and they did stop me. They were too cheap/polite to tear the car apart looking for

I last did that drive about 4 years ago, coming in just south of Lake Tahoe, and they did stop me. They were too cheap/polite to tear the car apart looking for stuff, as expected. Actually, they pretty much waved me through as soon as they saw California plates and heard that I had only left California briefly. Back in the day, they would dig through your stuff a bit. It was still pretty symbolic though. They sure wouldn't find egg cases stuck to your shock absorbers. It's mostly to protect the agriculture industry from disease and pests. I suppose it's also about other invasive species as well.