Today as I was driving back into Los Angeles, I started thinking about our very first trip out here when we first started driving. I was so excited to get to go to California, let alone Los Angeles! Growing up we didn't travel much except for a few trips to Colorado during the summers before we moved up there. We didn't do the annual summer vacations like a lot of families did. Both of my parents worked but we were definitely lower middle income, maybe even considered low income for some years. But we always had a good roof over our head, food in the fridge and we had what we needed. Maybe not what I "wanted", but we never went without. But I digress....
As I was thinking about that first trip out here, I remembered how it was such a big deal to finally get to see California. After all, at that time I was 37 and had never been. Since I had never been, and only seeing it on television, I have to admit that the desert part crossing I-40 threw me for a loop. I didn't know that there were mountains of that size out here in the desert. Big huge mountains with nothing but dead scrub brush on them. Absolutely no green as far as the eye could see unless it was a car. I found it very strange and yet fascinating at the same time. At one time, that whole area was basically the bottom of the ocean. Can you imagine a prehistoric shark swimming in that area? Or what about the dinosaurs before it was ocean? Or maybe they were after it was ocean? That was something that I had to think about.
We kept heading west and slowly we started seeing civilization. The first town of any size is Barstow. Just a town out in the middle of nowhere at the junction of I-40 and I-15. This is where I-40 starts on the West Coast. If you go north on I-15 you head up into Las Vegas and when you go south, you will end up in Los Angeles. We headed south and continued our way towards LA.
The next towns we got to would have been Victorville and Hesperia, respectively. There are a lot of long climbs and downhills coming across the desert but I think we were surprised when after passing Hesperia, we started a rather long downhill grade starting into the valley that had a truck speed of 45 mph and "suggested" that you use a lower gear. There is a reason. Dang, it is a long downhill and I remember seeing several trucks smoking their brakes. Of course, since we were new drivers, we really paid attention to the signs and probably came down the hill too slow. But you know that saying, "You can come down a hill too slow a million times, you can only come down it too fast once."
We realized we were actually starting to come into the Los Angeles area, and I have to say, it was not all that I hoped it would be. It was actually rather disappointing. They are always talking about how the weather is always perfect in California. I wondered how they could even see the sun through the immense haze of smog. Imagine a HUGE valley, as far as you can see, covered in fog. Now imagine that fog is brown. Yep, that is what it looked like. Perfect blue sky above it, almost a perfectly straight line delineating the smog from the blue sky. I imagine if the smog hadn't have been there, it would have been a sight to see.
After my disappointing first glimpse of the Los Angeles area, I realized it got worse. People don't know how to drive here. At all. The freeways constantly resemble one two things. First, Daytona Speedway and secondly, a Walmart parking lot on Black Friday. They are either doing 90 mph or it is at a standstill. Maybe I should have compared it to an Indy race instead of Daytona. That is probably a better description. It is like a road track with the drivers weaving in and out of traffic, all trying to get past each other while doing 90 mph. That is definitely a better description. And never mind using your signals. You can go miles with it on, trying to change lanes, and no one will let you over. If you want over, you better force your way, because that is the only way you are changing lanes.
Over the years, we have been in and out of the Los Angeles area a lot, and have figured out how to maneuver around here, but I will never get used to the mentality of the people here. So for all of you people that call the Los Angeles area your home, I know there are some very nice people out here because we have ran across them, but you guys can keep Los Angeles. I would rather have an open highway any day of the week. :-)
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