California...I live here

Writers tell wanna-be writers all the time to write what they know.

I have a blog on education because I feel like having been an educator for 11 plus years, I know something about it.

But yesterday, while riding in the backseat of our car, smushed between the baby and my 3 year old daughter, trying to feed the baby a bottle...it hit me.

I hate the 91 freeway.

And that led to the thought that I've lived in California all my life (well, except for 18 months on Maui when I was in Junior High). I've been all over this state. If there's anything I know really well-it's the state of California. Where to go, what to eat, what to see...and I have a unique perspective on it all-mine. It's like no one else's.

Except that most of us living in California hate the 91 freeway so I guess you could say many of us have the same perspective on that.

For those of you who don't know, the 91 Freeway runs from the Riverside area down toward the freeways that will lead you to Orange County. Orange County = beaches, Disneyland, ritzy stuff. If you live near the Riverside/San Bernardino area like I do, it's the most logical choice to get to the beaches. Well, Laguna Beach, and that's where we were headed yesterday.

True Southern Californians are now thinking I could have taken the 10 to the 57, but I'm telling you that's the long way around to Laguna Beach. But either way we're screwed because the 91 freeway is so awful, I can't even begin to explain how awful it is.

Let me explain. It's so awful that they (the collective "they" that make freeways and stuff) expanded the freeway because it was so crowded and created this thing called "Fast Track". You have to have the "Fast Track" super spy reader thingy in your car on your dashboard to drive on the "Fast Track."If you don't have it, you will get a ticket and the county will charge you like a million dollars and take your first born child. It cost money and is only worth it if you have to commute on the 91 everyday. Or even every other day. Because even though they added more lanes to the freeway, it's still insanely crowded. For those of us who don't commute on the 91, your only way out from bumper to bumper traffic is to take the Toll Road on the 241. That's right. Toll Road. The FREEway has a Toll Road. You get to pay a total of $4.75 to take a short cut to Laguna Beach.

When I was single, or even married without kids, I was okay with bumper to bumper traffic. I didn't like it, but I wouldn't use a word like "hate" to describe it. Since I've had kids (a 2 month old and a 3 year old), bumper to bumper traffic is like a death sentence. Because once you get one of them their juice and snack and make sure they are ready for the long ride in traffic, the other one wakes up and starts screaming because he wants a bottle. Then the "Do I pull over?" conversation ensues.
"Do I pull over?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"I think he's hungry. Do you want me to pull over?"
"Yes, you might as well. Wait, no, I think he's calming down. Let's push it for 15 more minutes and see what happens."
"Okay."
"Pull over."

Then I (the passenger) have to climb in the back seat of our Jeep Liberty (which is not big enough to fit two car seats and one adult, but we do it in emergencies like this), and I make a bottle and feed the baby while my husband chaffeurs us to Laguna. I forgot to mention that I have the diaper bag, which has the wallet that I have to go digging for to pay the toll when we get to the toll booth.

I hate the 91. I've gotten into two car accidents on the 91 because the 91 makes people cranky and then they get into car accidents.

The only thing I like about the 91 is that driving home you pass an offramp called "Serfas Club". I love that because in college when a bunch of us were coming home from the beach one of my friends said, "Hey, 'Serfas Club'! That's where all the 'Serfas' go after they've surfed all day!" For some reason, I thought that was really funny and I've secretly giggled driving past "Serfas Club" ever since. That's the only redeeming thing about the 91 freeway.

But I LOVE Laguna Beach.