Brief Account of my Trip to Los Angeles with Fernando,
22 June 1996 to 8 July 1996
ABSTRACT:
This paper recounts my adventures while travelling to Los Angeles with Fernando Lin and back again to Gabriola Island mostly alone.
Introduction
Fernando Lin is one of my four "acquired" sons from the
Internet. He is from Taiwan and we have been communicating for
seveal months before he came to Ottawa where he spent a week
and then accompanied me to Vancouver and Gabriola. He is 25
years old and, with a degree in business, is a master linguist
with several languages at his command - including Mandarin,
Japanese, the Language of the Phillipines, and Malaysian /
Indonesian as well as English. And he is the very soul of
goodness and kindness. He sees me as his Daddy, and I am
proud and delighted to be his Daddy and to have him as a son.
In another paper, dealing with my thoughts as I approach 60
years of age, I will discuss the abstraction of a Daddy/Son
relationship. This paper is more about actual happenings on
our trip than a meditation on our feelings. Overall, it was a
very special trip, during which I got to know and appreciate
my son much better than before; in fact I cannot remember a
happier time (although some experiences of a different sort
were as happy).
The Trip
We left Gabriola on an early ferry so that we could catch
another early ferry from Nanaimo to Tsewassen, the southerly
port that feeds Vancouver from the Gulf Islands and the city of
Victoria. Of course, the goal was to avoid Vancouver as much
as possible and cross into the USA as quickly as we could -
getting a jump on the trip. Our first goal was Seattle where my
cousin, Marguerite, awaited us with dinner and a place to stay
overnight. On the way we stopped, at Fernando's request, at the
Boeing plant. There he bought the first of very many postcards.
Arriving somewhat early at Marguerite's we chatted for a long
while, had a meal of corned beef and cabbage (which Fernando so
enjoyed that he has ordered me to produce a similar meal when
next we meet), and then went for an exploratory trip to the
City of Seattle as we were then in an eastern suburb called
Kirkland (quite close to the HQ of MicroSoft!) In passing I
should remark that I used to enjoy the corned beef and cabbage
meal when I was much younger, and so did Bob, as I learned when
I spoke to him; but the appropriate cut of meat seems to be
unavailable now in our super-market in Ottawa. I will look
more closely for it when I return as both Bob and I would enjoy
adding it to the list of meals in our reperatoire.
In Seattle, we found that we had arrived after mjost things had
closed. But the unirail to the Tower was still in operaton so
we got on it and enjoyed the ride. There is an amusement area
at its base which we walked around before buying more postcards
and going back to the Centre where we began. Then back to
Marguerite's for a good night's sleep.
The morning found us alone as Marguerite goes out swimming
every morning quite early. [This may be a contributing factor
to her very active life at age 75!] She returned home and served
us a neat breakfast, but we did not leave the Seattle area until
after 1000 hrs.
The next stop was Portland where, according to Fernando, a stop
was to be made at the Washington Park Rose Garden. We found it
satisfactorily and took many photos of roses before once more
embarking for Eugene and the second night on the road. Eugene
is the home of the University and we had a little difficulty
finding a motel. But soon we were settled and arose leisurely
at about 0800 the next day.
Our itinerary then took us west, to the Oregon Coast, beginning
with the town of Florence. The ride over was uneventful, and
the coast was quite a delight to reach. Heading south along the
coast, we stopped for lunch at a town called Bandon. It seems
to be a mecca for fishermen and tourists and our lunch was
tasty and nautical. Onwards in the afternoon, with a brief stop
to take pictures at Ophir. The sands were well peppered with
signs warning agains swimming because of undertow and very
treacherous waters. It was there that I took the photo of a
totally relaxed and happy Fernando of which I most proud.
That evening we arrived at Eureka which was a desired point
from my point of view. I had heard a lot about it, and I was
quite disappointed as it did not stike me as being very
exciting . But I was tired from three days driving and was
probably an eager enquirer about the features of the town.
Day four took us along the Redwood Highway to San Francisco.
Imagine my surprise and delight when, quite unexpectedly, in
the town of Klamath California, we came upon a roadside tourist
attraction called "Trees of Mystery" which was clearly marked
with huge statues of Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe. Note
that the name of my HomePage on the Internet is, in fact, Abe
Luochs's Home Page (for "A Blue Ox's" Home Page). It is so
called because of the ribbing I have taken all my life over the
closeness of my name to that of "cousin" Paul; we had to stop
and talk to the statue which not only converses but turns its
head, winks an eye, and is generally very cordial. I have some
great photos that I will use to mark my Home Page!
The day is Sunday, June 30. As we approach San Francisco, the
radio tells us that the Gay Pride parade is on-going, a great
success, and totally free of violance in spite of the immense
crowd of about 1/3 million people. This occurrence, together with a
commission that I have to deliver some boxes to Henry Reeve
(the son of my very long-term friends on Gabriola, and a
graduate student at UC Berkeley), suggest to us quite strongly
that perhaps it would be better to stay overnight (or two
nights) in Berkeley rather than try to make our way into the
city with the car.
