Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1926-06-10
,an County McCo.isve ohio thursday

is baggage master for the Santa Fe
r. r. We staid there two days and
would have staid much longer, but II
was the time of year for snow IN
those parts, so for fear of being shut
in there for the winter, we made our
way on toward California.
Dec. 10, we went from Flagstaff
to Topoc, Ariz., through a country
of magnificent mountain scenery.
Next day we left Topoc, crossed the
Colorado river into California,
passed through Needles, said to be
the hottest place in California; then
through Goffs, Cadiz, Bagdad, Bar
stow, to Victorville go miles Of the
worst road we found); thence
through San Bernardino to On
tario. From Topoc to Ontario, a dis
tance of 800 miles, we found some
very steep, winding mountain roads.
This was the longest days drive of
our whole trip. We left Topoc very
early and reached Ontario about 10
that night. In Ontario We staid
with Geo. Grawburg who married
my niece Loretta Brown, my brother
Ben's daughter. He has a fine or
ange grove of Is acres. The oranges
were ripe, and we had the privilege
of devouring to our stomachs' con-
tent Ontario is located in the finest
orange country we passed through.
We visited nephews, and nieces in
Los Angeles, Pasadena and Mon
rovia; also visited Mrs. Browns un-
Gle Chas. E. Parish, and wife, of
425 Court street, Los Angeles.
Dec. 81, we started on a hunting
trip, for the Imperial Valley. We
went by way of Riverside to Beau
mont A part of the road is very
winding around deep canyons, and is
called Jack Rabbit trail. We pass
ed through Banning, Indio, to Oasis.
on Salten Sea about $50 feet below
sea level, where we staid all night.
We had gotten our hunting license.
so started to hunt duck and geese,
but not many got in front of our
guns. We visited Westmoreland
Imperial Valley, we were caught in
hard rain storm which caused us
to seek shelter. We returned to On
tario Jan 3, 1926. We had spent
our Christmas at Ontario, with f1ow-
ers blooming, fruits ripening, grass
growing, as though it was June in
Ohio. We spent our New Year in
the Imperial Valley, where the days
were hot, and slept by hay stack
in comfort. At Los Angeles we
stopped with my nephew Arthur
Brown who is fine mechanic. He
went over my car and put it in
fine shape.
About Jan. Z, we left Los Angeles
hy the way of Glendale, Burbank,
San Fernando, Newhall, to Castaic,
the beginning of what is called the
Ridge Road This mountainous
type of road with it's many curves
and turns, has speed limit of Is
miles per hour, for distance of 80
miles. To know this road with its
grandeur and beauty as it winds in
and out, along and through its
towering heights, requires constant
observation and study. Only those
who have travelled it often with care
can know it, Descending from the
summit of this ridge by way of
Grapevine Creek, sometimes called
Grapevine Twist, we found some
very steep descents. On descending
we noticed a very heavy fog resemb-
ling a lake. On entering San Joa-
quin Valley, we found it had been
overlaid with a fog so heavy that
they had not seen the sun for some
four or five weeks. Just before we
reached Bakersfield, we stopped for
the night at new auto camp.
The next day we visited Bakers
field and the oil fields north of it.
This oil field was the most extensive
we had over visited. The day fol-
lowing we visited Fresno, the home
of the raisin grape. Going from
Bakersfield, we passed through Tu
lare, Selma and Fowler. From Fres-
no, on Jan. 10, we went through
the northern portion of the San
Joaquin Valley by way OF MADEIRA,
Mereed, Turlock, Modesto, Stock
ton, to Lodi where we remained for
five days. This part of California
was the great wheat belt of the state,
but now lis "a part of the great fruit
belt. While in Lodi we could not
see the sum ON account of fog, but
one day we took drive with real
estate man, so or 60 miles into the
and the sun was shining
there all day. And oh! the high
climate, hot air talk, that Bullfor-
MIA real estate, rainbow painter did
spin from morn to night.
Leaving Lodi we went through
Sacramento, to capital of California,