Why people got on Route 66 and came to California

Lori living the California dream.

Often when I ride east on Route 66 I wonder what the country would be like if more people had stayed in the great towns along their way here instead of chasing the "California Dream." After all, other than the weather California is like the rest of the country but overcrowded and overpriced.

Woody Guthrie sang about this in 1939...

Do Re Mi Words and Music by Woody Guthrie Lots of folks back East, they say, is leavin' home every day, Beatin' the hot old dusty way to the California line. 'Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin' out of that old dust bowl, They think they're goin' to a sugar bowl, but here's what they find Now, the police at the port of entry say, "You're number fourteen thousand for today." Oh, if you ain't got the do re mi, folks, you ain't got the do re mi, Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee. California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see; But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot If you ain't got the do re mi. You want to buy you a home or a farm, that can't deal nobody harm, Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea. Don't swap your old cow for a car, you better stay right where you are, Better take this little tip from me. 'Cause I look through the want ads every day But the headlines on the papers always say: If you ain't got the do re mi, boys, you ain't got the do re mi, Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee. California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see; But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot If you ain't got the do re mi. For the most part I agree with Woody, but today was one of those days that reminds me the "Dream" part of California is a dual reality. It started with perfect weather and a drive up to Torrance to buy Lori a floor jack (you can't just walk into your local store and buy a Made in USA jack these days), eat breakfast, visit Yoshi at Garage Company, then check out Mark, Haven, and Jason's Motorcycle/Hot Rod/Surf/Skate/All-Things-Cool shop. A couple blocks from Yoshi's place in Inglewood Lori spotted Roscoes Chicken & Waffles and we realized we'd never dined at this California institution. Poor quality Blackberry photo (Sorry Roscoe's) Here's the real deal. If you haven't been to Roscoe's you have to go. The chicken is incredible and Lori says the waffles are the best she's eaten; even the butter tastes sweeter. To top it off the place has the friendliest staff anywhere. The hostess, our waiter, the manager and everyone we had contact with were great, and they weren't working from a script like all those fake friendly places these days. Find a Roscoes near you and go there now! We left Roscoe's to find Garage Company closed. So we headed North to Randy's Donuts, another California Institution and our favorite donut shop anywhere. We originally planned to spend some time at Garage Company to work off breakfast and have one donut each, but since Yoshi was closed and we were fresh off our chicken and waffles we decided to buy our donuts to go. Since it wouldn't be polite to show up at Mark, Haven, and Jason's new shop smelling like donuts we bought a dozen to share. Since Mark, Haven, and Jason are in training they only ate four between them, Lori had one and I was still too full from breakfast to have any. This left Lori and I with seven more donuts, five more than we planned. We headed back to the Motor Palace to mess with Bondorella a little and now we're down to two. Those with milk and coffee will be a great start to another day just "Livin' the Dream" Lori before eating four donuts