05 Dec 2003 - Arrive in Los Angeles & ashore with family
When I awoke today, we were already docked in Los Angeles Harbor. I had previously verified with the Enterprise car rental folks in San Pedro that they would come by and pick me up at the docks when I called so that was going to be convenient.
After breakfast and gathering up stuff I wanted to take, I caught the harbor's shuttle bus down to the back gate of the APL (American President Lines) dock area. Once there, I got the address from the gate guard, Steve, and I called Enterprise. They said they would be right out. 1111 Earle Street was the place.
While I was waiting, I started talking with the gate guard, Steve. He'd been raised in Long Beach and he'd gone to Poly High School. "Best high school in the city", he allowed. We smiled because I'd gone to Jordan. We talked about Long Beach and its changes. He told me that they were bringing back a lot of the old Long Beach like the Rainbow Pier that I'd driven around with my Mom when I was about 7 years old. The entire downtown has been modernized and is quite upscale now.
Steve said he'd been working there for about nine months but that he was going to go back to school for business soon. It looked like a good job though it would get boring. As people came to work on the docks, he had to look at their ID cards before admitting them.
The dock workers were interesting folks. I remember one fellow in particular. A big well built guy who looked like someone they'd cast as a bouncer in the movies. It looked like he thought so too. He definitely had a "don't mess with me" attitude. After he passed, I found myself wondering if he'd had a bad morning at home or if he always walked around looking like a fight about to happen. It looked like Steve might have thought so to. As the fellow passed by, Steve told him to "Have a nice say - and take it easy".
Pam, from Enterprise showed up. We loaded my stuff and took off to the Enterprise office in San Pedro. Pam said she was new at the San Pedro office and she'd wondered if she could find the gate but that she'd come right to it. She said she'd been working at the Signal Hill office prior to this and then we talked about Signal Hill.
Signal hill was all scrubby bushes and derelict oil derricks when I was a kid. I remember there were some good parking places there too from dating in high school. Later, after the service, when I was going to Long Beach State and living in North Long Beach, I used to drive intentionally every morning up and over the hill. There was a great view all the way down to Saddleback Mountain in Orange County. Sometimes, in the Winter, you could see the snow on top. There was also a steep downhill section on the east side that was a great place to go blazing down on the motorcycle in the crisp morning air.
Up and over the Vincent Thomas Bridge with Pam into San Pedro from Terminal Island. That took me back as well. I must have made that crossing a thousand times on my motor cycle or in my Fiat X1-9 in the years I worked at the Nichols Institute for Endocrinology in San Pedro - 1976 to 1980.
We sorted out papers at the office for a bit. The feeling of Los Angeles was coming back to me. Just the way people acted, presented themselves and talked and thought was so familiar and yet so unnamable. Steve at the docks and now Pam at Enterprise - both obviously locals here.
Once in the car, I had to go see the old Nichols offices where I'd worked. That took a bit of doing. I'd forgotten the street names - all that stuff that's so automatic when you're using it daily, fades over time. I think it's almost better to not think about it and let the body/mind's old habits assert themselves rather than trying to remember things like "Was it 7th street that went down from Pacific to Beacon Street which ran along the bluff up over Ports 'O Call?"
After some fumbling, I arrived at what had been the Institute. The building had obviously fallen on hard times. In fact, I wondered if it had ever recovered after the Institute moved out in 1980/1. When Nichols was there, they'd progressively taken it over suite by suite until they were the sole occupant. Then, when they moved to San Juan Capistrano, they'd left the entire place vacant. It was a bit sad, but then it always is when you go on nostalgia drives.
I crossed back over the two bridges and then through downtown Long Beach. It was, as Steve said, a changed place. I continued on down Ocean Blvd until it showed signs of changing into Belmont Shore and then I turned north to make my way up towards Long Beach State, 7th Street and the 405 Freeway southbound.
I got a bit lost, stopped at a yard sale, and meandered until I came out near Recreation Park. A bit more fumbling brought me by the University and then onto the freeway.
