L.A. to San Diego

Today is a travel day and we get on the road early with the coach to avoid getting caught up in a traffic delay while going around a St. Patrick’s Day parade planned for Main Street in Ventura.  Two floats pass us traveling in the opposite direction and they are the only evidence of the impending parade.  We will plan more time to explore Ventura on our return trip here sometime during the next few weeks.  Now we are focused on getting to San Diego to see family and spend two weeks getting our paperwork ready for the job in our new territory.  We cruise by the beach and gentle waves come ashore at Ventura's pier.

Passing through Oxnard, we head easterly for a while into the sun on this clear, blue-sky day along US 101 South.  It isn’t long before we reach the San Fernando Valley and connect to Interstate-405.   Going south, we pass through Studio City where Hollywood films and TV sitcoms have been made in various studios located here for over ninety years starting with silent films in the late 1920’s and continuing right up until today.  At one time in the sixties, Jim could see a hill from the highway we travel now that was fully engaged in a Roman battle scene with chariots, horses, soldiers and banks of lights all in the process of being filmed.  Now all we can see are buildings as we pass through the same stretch of highway.  We cross “The Hill” above Los Angeles and down into the Los Angeles Basin passing UCLA, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Hermosa Beach, and then Los Angeles International Airport.  Traffic is getting heavier by the mile even on a Saturday and in spite of the combined lanes in each direction doubling and then tripling.

The road turns a corner at Long Beach and continues down through Orange County to join Interstate-5 for the final stretch into San Diego.  Along the way we pass the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant’s reactors, two of which are called “Mae West” by local pilots.  Currently the reactors are being permanently retired following a malfunction in their steam generators occurring in 2010.  The Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton follows situated along the coastline on either side of the Interstate with Navy facilities located here as well.  No evidence of last summer’s fires here are visible from the highway.  Strawberry and raspberry fields now surround the bunkers of Camp Pendleton. 

Learning how to pronounce Spanish names like Calabasas are the current challenge for me but Jim finds it easy after living in the L.A. area for many years.  For example, what does Tamarack mean when we see it in the name of a street?  It means, “A coniferous tree with bunches of deciduous bright green needles, found in cool regions of the northern hemisphere.  It is grown for its tough timber and its resin (which yields turpentine.)” according to the New Oxford American Dictionary.  It is fun to learn the definition and realize the connection early, Spanish settlers made in this area to indigenous trees and other natural phenomenon when naming their streets, towns and rivers.  Now I feel I want to learn more Spanish.  We note that even this far south from Los Angeles, road crews are building more freeways in Orange County where 18 lanes are already in place!  Gold colored, metal sculptures of swallows adorn a wall along the highway as we pass through the city of San Juan Capistrano.  Finally we arrive in San Diego and settle into Mission Bay RV Park where we will spend two weeks.  An evening walk in the balmy weather along a paved path fronting the bay assures us this is as close to Heaven as one could wish for in the middle of March.

Snoopy’s Corner:

“Do crows flying in pairs represent mates?” was my question of the day.  I asked Mom and she looked it up.  Now we know a whole lot more about crows.  The crows we have been seeing are called American Crows.  We found out they are highly social birds, and like to be in groups rather than alone. Several will roost and forage together and crows often stay together in year-round families.  We discovered the parents often have their offspring around for up to two years. The whole family cooperates to raise the new youngsters.  Crows are very intelligent and often will work together in devising solutions to particular problem such as recognizing and acquiring an unusual source of food.  They also work together to harass or drive off predators.  This is called a behavior known as mobbing.  Wow, I am impressed!  I sure don’t want them mobbing me.  I think I will stick inside the coach and admire them from afar.

P.S.  I really like it here at Mission Bay too!  Mom has the windows open and I can hear the birds and nap directly in the sun!  They walked to this view last night and I did not go.  Actually, I am pretty happy with my view right from the coach.