STUCK IN LODI, AGAIN

About 10 years ago, I lived in Lodi for a year – and I loved that little city! It has a really cute downtown area, around 60,000 people & everything you will likely need in about a four square mile area of small town charm. John Fogarty & Creedence were way off base when they sang about being “stuck in Lodi, again”. It's a great place to be stuck!

Today Lou & I took a drive to Lodi (about 50 minutes from home) to have lunch at the original A & W Root Beer restaurant which is located in Lodi & do a little exploring. We just wanted to get out & take a ride somewhere like both of our families used to do in the “old days”. :-)

The exterior of the first A & W Root Beer restaurant in Lodi. They still have carhop service.

Inside the restaurant there are lots of old collectibles. I recall taking our gallon glass jug to the A & W to have it refilled when I was a kid back in Hayward.

I would occasionally walk from my apartment in Lodi about two miles to downtown just to enjoy the tree-lined streets & old homes. I passed the Hill House Museum, the only Victorian home in Lodi but it was just open on Sundays & I never took the tour. It is still there & still open only on Sundays so we'll have to make another journey there on a Sunday.

As we took our photos outside the house, a man came over & invited us to an ice cream social that evening being held at the Victorian. We thanked him but said we were only there for the afternoon. Lou asked me, “What is an ice cream social?” I said, “It's what people used to do to interact with each other before they just sat at their computers in front of facebook all day.”

The Hill House Museum on South Church Street in Lodi.

We parked in the downtown area & went for a walk around the old train station & the arch which seems to be a mainstay in many small valley towns.

The Lodi Arch over Pine Street in the old downtown.

They are in the process of restoring the train station. It is used for both buses & trains today. This fountain is of Sandhill Cranes which take over the area in the fall - sounds like another day trip.

The interior of the bus/train station.

On the border between Stockton & Lodi there used to be an Old West amusement park with a restaurant & lots of tacky sightseeing. When I lived there the restaurant was still open but I never ate there or even stopped for that matter. It was closed in 2007 & torn down in 2010. Only the dilapidated sign remains.

The Pollardville sign is all that remains of the amusement complex. It's just a matter of time until it falls down & is gone forever. Kind of reminded me of our Route 66 trip & all the "americana" that is disappearing.

OFFICIALLY "GAGA"

When I became a grandmother almost two years ago, I wondered what my granddaughter, Charley Ellen, would call me. I really didn’t want to be just “Grandma”, it was a little too normal for this rebel & “Grandma Kathy” just sounded kind of silly to me.

Thirty-five years ago, my son, Darrin, made up a name for my mother – for some reason “Grandma” came out of his two year old mouth as “Dupda”. She was forever known as “Dupda” which was later shortened to “Dup”.

After a visit to Lou’s family in Germany, I learned that “Oma” is a casual, endearing term for “Grandma” in German. I liked it so we began referring to me as “Oma”.

Charley at 18 months old - I took these photos one evening when her parents were out to dinner.

 

What a little cutie!

When Charley was 17 months old, she called me “Oma” twice at a family gathering. The first time was when I was involved in a conversation & not paying attention to her. She said, “Oma!” as she handed me a ball. That same day, her mom said she was in the kitchen & yelled, “Oma, Oma” then ran into the other room where I was sitting. As you might expect, it was a highlight of my year!

BUT, Charley hasn’t called me “Oma” in the four months since then. We still referred to me as “Oma”, only Charley wasn’t buying it.

She is now three months shy of her second birthday & a couple weeks ago, she started calling me “Gaga” – she would point at me & say “Gaga”. We’d try to say, “Oma” but to no avail.

This was taken today at 21 months old. It is getting harder & harder to take photos because she immediately comes over to play with the camera. She was watching an Elmo video on Mom's iPad.

Charley loves her Elmo videos! This shows all the little blonde curls that she is getting.

This past Saturday we had a pool party at our house which they told Charley about the day before, saying we are going to a party at Oma & Lou’s house. She knows Lou & calls him by name. She also knows my father as Pop, just as her daddy called him.

Allison emailed & said, “I think you are officially Gaga now.” She said Charley has been walking around saying, “Gaga, Lou, Pop” for a day. At the pool party a few days ago, Charley did indeed officially decide I was “Gaga”.

And I love it! Having your granddaughter decide to give you a name of her choosing is a real honor. Quite honestly, it’s a pretty cool name, too. Who knew that with the popularity of Lady Gaga, I could share a little of it with my granddaughter?

From here on out, I am proud to be known as “Gaga” in the world of Charley Ellen.