Time is always so tenuous and thin when you revisit places where you used to live like this. A thousand memories are murmuring at each corner and you keep having that disconcerting feeling that all you remember has been swept away. You're thinking, "It doesn't matter", but somehow it does and you drive on - through an eerie mix of then and now with ghosts everywhere.
Down the 405 I went. At Fountain Valley, I jumped off on Euclid and went into the giant Fry's Electronics store there. My wireless keyboard hadn't survived my putting its batteries in backwards and typing for two months on the laptop's keyboard didn't seem like it was going to be fun. So, I went in and bought a small USB keyboard for $14 and then pressed on.
I got off the freeway again at Avery and drove through San Juan Capistrano. Lots of memories there of Rose and Dan and Chris as well as of Sharon and I.
At the corner on front of the Mission, I turned left onto Ortega Highway on a green light but I'd missed the small red arrow next to it saying, 'no left turn now'. A siren went off behind me and I had to pull over for my first ticket in over ten years. Bummer!
Then I continued on Ortega to the Starbucks I remembered from the last time I'd been here visiting Dan when he and Ann got married. There, I unlimbered my laptop and linked to the Internet via their T*Mobile service and uploaded the initial pages of this new Zealand Trip website and got my E-mail as well. There was also a decaf eggnog latte in there as well to aid the technical work. It took a good while to upload the website as I had to replace it all since I'd changed its deep structure while I was on the ship to accommodate integrating the New Zealand stuff into the preexisting Woods Creek Nursery website. I had to try the upload three times before it completed. But, once done, subsequent uploads should be relatively painless.
From talking to Dan and Ann, earlier, I knew Dan's band had a gig tonight. Ann had arranged to take me (and their new baby, Cody Daniel Gallagher - my first grandson) over to her parent's house where Sally, Ann's mom, was going to cook dinner for us. I was looking forward to this. I'd met Bernie and Sally when Dan and Ann married but things were very chaotic at that point and we didn't have a lot of time to get to know each other then.
I packed up the laptop and headed over to Dan's place. He was there with Cody and Ann was working. We admired Cody sleeping and then wandered around his place. He's redone everything. Carpets, paint, etc., etc. The place looks great!
Out in the back yard, I met his two dogs. Sophie, an eight year old female and ?? (whose name I've forgotten) a six year old male. Nice dogs. Dan said they are not getting as much attention as they need now that Cody's here. He asked if I might want the male. I'm going to see what Sharon thinks.
Ann came home and Cody was now awake so she brought the boy out. A beautiful baby - no doubt about it. This being a grand-pa is going to be OK.
My new Grandson !
We all visited for a bit and then Larry Branham, Dan's best friend and a friend of mine as well from back in my Nichols Institute days, came over. Dan and Larry and I sat around out in Dan's garage which is setup a sort of a second living room with three couches gathered around and mountain bike parts scattered everywhere. They were going to go the next morning to preposition some supplies for a mountain bike ride the following day and they asked if I'd like to come along. I said yes.
Soon, Dan had to take off for his gig and Larry and I saw him off. Then Larry and I stood outside and talked in Dan's driveway for at least an hour catching up on his life and mine. We also talked about stuff we'd both like to do in the future. He and I think a lot alike in many ways.
Ann and I headed off to Bernie and Sally's not long after that. They live in a beautiful condo on a street named Mandarin near the lake in Irvine. Sally wasn't home yet so Bernie, Ann and I visited. We also took some photos together with the baby.
Sally returned and we all had a wonderful evening. It is not often in your life that you find yourself part of a new family. We talked about all sorts of things. My history and my family's history. Their pasts. Ann's growing up years. It was all open and candid and a lot of fun. I can truly say that they've made me feel very welcome. Finally, about 10:30 or 11:00 PM, it was time to go. Dan's gig had run late so we were going to go back to Dan and Ann's place where he would be returning.
Dan still wasn't back when I turned in for the night. I slept on the longer of the couches out in the garage. it was like old home week for me - I'd spent nearly a week sleeping in Dan's garage back in '95 when I'd come down for a visit. Dan came in before I was asleep and we talked a little and then went to sleep.