On the road again

Sunday, I am on the road again to Southern California to take my granddaughter home and eventually to go the UCLA Medical Center to see my pulmonary specialist. We’ll leave about 6 in the morning and won’t stop until we reach Hawthorne where I get a cup of coffee and Dakoda will get a hot chocolate for the road.

I always stop at the top of Montgomery Pass where I get out to take a little walk. There is nothing there. All the buildings have been torn down or are rotting away where there used to be a nice motel and casino. The next stop is Bishop, where we always stop and have breakfast at Denny’s.

On the road again, the next thing of great interest is the Manzanar Internment Camp which imprisoned many fine American citizens during World War II, simply because they were of Japanese descent. That was one of the darkest chapters in our history and demonstrates very clearly what big mistakes Americans can make when they are scared - like after 9/11. The Supreme Court finally found the camps to be unconstitutional, but not until much suffering had occurred. There is a museum there now and if you ever get a chance, you should stop there for a visit; it’s very enlightening.

Also worth a visit is the Western Movie museum in Lone Pine. I always get Big Pine and Lone Pine mixed up. Many western movies were filmed at the base of the Sierras. You will recognize the terrain in many movies, especially if you watch as many old westerns as I do.

We’ll drive through Ridgecrest, which has been the home for some of Americas finest test pilots and even Astronauts. I honestly don’t know what is happening there now, but I think it is still a possible alternative landing spot for space shuttles.

Dakoda, yes it’s spelled with a “d”, lives with her mother in Apple Valley, once the home of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, and, of course, Trigger and all the other Triggers that followed. They didn’t have far to go if they wanted to film around Lone Pine. I never quite understood the reason why Rogers stuffed his famous mount. It always seemed a little bazaar to me. I wonder where Trigger is now?

After dropping off Dakoda, I’ll drive over Cajun Pass, where recently a disastrous fire broke up, which leads to San Bernardino and the most unbelievable sprawling mass of humanity in the United States. San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles, and a portion of San Diego and Ventura counties all merge together until it seems the city will never end. And that’s when the traffic begins.

Most Angelinos drive at least 15 miles over the limit when they can, which isn’t very often any more. It is absolutely hair raising to find yourself in the middle of traffic where cars are no more than 20 feet apart all going at least eighty miles an hour. Then it gets scary. It all comes to a screeching halt. It can be bumper to bumper for hours until you get to where you are going.

On my way to Newbury Park where my son lives, I must stop in Simi Valley and have a chili cheese dog at Tommy’s. If you have never had a burger or chili dog at Tommy’s you have missed a real treat. I used to drive to Van Nuys to eat there. Wouldn’t you know they built one in Simi, about a mile from the Reagan library, just after I left.

The Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley is a must visit no matter what your political persuasion. Built in the eighties, when I was still a City Council member, it has been upgraded magnificently

If I’m lucky I’ll get to my son’s house about 5 o’clock. It will be Sunday, so baring an accident tie up, there won’t be as much traffic. I hope.

Monday I’ll drive to UCLA and visit my doctor. This is an every six months experience. The drive to UCLA on the San Diego freeway can be a nightmare. Congestion on that freeway, which leads to Los Angeles

International Airport, can be bumper to bumper for as far as you can drive, or crawl.

If I’m really lucky, I, with my son and family, will catch a Dodgers game at Dodger stadium, one of my favorite places on the planet. If I’m really lucky, the home team will win.

The best thing about the drive home is reaching my destination. It’s true ... there is no place like home.

Glen McAdoo, a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glynn@phonewave.net.