December, 1922 



GLEANINGS TN BKE CULTURE 



781 



E 



CONSTANCK 



(Stan. 



UTS 



THE b u s y 

 man had to 

 make a busi- 

 ness trip to San 

 Francisco early 

 in October and 

 decided to drive 

 his little road- 

 ster from Los 

 Angeles th e r e 



and back, nearly a thousand miles, take me 

 along and call it a vacation for us both. 

 Some of you who have not yet visited our 

 Golden State may not know that it has 

 thousands of miles of the finest roads in the 

 world, smooth, wide roads which are prac- 

 tically dustless in the dryest season of the 

 year, roads of moderate grades on which 

 you can drive from San Diego to Portland, 

 Ore., without going out of high gear, al- 

 though you cross whole mountain ranges. 



Forgive me, if I seem to boast a little 

 now and then. Perhaps it is to keep up my 

 spirits, for in my native state, Ohio, October 

 is a very beautiful month with its maples 

 turning to crimson and gold. When I think 

 of walking through the crisp fallen leaves 

 in that soft, golden light which sifts 

 through the remaining leaves on the trees 

 after the first tonic frosts, I have to look 

 hard at our glorious mountains and talk fast 

 about all the advantages of life in Califor- 

 nia to prevent something like homesickness. 

 But this beautiful drive through our chosen 

 state has taught me that somewhere in Cali- 

 fornia one can find almost any kind of scen- 

 ery or climate he wants, although we have 

 made just a beginning of exploring. 



We decided to go by the coast route and 

 -return by the inland and we therefore left 

 our San Gabriel Valley early in the morning, 

 crossed the great arroyo bridge and passed 

 through the San Fernando Valley with its 

 rich farming country and many thriving lit- 

 tle cities, of which I have written in for- 

 mer articles, took the Ventura boulevard 

 through a pass from which we emerged to 

 look down into a level, fertile valley in Ven- 

 tura County. The map shows Ventura and 

 Santa Barbara counties largely covered by 

 mountain ranges with a comparatively nar- 

 row strip of fertile, arable lands near the 

 coast. But that "strip" is most attractive 

 with great fields of beans, sugar beets, lemon 

 groves, flowers, grazing stock and more 

 beans. I didn't suppose so many beans were 

 needed in the world as we passed through 

 Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. There 

 were little navy beans and lima beans, both 

 larafe and small. There were beans green 

 and growing, dry beans, cut and raked into 

 hills in \o^^rr rows, and beans being threshed. 

 It recalled to memorv "Bean porridge hot 

 and bean porridge cold." 



There were beans growing on mountain 

 slopes which looked too steep for cultiva- 

 tion, and there were beans growing on the 

 beach iu't a few feet from the waters of the 

 Pacific. It must be a great localitv for bees 

 in the blossoming season, for I am told beans 



Seeing California Prorata Roadster 



3 



ROOT BOYDEN 



y Piitrdeu) 



lU 



yield a very fine 

 hone y. Appar- 

 ently the frosts 

 of last winter 

 had not been so 

 destructive as in 

 our locality, for 

 the tender lemon 

 gro v e s seemed 

 untouched and 



there were tall scarlet hedges of geraniums 



unhurt. 



FOR many miles the road ran along the 

 beach with low ranges of mountains 

 close on the right, the railroad sociably 

 close to the highway. When on a motor 

 tour with the busy man in the East I have 

 usually sat with a "blue book" on my lap, 

 ready to read descriptions of roads in order 

 to make sure to take the right turn. That 

 is quite unnecessary in California. All along 

 the coast route were signs "El Camino 

 Real" (The King's Highway), for this 

 road was laid out by the old Spanish padre, 

 Junipero Serra when he and his successors 

 established the many missions for the In- 

 dians along the coast. The only places 

 where one might temporarily miss the road 

 are the towns where the signs are apt to 

 be omitted. In the country there are few 

 crossroads and El Camino Real is an easily 

 followed path up the state. 



It was on the first day of our trip that 

 we saw a beautiful mirage. Across the level 

 floor of the valley, far ahead of us and to 

 the left, was a glimpse of a clear lake which 

 reflected the color of the sky. As we ap- 

 proached we could see eucalyptus trees which 

 prew on its banks mirrored on the still sur- 

 face of the water. There was a house un- 

 der the trees, and I thought it was a beauti- 

 ful place to live. But when we were oppo- 

 site, or perhaps a little beyond, although 

 house and trees were there the lake had dis- 

 appeared, but miles ahead was another 

 which also vanished when we passed. We 

 saw much the same effect in the San Joaquin 

 Vallev when we were coming back by the 

 inland route. 



The coast route is historicallv interesting 

 because of the old missions and the Spanish 

 influence which is evident in many of the 

 older towns. We passed a number of vast 

 old Spanish ranches which are being sub- 

 dii'ided and sold. 



We drove on and on along the beach en- 

 ioving all the pleasures of a sea vovage 

 with none of its discomforts, for we ac- 

 nnired amazin.q- appetites, and you know 

 some of us unfortunates lose not onlv our 

 appetites but the acquisitions of former 

 appetites when on the water. 



We resisted the temptation to stop in 

 beautiful Santa Barbara for the nisrft and 

 after some distance reluctantlv left the 

 ocean and climbed through Gnviota Pass, 

 which took us into narrow Santa Ynez val- 

 lev in the heart of which we finallv stopped 

 for the night at a little hotel. 



