Our Trip Across America Part 7

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

 The next morning we headed West again, this time on I-8 across the desert, thru Yuma and El Centro.  It was so hot, even with the car A/C on full blast, we still had to continually suck on ice cubes to try to stay cool, and we were still hot.   I kept expecting the engine to overheat, but luckily it didn’t, and we finally came out of that desert heat into the cool of San Diego, California.  Wow, what a relief that was after several days of blistering heat!

DiVoran and I were married there while I was in the Navy, and we lived our first eight months there before I was shipped out to Japan for a six month cruise of the Far East.

We visited DiVoran’s brother David and his family who lived in Bonita, which was just south of San Diego, almost on the Mexican border.  He had a Mexican housekeeper named Angelica who hadn’t been in the U.S. very long.   She had come from a rich family in Mexico and didn’t know the first thing about house cleaning, but boy could she cook!  She made the best Chili Rellanos I ever ate.  David’s house was so close to the border that he said he could sometimes see the Mexican illegals walking thru his back yard on their way to town to look for work.

Our next stop was up the coast about 125 miles to the city of Inglewood, where I went to college and to show our kids the hospital where they were born.  And, of course, the donut shop where I had my breakfast most mornings during my college years.

We also looked for the three houses in town that we lived in during the 8 years we were there, but could only find two still standing.  Boy, had that area changed!  Somewhere in the Los Angeles area, our A/C fan belt broke and I was so glad it hadn’t happened while were crossing the desert.  Here again, things worked out, as the spare fan belts were in the tool box and I was able to change it myself without too much delay.

From there we went out to Diamond Bar, a suburb of Los Angeles, to visit Terry and Mary, some of our friends from Titusville.  I had worked with Terry, and our kids had grown up together.  They took us to one of their favorite restaurants called Pinnacle Pete’s, where we were treated to wonderful Mesquite grilled steaks in a very relaxed atmosphere.  When we walked into the dining area, we were surprised to see the ceiling covered with ties.  I asked “what’s with all the ties?” and was told that it was a tradition to bring unsuspecting friends there for dinner, after which the waitress would bring your check and a big pair of scissors and cut the tie off of anyone wearing one.  It would then be stapled wherever there was an open space.  What a hoot that was!

—To Be Continued—

Tags: Family Vacation, Travel Series