California - Love it or Hate it, It's There
Written: Dec 12 '02 (Updated Dec 15 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great weather! Lovely plants!
Cons: High crime rate, felt subhuman at times.
Earthquakes! Smog!
The Bottom Line: California has great weather, but I felt less than human at times. Variety of activities, rainy season in the winter time.
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California is where I was born. I grew up less than 5 miles from Watts, the area with the riots in the 1960s. Shortly before they happened, we moved to a Hispanic neighborhood, Pico Rivera.
This review is not meant to be review on what to do once in California, but how California differs from where I live in the Midwest and perhaps how it differs from where you live, too.
I remember being able to grow tomatoes year round. I remember having a peach tree and an avocado tree in our backyard. Neither bore fruit, as I remember. I also remember an apricot tree, laden with apricots, in a house my mom was going to buy. The tree that did bear fruit was the fig tree.
I went back to the house where I grew up, near Watts. Even though the underprivileged lived there when I grew up, the landscaping looked beautiful! Birds of Paradise, roses and other lush, lovely plants give a property an air of elegance, not to mention freshly cut lawns!
I was always proud that I lived in one of the “best” states in the nation. It was large and had a lot of things to do. One could go into the mountains and play in the snow, or go to the beach and swim, all less than an hour or two away. For-profit businesses abounded there, due in no small part to the great weather, 10 months per year.
When my brother came, he usually did so for Christmas. That was the rainy season. Water would be up to a car’s threshold in certain neighborhoods. Southern California can be so flat; there are few places for the water to drain.
When he did come, we would go to places like Pacific Ocean Park, Marineland or newly built Disneyland. Before I moved away, we even went to Busch Gardens. I don’t remember any rides there then, just a nice garden setting, perhaps a few ducks roaming around, and of course, the free beer. My mom’s friend slipped me some beer and the attendants busted me. I didn’t get in trouble, just told not to drink on their property.
Entering California on our most recent trip in October of 2002, we were stopped at a Fruit and Vegetable Inspection Station a few miles over the border. They will ask you if you are bringing any fruit into the state. They will let certain fruit pass, and inspect other fruit. We had some apples we purchased at a grocery store earlier on our trip. Since they had the “Washington State sticker” on them, we were allowed to bring them in. We got a pamphlet stating among other things, the bottoms of RVs from Pennsylvania get inspected, as they tend to bring in the gypsy moth that can destroy California crops.
There was also an Amber Alert when we entered the state. We were stopped at a roadblock and a message on an overhead LED, described the vehicle the suspect was driving. We felt like we were in the movie, Minority Report. The father, who “stole” his daughter, was located later that night.
We made an unplanned trip to San Ysidro, along the Mexican border. We were looking for a camping spot, but found that the RV park closed at 5pm. We finally settled at Ramada Inn, Ltd. I guess Ltd. really described the property! I couldn’t believe what I saw. In our room there was a wooden box with a lock on it, resembling a small refrigerator. A lock on a REFRIGERATOR??? We told the desk clerk. He said he’d move us to another room, upstairs. This room didn’t HAVE a refrigerator. Oh well. Neither the tub nor the sink had stoppers in them. One or the other had a crack in it. We were tired, lodging seemed sparse. We stayed at this dive.
We went to the local grocery store. It had red cement pillars around the front doors to prevent folks from taking shopping carts more than 20’ from the front door. The pay telephones out front wouldn’t accept coins. The ATM didn’t work either. We had plenty of money in our account and the signs indicated it would accept our type of ATM card. We called our bank back home to ask what the problem was. They said their system had never received a request for money. At least we still had money in the bank.
Late the night before, when we got into town, we pulled into a gas station. It was a pre-pay situation. I had to use the restroom. I approached the store and there was an attendant sitting in an area behind bulletproof glass. The doors were locked. She would have gotten me whatever I wanted from inside, such as cigarettes or candy, but I couldn’t enter. I felt less than human. So, this is how the other half lives. I felt like a criminal. Perhaps if folks keep getting treated like criminals, they finally start acting out. I don't know.
We went to the AAA in San Diego. I guess one can renew their license plates there. There were chairs lined up against the wall to wait until your turn came up. I noticed there was a dark spot above each chair, where folks rested their heads. We asked a clerk about housing in the area. He said low cost homes were around $200,000 to $300,000. He was even willing to commute 50 miles to get a “reasonably priced house at $300,000. “ What does one have to do to be able to afford such housing? Deal drugs?? Surely a couple working at a minimum wage job would be SOL when it came to affordable housing.
Later we went to the beach, and it was a LOVELY day. We first stopped at Ralphs Grocery Store. I never saw a parking lot UNDER a store, but I guess there is a first time for everything. Each grocery store we stopped at, we got a Player’s Club Card, I mean a discount card. I put our address on the application along with a fake telephone number, so it wouldn't be sold and be solicited. We got a lot of good bargains at the grocery stores, such as 70-cent two-liter pop, while on the road.
We ate our lunch at the beach. I LOVE seagulls. The pigeons came to our feet and ate the crumbs that fell off the breaded chicken. The seagulls weren’t quite that brave. After I got done with a drumstick, I tossed it on the ground for the seagulls. I expected them to pick the left over meat and perhaps the gristle off it. Instead, one seagull snatched it away from the others and gulped it down in one fell swoop! I’m not sure if it was good for them, but I gave them the rest of my bones, too.
We later went to Croce’s Restaurant, run by Jim’s widow. I teased my husband about it being closed. Guess what? It WAS closed, at least for lunch. We were able to sit down at the bar and look around the restaurant. Hubby ordered a beer and I ordered a diet pop. I believe the bill was $7.00. There were various photographs hanging here and there, along with original notes Jim Croce wrote when creating his songs. A large painting of him was against the back wall. The restaurant is located in downtown San Diego.
We started out for our trip back to Arizona at about 2:30 p.m. on Friday. We thought we would beat the rush hour traffic. Imagine our surprise when all we encountered was rush hour style traffic. Traffic was heavy on the main roads leading to the interstate and heavy as well once on the freeway. At times we went 8 miles in 45 minutes. Finally about 4 p.m. we were far enough out of town for the traffic to lighten up.
We stopped for the night at a Kampground Of America (KOA) in Victorville, California, a border town. I noticed bars on the windows. I asked if there was heavy crime on the campgrounds. They said on the holidays folks drink beer and get out of hand. I suggested they ban beer. He said, “NO!” and pointed to their cooler. He said beer is one of their most profitable items. Everything there seemed to be pretty much under lock and key.
All in all, California seems to have great weather, but extremely high prices. In some of the poor areas, folks seem to be treated subhuman, but perhaps there is a reason for this. I left California years ago, and when I would come back to visit, Mom would warn me not to go out alone at night. I don’t think I would mind living in the distant suburbs, but not in the metro area.
As far as recommendations, if you can avoid the high priced areas, yet stay out of the high crime areas, you would have a great place to live.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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remnjava
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