I was in San Diego a couple weeks ago on business and took a ride over to Oceanside, where I used to live when I was stationed at Camp Pendleton. The Oceanside station was closed for some reason. But I went to the bridge by the marina where Oceanside connects to Pendleton. I used to walk that railroad bridge all the time from my barracks in Area 21 to Oceanside Beach. I remember having to run a couple of times to escape the trains that were coming up behind me. But they built a nice road since then and also a bike trail.
My third job when I moved to California in 1973 was at the Encina Power Plant in Carlsbad. I tell you, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven being able to live a couple months in a mom & pop motel on the PCH north of the plant. A year later, I started up a new boiler system at Camp Pendleton Hospital. I really enjoyed those San Diego jobs, going down to Leucadia and other beach towns. The last time I was down that way I was absolutely shocked to see how LA and SD had grown together into a giant megalopolis. There used to be countryside between the two fifty years ago. Not any more.