San Diego or Bust

Once the fair green spring had come to our corner of Pennsylvania and we'd drunk in our fill of sunshine, glistening streams, and fresh foliage in the wooded roadsides, it was time to think about another family trip.

Of course. I'd ridden that rowdy school bus home for the last time. We didn't really belong here, had no reason to stick around.

This time, it would be California, LA and San Diego. We were just visiting, as we had visited many places before. My dad had traveled there in the 60s, in his favorite car, a Corvette. He wanted to show us around a little. San Diego. I had no context for it, so I couldn't visualize anything. It was a nice place, according to my dad.

How do you afford a long road trip with four kids? I wonder about that, now. First, we camped at night, with occasional stays in affordable hotels. Second, we seldom ate at restaurants. My siblings remember my mom handing back bologna sandwiches as we drove. Third, gas was cheap. I remember it hovering around a dollar. One day, after driving through desolate landscapes, we limped into Nephi, Utah (or some such place) needing gas and gasped at the sign announcing the price of $1.20. We said we were going elsewhere to refuel.

We hauled along a large brown tent with two rooms. My sister and I slept in the front section with two blankets under us and two on top. I had little trouble sleeping at that age, so it was fine. The only place where this nighttime arrangement became a problem was in Rocky Mountain State Park, where it got cold and the ground was lumpy. We lingered there for more than a day to experience what my dad called "the" Rocky Mountains and witness the strange, alert marmots popping up and frisking around for the tourists.

It must have been that cross-country trip where we stopped in Hershey, Pennsylvania. We loaded into the little indoor train cars for the free tour of the chocolate factory and were dumped straight into the souvenir shop at the end. While I wandered the store, my mom informed us that we were allowed to each select $2 worth of candy to take with us. Unheard of. We loaded up with Reese's Peanut Butter cups and other confections to brighten our trip.

At the entrance to Hershey Park, we noticed my dad inquiring at the ticket booth. I'd been to this park before with a friend from New York, but I didn't think it was reasonable to expect our whole family to get in. But we were, in fact, buying tickets, my dad said, because they were discounted after five. We entered the park disbelieving that we were getting to do this. It was unexpected fun to have our mom join us on the roller coasters and enjoy them, but motion sickness got her early on and she had to sit the rest out. Still, we felt privileged to experience this surprise.*

At one of our $8 a night campgrounds, my sister and I had an argument. We were going to live in San Diego, she said. We were actually moving there. No, we weren't, I countered. We were just visiting, traveling there to see what it was like. Maybe we would move there at some point.** Well, ask Mom, she said. You'll see.

She was right.*** We were moving there. I found out that while in Pennsylvania, my dad had met a pastor from San Diego whose church hosted a Laotian congregation. Since my parents could understand and speak Lao, they were invited to come out and support the ministry with the church. That pastor, quite the congenial networker, along with his wife, was to play a large role in our new lives on the West Coast.

Now, however, I grappled with the news. We were moving. We weren't going back to New York or to Thailand. Instead, it was this city name with the pleasant ring to it. Perhaps it was around that time that my dad showed us a picture of his car parked in California, in LA. There were palm trees along the street. All strange and new, yet an image to start with.

But first, we had a drive ahead of us.

*It's not that we were deprived. Before Pennsylvania, our parents made it a point to take us to Disney World and fund our church group trips to various destinations. I think we found the park experience serendipitous because at this stage of our lives, we weren't doing things like this. We had been in missionary training and not in a position to splurge.

**I think I just made up reasonable-sounding stuff to fill in my information gaps.

***How come she knew, and it was the first I'd heard of it?