After finding a motel, we went by car over the Bay Bridge to
Chinatown for a dinner that Fernando was delighted to eat after
all the western food that he has had to endure. We noted with
some glee that there T-shirts for sale at 5 for $9.99 and
postcards at 10 for $1.00. After eating we wandered around and
shopped but decided to return the next day as part of our day
in San Francisco. But first we visited Castro Street which
Fernando found not to be exactly what he expected and rather a
bad fit to his personality and interests in life. After having
a beer, we went back to Berkeley for the night.
After delivering the boxes that I had carried from Gabriola to
Berkeley, we re-registered at the motel and took oursleves back
to the city by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transportation), the
underground railway that serves the city from the east bay to,
eventually, the airport south of San Francisco, known as SFO.
Once there, we went to the AAA so that Fernando could arrange
his flight from Burbank to San Diego thereby avoiding LA
traffic; his friend there has offered to drive him back to LAX,
LA's airport, on his way to Honolulu. Then we obtaind a $6.00
run around card for San Francisco public transportation (called
MUNI - for the Municipal Transportation system) and went off to
lunch at Fisherman's Wharf before exploring Pier 39.
After the north beach area, we went over to the end of Golden
Gate Bridge for photographs and more postcards. From there we
took ourselves off to the corner of VanNess and California to
catch one of the cable cars. Returning to Chinatown (via this
cable car) for supper, we were beginning to be quite tired so
went back to our motel in Berkeley after getting our postcards
and T-shirts. We had quite a cool walk over to a BART station.
Tuesday, the next day, was expected to be quite gruelling. It
was planned to be the trek from SF to LA through the Central
Valley of California on Interstate Highway #5. In fact, it was
a real experience: the car radio told us that in Fresno, a town
in the middle of the valley, the temperature was 107 degrees
Farenheit (or 41.6 degrees C.) This is quite hot and added to
the excitement of an otherwise boring trip. We were expected at
the home of Larry and Erna Stark, friends of ours from Ottawa.
We arrived there earlier than expected, but at the cost of
almost giving Fernando a heart attack with his first experience
of the LA Freeway system. Going over the mountains to the north of
LA, the old car behaved exceptionally well, maintaining speed
and not over heating, and when we descended into the San
Fernando (sic!) valley, the traffic thickened and became its
usual chaotic form making it necessary to drive much more
agressively than Fernando might have desired.
Wednesday was our day for LA. But we never got beyond Pasadena
and Glendale (where Larry and Erna have their home), possibly
because after all that travelling fatigue was setting in. Many
chores were done and we went home to a nice meal of barbecued
fish with salad.
Thursday, the Fourth of July, was the day that Fernando left me
to go to San Diego. I drove him to the airport and then took
myself off to the north aiming at the home of Larry and Erna's
daughter, Lindsay, in Sonora (which is across the central
valley to the east of San Francisco). I made it there at the
predicted time and was met and led to their home by Lindsay.
Judy, Lidsay's partner, is a delightful lady. Bob and I were
invited to their wedding some months ago, but the great
distances kept us from going. They served me a delightful meal
of tri-tip of beef (a cut that I did not previously know)
done on the BarBQ and kept rare with the help of an electronic
meat thermometer.
Friday saw me off after lunch with the girls in Csarda's at
Columbia. I had to cross, once more, the Central valley in
intense heat. I was to meet Ted Laderas (another of my new
sons) at SFO, as he had come down to California to visit San
Francisco with me and then return north with me to his home in
Portland. Ted is studying chemistry at Reed College in
Portland, but has enormously wide interests thagt include:
linguistics and semiotics, abstract algebra, rhetoric,
performing music on several different instruments, and bears.
We got ourselves a motel near the Presidio and then went to see
the city. Ted. a Fillipino, also wanted to eat in Chinatown so
that was on the tour. As well we went up Twin Peaks but did not
stay long as it was so cold.
The move back to Oregon started off with a visit to Berkeley
where Ted is thinking of furthering his studies. Then off to
the north and, for supper, we made it as far as Ashland, a
small town in southern Oregon where an annual Shakespearean
festival is held. Supper was wonderful Fish and Chips at a pub
called the Black Swan. Then farther north to Roseland where we
finally found a motel with the "Vacancy" sign still lit.
On the next day, once more Sunday, we set off for Portland
where we shopped at Fred Meyer's, lunched at the Old Spaghetti
factory, and then parted company at Ted's university apartment.
I moved on towards Olympia and up the Olympic peninsula to
visit my cousin, Peter, Marguerite's son, in Port Townsend. I
supped along the way but arrived there before dark.
Finally, on Tuesday morning, I took my leave of Peter and set
off to arrive at the Port Angeles ferry 2.5 hours before the
expected sailing time of 1245. Still the line was very long,
and I was number 19 in the waiting queue. Finally I was,
luckily, the second last car to board the ferry even though I
had steeled myself for the wait for the next one at 1715. After
fighting unbelievable traffic in Victoria and the construction
work on the highway north from Victoria to Nanaimo, I made it
to Ladysmith in time for supper with Ken Childs, another
friend from Ottawa. So I managed to sleep in my own bed on the
8th July, some 18 days after departing. It was, as I said
above, a wonderful experience and one which I do not regret at
all having taken.
If you have any comments or questions about this, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
(c) 1995 dbonyun@earthling.net
Return to Abe's Document Index.
Return to Abe Luochs's Home at SoHo 2692.