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T he C oast News - I nland E dition
AUG. 21, 2020
Taking a trip down (bad) memory lane hit the road e’louise ondash
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y daughter and I had a conversation this past week about when, where and whether to take a vacation. She, her husband and two children wanted, at the very least, to take a road trip through California, but because of the pandemic, even that didn’t happen. They settled for a few days at a nearby resort. Planning a vacation amid the coronavirus pandemic makes the trips of yesteryear seem simple by comparison — like the one many years ago that took us from St. Louis to Sacramento for an Air Force assignment. My son was a newborn,
our car a Volkswagen Beetle, and our three-week October route sent us through the Southwest, then up the California coast. Our son traveled in a box in the back seat (clearly the days before car seats), and I warmed his baby food by placing the jars next to the heater outlet at my feet. (You Beetle owners know what I’m talking about.) It was an election year, and as we traveled through Oklahoma, there were constant radio ads for Larry Derryberry (a name you can’t forget), a candidate for the state’s House of Representatives. Some years later, another road trip took us to British Columbia. We pulled into Vancouver early on a Sunday evening and found nothing open but a McDonald’s. I settled for a fish sandwich, and within a couple of hours, I was vomiting nonstop. This continued for 24 hours. We finally called a doctor we knew, and I got
THE VIEW OF Oregon’s Crater Lake that we didn’t see. The crater was formed about 7,700 years ago when Mount Mazama collapsed. At nearly 2,000 feet deep, the lake is the country’s deepest. Photo by WolfmanSF
an in-office IV and meds for the road. I spent the beautiful ferry ride to Vancouver Island in the hold of the ferry sleeping in the back seat of our car. Then there was our non-Kodak moment at Crater Lake National Park. After driving the never-ending, stomach-turning switchbacks to the top of this former volcano, we arrived to see this stunningly beautiful crater socked in by fog. (“But Mom, you said it was going to be so cool …”) Maybe the most cursed of our past family road trips
began when we left Seattle with no motel reservations. We ran out of energy somewhere in Oregon, but all motels were booked because of some large local event. We finally found a vacancy at what looked like a quaint resort with cabins, but ours obviously hadn’t been cleaned. I won’t disclose what we found in the bed, but it sent me marching to the office. I had to interrupt the couple at the desk who were making out and demand clean sheets and towels. The next day, our planned stay with family in Bakersfield didn’t material-
ize, so we decided to keep driving. After all, it was just another four hours … Unfortunately, Santa Ana winds had moved into Southern California, and by noon Los Angeles was cooking in the triple digits. We were stuck on Interstate 5 in creeping traffic, sandwiched between enormous 18-wheelers in our un-air-conditioned VW station wagon. Suddenly, my 5-year-old daughter screams; I turned to the back seat, expecting the worst for my daughter. Instead, my 10-year-old son is holding his hand, the
Road rage incident leads to brothers’ arrest By City News Service
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VISTA — Two brothers were arrested on suspicion of smashing two car windshields and stealing about $2,000 worth of jewelry from a driver during a road rage incident in Vista, authorities said Aug. 14. Matthew Giordano, 29, and John Giordano, 23, were in a Chevrolet Silverado pickup around 9:30 a.m. Aug. 11 on Melrose Way between Marsopa and McGavran drives when the incident began, Sheriff’s Lt. Nancy Blanco said. For unknown reasons, the older brother became angry, started following another car and displayed
a weapon to the driver, Blanco said. The pickup then cut off the other driver before Matthew Giordano allegedly got out and began punching the driver's side window of the victim’s car. Once the victim opened the door, the older brother stole about $2,000 worth of jewelry and cash from the man, whose age was not immediately available, Blanco said. During the confrontation, the younger brother allegedly used a metal tool to smash the driver's windshield, then used it again to smash the windshield of a second car that was not
involved in the initial argument. The brothers then got into the truck and drove off, leaving one of the victims with minor cuts from the broken windshield glass, she said. Damage to both cars was estimated between $5,000 and $10,000. Investigators served a search warrant in the 1500 block of Sapphire Lane in Vista, where both brothers were arrested and subsequently booked into the Vista Detention Facility Wednesday night on suspicion of several felony charges, including conspiracy, robbery and vandalism, Blanco said.
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blood flowing freely. He had reached into the cooler to get a drink and sliced his hand on a knife. A half-hour later, we are still crawling along in 104-degree, rush-hour traffic, black smoke pouring from our engine. We see a gas station and take the exit. No one there understands VW engines, so we wait for it to cool, then putt-putt onto the freeway. Three hours later, we coast into our garage, smoke again pouring out of the car. The next day we go car shopping and our mechanic buys our VW for $400.
SAN ONOFRE CONTINUED FROM 3
in July 2019. Currently, Edison is working on a strategic plan with the environmental consulting group North Wind, Inc. to develop a plan to assess the feasibility of relocating spent nuclear fuel from SONGS. North Wind has created a team of several experts in handling spent nuclear fuel to developing the plan. The plan will not identify a single solution but rather several alternatives for offsite storage or disposal. It will also provide suggestions for Edison to be ready for transport once a viable relocation site becomes available and to advance policy that promotes off-site storage or disposal. With all 123 canisters in dry storage, more attention will be focused on demolition of the plant. So far, the plant has gone through asbestos removal from inside its containment domes, and Edison has shipped the plant’s Unit 1 reactor pressure vessel off to a disposal site in Clive, Utah. Much of the upcoming deconstruction work at SONGS will be inside the containment domes. Crews need to prepare to remove “lots of steel and concrete,” explained Doug Bauder, Edison vice president and chief nuclear officer. That material will be transported by rail to disposal sites in Utah, Arizona and Texas.