adios and good riddance

I used to live here. I used to hop on these freeways on a regular basis. I used to know my way around southern California like it was the back of my hand. Not any more.

I drove from Seal Beach (where my mom lives) to San Bernardino (where my brother lives) this last weekend. This is how it went...

I took the 405 to the 55 to the 5 to the 57 - made sure I didn't end up on the 60 because I did that already a couple of days ago and was almost late to the graduation - to the 210 on into San Bernardino. All the while, I was driving next to rude, inconsiderate drivers, through the brown haze, watching the amber alerts flash overhead, and listening to K-Earth on the radio with Charlie Tuna, a disk jockey that I listened to back when I lived here. The tunes of the 70's was the only thing that kept me sane during my drive because I just kept singing away as a distraction to everything else.

The southern California freeway system is just one big tangled up maze of concrete, signs, and cars. And there must be over 50 freeways in just this area of California. It's crazy. Last year when we were out here, we complained about how much time we spent in our car because we were always in traffic on a freeway. This year it was just me driving and I found no joy in maneuvering my way through the maze.

I had a wonderful time out here in California and loved visiting my family and places of my youth. But I'm more than ecstatic to be going back home... to my husband, kids, dog, home, my own bed, and only four - count them, 4! - major freeways.