Go West Young Man!

Well, come Sunday evenin' that's what I'm gonna do by golly! This will be my bi decade vacation and I'm going to San Deigo to spend a few days with my Marine Corps son before he gets deployed over yonder.

The only other time I've been there, save in a tractor/trailer was in the early 60's. I was in the 3rd grade and my parents pulled me out of school for two weeks to travel across country to see my sister.

We had a 1948 Pontiac the trunk of which was packed to the gills with luggage for the three of us and clothes for the four grandbabies (two of whom we'd never seen).

The back seat contained a pump organ of German desent that my Dad had found in a pile on the back steps of a house he was remodeling. He dragged it home, restored it to mint condition, and declared he was taking to his youngest daughter.

From Memphis we turned south and took the southern route thru Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. In 1961 the Interstate system was still just a sparkle in Ike's eye.

There were no rest areas as we know them today but rather the shiny aluminum trailers which served as eateries (similar to what The Little Chef was originally) and lots of Tepee shaped motels with a gas pump located nearby.

In El Paso the universal joints gave out in the Pony due mostly to the weight she was carrying. By the time we got to Phoenix, blowing sand had pitted the windshield so badly that you could not see out it. My father was not very understanding of the fact that in neither case were parts for a '48 Pontiac readily available. Personally I thought it was neat to sleep in a Tepee wannabe.

The most memorable part of Arizona for me was how far one could see. Dad's program was to hit the road around 3 AM, stop for breakfast about 8, and then start looking for a motel around 3 PM. Going across the desert, that made a lot of sense back then. It was often a long way between those shiny cafes'.

On one particular morn we started out in the dark and saw a faint fire burning in the distance. There was a mountain range to the west of it so it shown pretty good way out there. We drove that day and never passed it. The next morning, sure enough, there was that fire albeit a bit brighter than the day before. Around noon we finally came upon it's source which turned out to be a gas well burning off the residue. Now bear in mind the top speed on the ole Pontiac was nothing compared to the modern version, but that was still a fer piece for this 8 year old to comprehend. When they say flat, they mean it!

We arrived in Yuma to find snow and confusion. Upon inquiry we were informed that this was the first snow many of the locals had ever seen in their lifetime. My father assured them if it was he was to blame for bringing it to them from back East, they'd never see another flake!

Upon arriving in San Diego, we encounterd yet another fluke as it was overcast, rainy & bone chilling cold the entire three days we were there. The sun popped out long enough one day for us to go to the beach and pick up shells some of which I'm still carryin' around forty plus years later.

Helen was impressed with the organ but decided she had seen enough of California so three days later the trunk got stuffed even more and the overflow along with her and the four babies occupied the back seat. The Pontiac got no releif whatsoever and for me the return trip was even more crowded and miserable. Now there were screamin' brats fighting over the cherished sleeping spot in the tepee's!

Anywho that was my first time there and subsequent trips have been very little better. They just don't take kindly to taking 70 foot rigs through drive thrus!

Hopefully this time will be different. Martin has trained there on two other occasions and knows his way around not only the tourist traps but more importantly many of the brewpubs in the area. That's what Marines do after lugging around 90 lb backpacks all day. They go drink beer and lots of it!

The only thing I've got planned for sure other than his graduation ceremony is a tour of the Stone Brewery complex in Escondido. That'll take the better part of one day or two or thr......!!