LA Freeways, Clark Gable, and the Burbank Airport
I just returned from Pasadena, we were there overnight for a little R&R and to look at some art. Travelling through, I was reminded of a story Mom had told me.
She was going to take Jacqueline to Disneyland, but was afraid to drive on LA freeways; LA freeways had to have been a lot easier back then... I think it was Grover Collins that told gave her this strategy: immediately pull all the way to the left into the fast lane, then stay there until you're close to your destination. That was there's only cars passing you on one side. I think this behavior is a felony on the Autobahns of Germany, but it's legal in LA, and that's the way Mom navigated LA freeways for many years. I'm imagining how exasperating that must have been for the other drivers...
This fear of LA Freeways might account for the reason she and Jacqueline never went to visit Clark Gable. They were on the same plane to LA when Mom emigrated; Mr. Gable was apparently quite taken with the baby Jacqueline and invited Mom and her to visit him in LA. We've actually found the flight manifest that shows them all on the same flight. But cooler than that, is that Robert Oppenheimer was on the flight. Here's part of it, from Ancestry.com; if you go looking for Mom's name, she was Ruth Longmire back then.
S and I flew in and out of the airport in Burbank, which used to be called the Burbank Airport... Then it was renamed the Bob Hope Airport. Right after the name chance to Bob Hope Airport, Mom was coming to pick me up for a visit... She ended up about an hour late. Apparently she kept looking for the Burbank Airport and only saw signs for the Bob Hope Airport, so she drove around until she found a policeman that sent her in the right direction. It's now the Burbank-Hollywood Airport; our Uber driver said the name change was due to Bob Hope being a rascist.
She was going to take Jacqueline to Disneyland, but was afraid to drive on LA freeways; LA freeways had to have been a lot easier back then... I think it was Grover Collins that told gave her this strategy: immediately pull all the way to the left into the fast lane, then stay there until you're close to your destination. That was there's only cars passing you on one side. I think this behavior is a felony on the Autobahns of Germany, but it's legal in LA, and that's the way Mom navigated LA freeways for many years. I'm imagining how exasperating that must have been for the other drivers...
This fear of LA Freeways might account for the reason she and Jacqueline never went to visit Clark Gable. They were on the same plane to LA when Mom emigrated; Mr. Gable was apparently quite taken with the baby Jacqueline and invited Mom and her to visit him in LA. We've actually found the flight manifest that shows them all on the same flight. But cooler than that, is that Robert Oppenheimer was on the flight. Here's part of it, from Ancestry.com; if you go looking for Mom's name, she was Ruth Longmire back then.S and I flew in and out of the airport in Burbank, which used to be called the Burbank Airport... Then it was renamed the Bob Hope Airport. Right after the name chance to Bob Hope Airport, Mom was coming to pick me up for a visit... She ended up about an hour late. Apparently she kept looking for the Burbank Airport and only saw signs for the Bob Hope Airport, so she drove around until she found a policeman that sent her in the right direction. It's now the Burbank-Hollywood Airport; our Uber driver said the name change was due to Bob Hope being a rascist.
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