Much of Old Highway 80 is still intact today and can lead you to great day trips in areas of San Die

I lived in Phoenix, new york rental car Arizona in the late 1940s and we often drove to San Diego in the summer to visit my Dad’s relatives. We would travel at night to avoid the heat of the desert and usually reach San Diego County in the wee hours of the morning.
I am reminded of those trips every time Suzanne and I venture into San Diego’s back country and drive along Old Highway 80. The distinctive “slappity slap, slappity slap, slappity slap” of the car’s tires hitting the tar expansion joints in the concrete highway always takes me back to when we kids would wake up in the back seat and know we were nearing San Diego. Suzanne moans every time I launch into these childhood recollections, as she’s heard them a thousand times over the last 46 years, but hey, they are vivid and real.
Much of Old Highway 80 is still intact today and can lead you to great day trips in areas of San Diego County that most locals have rarely heard about, let alone, visited. Descanso, Guatay, Pine Valley, Buckman Springs, La Posta, Live Oak Springs, Boulevard and Jacumba are just a few of the stops along “Old 80” that can provide picnic areas, funky cafes, junk shops and rest stops. If you like “road tripping” that is close to home, Old Highway 80 is a great place to start.
Suzanne and I stayed at the Pine Valley Inn Motel recently on a lark and dined at the Descanso Junction Café. All restaurants in Pine Valley happened to be closed on that particular Tuesday new york rental car evening so off to Descanso we went (about 10 miles). The food was good, the locals were friendly and the atmosphere “real down home.”
I must confess that I harbor a personal bias in favor of this particular part of our county as it was the stomping grounds, literally, of my ancestors. new york rental car One of my great grandfathers was Amos Buckman, who bottled “Lithia Water” at Buckman Springs and shipped it to San Diego and Los Angeles. It never really new york rental car caught on as it reportedly had rust sediment in each bottle, which turned off potential customers. My father’s middle name was Buckman which was his mother’s maiden name. My grandmother, “Mamie” Buckman, married a cowboy from Pine Valley, Charles Fremont Emery, my grandfather. Charles had been raised on a ranch, homesteaded in Pine Valley by Captain William Emery, a mariner who left the that life to raise cattle in San Diego’s back country.
In future columns, I intend to relate some of the tales of these early San Diego pioneers. I regret that I never knew any of these grandparents as they passed prior to my birth in 1940. However, stories told by my father, cousins and others make fascinating reading about San Diego back country history.
Back to my original premise. Get out and explore. Julian, Santa Ysabel, Tecate, Dulzura, Warner Springs, Potrero, Borrego Springs and Campo are just a few of the outback locations that can make for memorable outings and even overnighters. San Diego County has more than beaches and great weather, I urge you to explore what’s out there.
49150 3 Comments http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pomeradonews.com%2F2014%2F06%2F07%2Femery-why-not-explore-san-diegos-back-country%2F Emery%3A+Why+not+explore+San+Diego%27s+back+country%3F 2014-06-07+19%3A00%3A30 Steve+Dreyer http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pomeradonews.com%2F%3Fp%3D49150 for Emery: Why not explore San Diego s back country?
Great article, I have spent 35 years of my 58 year old life in the back country, Campo, new york rental car Lake Morena besides a stint in Wyoming. Stuck in Santee. There are some beautiful hiking, fishing spots out there. My favorite was to hike to the dam at Lake Morena and contemplate whether to jump. Haven t done it yet. Kids grew up well at Mountain Empire School District. We would stop at the spring and call it the whisper ghost spot on the way to town. Miss it. The pee stop was at the old brewery that was owned by Caseabeer. Hoping to find my way back.