SAN DIEGO REVISITED

On Tuesday morning we hit the road at 7:45 AM bound for San Diego. We have both been there several times but Lou wanted to explore Balboa Park & tour the U.S.S. Midway aircraft carrier on display in San Diego Harbor. Of course, we planned it around seeing our Giants play the Padres at Petco Park in downtown San Diego.

Lou's Aunt Ella lives in San Diego & graciously invites us to stay with her anytime. This is the second time that we have taken her up on her offer. She attended her first San Diego Padres game with us & was a real trooper climbing stairs & ramps. Ella is the type of “old lady” (& I say that with great affection!) that I want to become. At 79 years young she is easy to get along with, doesn't criticize or complain much, loves bike riding & we all adore her!



Me, Lou & Ella at Petco Park. She kept switching between rooting for the Padres & the Giants. In the end she decided to be a Giant's fan.

But let me back up a bit. After a long day of driving (510 miles to be exact) we arrived to a home cooked meal, some excellent company & a soak in the hot tub in her condo complex. The next morning we headed off to Balboa Park & Ella headed to yoga followed by a movie with her granddaughter.

It is funny how our memories trick us (or desert us completely at times). I had been to Balboa Park several times 20 – 30 years ago since my in-laws lived nearby. My recollections of the Air & Space Museum weren't even close to the reality today. And I didn't recall the central area with a large concentration of museums. Strange!

A tower from the 1915 World's Fair in Balboa Park. It now houses one of many museums in the park.

This is a Nieuport 11 from World War I which was built & owned by a man named Walt Addams who I met 25 years ago when he was still flying at almost 90 years old.

The Botanical Garden in Balboa Park which is made of wood slats.

Some of Monet's water lilies - I can certainly understand how the man became obsessed with painting them.

This flower was about 8 - 10 inches across. The cone shaped green things on the left reminded me of shower heads.

Some orchids in the Botanical Gardens - maybe I should have been a florist. I seem to be enthralled with taking photos of flowers.

Since two places we wanted to see were closed on Wednesdays we adjusted our schedule & headed to the Midway that afternoon with plans to return to Balboa Park on Thursday. I have already seen way more ships than I really need or want to see but this was a big event for Lou so I did my best to be interested.

Looking up at the U.S.S. Midway when we boarded it.

Home Sweet Home for the poor sailors! A small bunk & a locker - no freaking way could I live like that for months at a time!

A statue based on the Life Magazine photo of 1945. You can see how large it is by the people next to it.

I had a wonderful experience that reinforced my belief that most people are genuinely good. It was nearing closing time at the Midway & we still hadn't seen the bridge & control room that required a guided tour which took half an hour. Plus our parking meter was running out AND we had fed it every dime, nickel & quarter we had to get two hours.

Since it was no big deal to me, I insisted that Lou get in line & do the tour. I told him I would go move the car & find a garage then meet him at the exit. I decided to ask a group of people if they by any chance had some quarters I could buy from them. At first they apologetically said “no” but then several women started rummaging through their purses & came up with 8 quarters. I thanked them profusely & pulled out my wallet – I had only one $1 bill. Damn it! But I had a $5 so I said, “Just take this. It's fine.” They objected & between them came up with $3 to give me change. I thanked them again for going above & beyond to help me but they insisted I would have done the same for them. I hope so.

I made it to the car just as the parking meter ran out & used 7 quarters to give us enough time for Lou to finish & to have dinner at nearby Seaport Village. Perfect! Lou really enjoyed his tour & was happy I made it work for him.

The next day we headed back to Balboa Park for a tour of the Marston House & a visit to the San Diego Museum of Art before the Giants/Padres game which the Giants won!

The Marston House in Balboa Park. This is one of the top 25 examples of Arts & Crafts style architecture in the United States.

The San Diego Museum of Art in the center of Balboa Park.

This Monarch Butterfly actually stayed put long enough for us to get some good photos.

Petco Park at sunset taken from our seats in the third deck.

On the drive home on Friday, we took Highway 99 instead of Interstate 5 because Lou had found yet another quirky, unusual place to visit – the Forestiere Underground Gardens.



Baldassare Forestiere, a Sicilian immigrant, spent 40 years digging his underground home & gardens to escape the oppressive heat of Fresno summers.



As the years went by Baldassare had grandiose plans to build an underground resort but he died in 1946 before it was completed.

It was a lot of driving for a four day trip - 1101 miles - but it was another great adventure. When we split up the driving & crank up the rock CDs it's not too bad. So much to see & do!