The Garden of the Blind

I’ve got to tell you, I had no idea what San Diego was like. I was born in California some time ago, and as far as we can tell, it had been about 25 years or more since my last visit to the area, which took place during my toddleracy. This time, business took me there, and I took a wife. And I had enough self-awareness to know where I was and what was going on around me (except during the classes I attended there, when I was asleep).

This trip marked my third time driving into California since my family moved away about 23 years ago. Speaking of driving, that almost didn’t happen. We had chosen to drive in order to save on airfare, and we even made arrangements to stay with relatives on the way down, in order to break up the long drive (and to make it easier to get to Sea World before it closed).

We set out early Monday morning, and made it about 15 miles before we saw steam coming from under the hood. 3 hours and $300 later, we were on our way again, but with a new radiator (note: my car would have burnt up going 30 miles, but we briefly considered buying a new car so we could make the trip, and to replace my current golf cart).

Driving for 11-12 hours isn’t quite as bad as I had expected. It helps if you can sleep for much of the time, and if there aren’t any children in the car, an occasional colorful remark can help ease frustration with the incompetent drivers who go 30 below the speed limit in the left lane. Also, Californians drive very fast. I hadn’t noticed this before.

The following are things I learned on this trip:

Sea mammals (whales, dolphins, and seals) are much more fun to watch than fish, although sharks aren’t too bad.

Apparently 17 whales named Shamu aren’t enough.

“We’ve tried to warn you all, but oh dear.”

I-805 intersects I-15, but still runs in a generally north-south direction.

San Diego is not a coastal plain, but rather a series of hills and canyons, with most of the freeways built in the canyons.

Sometimes it’s better to drive around for a while than to get proper directions.

Also, a lot of San Diego area road signs are very misleading.

Also, they have way too many protected left turn lanes.

The McDonalds in Barstow isn’t nearly as cool as I remember it being, and their service is very, very slow.

If a roadside gas station looks abandoned, it probably is, even if there is a kid wandering around it. When in doubt, look for the broken windows.

If a Subway restaurant doesn’t have some sort of non-wheat bread, I’m not going to eat there.