The older Los Angeles suburbs sprawl northwest, skirting the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains from San Bernardino past Pasadena to the San Fernando Valley.
Heading north from Redlands to San Bernardino the view is of the Sam Bernardino Mountains rising sharply from the valley floor.
San Bernardino was the first town travelers entered after descending through the El Cajon Pass on famed Route 66 when highways first came to the area. Here, in 1940, Dick and Mac McDonald opened McDonald’s Barbeque Restaurant with 20 carhops serving customers in their cars. The restaurant quickly became the top teen hangout in the area and hamburgers with fries were clearly the top selling items on the menu. In 1946 the McDonalds closed their barbeque restaurant and on December 12, 1948, opened their remodeled restaurant selling only hamburgers and fries, emphasizing speedy service. They added milk shakes in 1949 and attracted the attention of a salesman from Multi-Mixer named Ray Kroc. Business flourished and in 1954 the McDonalds demolished their original octagonal building and constructed a building designed by Dick McDonald that included the now iconic golden arches.
Ray Kroc returned in 1955 and convinced the McDonald brothers to let him franchise McDonald’s across the nation. Kroc’s first McDonald’s opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955. Although the McDonald brothers already owned eight McDonald’s restaurants, Kroc named his McDonald’s #1 and today it is the official McDonald’s museum. Meanwhile the McDonald brothers continued to operate their restaurants in California until 1961 when Kroc purchased the rights to the McDonalds for two million dollars (a huge sum at the time.) Kroc did not realize that the signed deal did NOT include the original location in San Bernardino and was furious, forcing them to change the name of their restaurant to the “Big ‘M’” and opening a competing store one block north under the franchise name of McDonald’s. The brothers retired and Kroc went on to create the McDonald’s juggernaut that we know today. The original McDonald’s building was torn down in 1972 and the current building on the site was constructed to house a music store. Over the years the building deteriorated until the owners faced foreclosure in 1996. Albert Okura, owner of the Juan Pollo Rotisserie Chicken chain and a huge McDonald’s fan, purchased the building and decided to open an “unofficial” McDonald’s museum.
Inside the building is crammed with McDonald’s memorabilia, including a tall cabinet that has actual food products from McDonald’s preserved for the ages under a coating of varnish.
Various pieces of original kitchen equipment are on display.
The bulk of the displays are cases containing artifacts from McDonald’s around the world.
Just a fun little stop along the way! My path now takes me directly 30 miles west along the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains to what once was the small town of Montclair, long ago swallowed up by the Los Angeles urban sprawl. The reason for stopping here is special for this is the home of the “mother ship”, the Lazy Daze factory.
Lazy Daze
I originally purchased the “Lunch Box”, which is a Lazy Daze Class C motorhome, because after extensive research I found that it by far had the best reputation for quality amongst the plethora of small motorhome choices. Not being mechanical or particularly handy, I knew I needed quality and the Lunch Box has not disappointed. After nine years and nearly 90,000 miles, I have never had a major problem. I want to stop by the factory and pick up some touch up paint to take care of some of the “beauty spots” that the Lunch Box has acquired over the years. Lazy Daze is a small, family owned company that continues to operate in the original site on Mission Blvd in Montclair. Each motorhome is built to individual order with outstanding craftsmanship in these rather unassuming surroundings.
This is the parts space where customers can pick up a few items. I don’t think much has changed since it opened in 1956.
Lazy Daze owners (including me!) are fanatically loyal and my trip to the “mother ship”, as it is known by the cult of owners, will be much envied as I brag about it during my travels. Just a reminder, this is what the Lunch Box looks like.
As I continue my trek west the San Gabriel Mountains rise to my right above Pasadena. Even though I know that the LA area is surrounded by mountains I am struck by just how high and abruptly they rise above the valley floors.
I’m able to take the picture because I am sitting on one of the other quintessential Los Angeles experiences, the freeway. Keep in mind that this was NOT during rush hour, it was around 11am on a Sunday!
The towers of central LA rise about 20 miles in the distance to my left as I angle northwest towards one of the most iconic LA suburban areas, the San Fernando Valley, home of the Brady Bunch and “Valley Girls.”
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley angles northwest from the LA Basin like an arrowhead, surrounded by low mountains and home to a number of springs as well as the beginnings of the Los Angeles River. Today nearly 2 million people live in the “valley”. Spanish explorers first entered the valley in 1769. Missionaries followed and established the San Fernando Mission in 1797. The mission flourished for nearly 50 years before being sold by the Mexican government. A slow decline began and buildings deteriorated until the Hearst Foundation funded a restoration project in the 1940’s. Lush greenery and high walls shelter the mission complex from the outside world.
Once inside the layout of the complex unfolds with a map showing the public buildings in red. The llarge rectangle on the left is the convent, the “C” partially encloses a courtyard with the church to the top and workshops/living quarters in the rest.
A small museum houses relics from the early years found during the restoration. It’s amazing that these things still existed in the rubble that was the state of the complex before the restoration. Blue and white willow ware from the Spanish period are on display alongside pottery from the Mexican period.
Through the museum and out into a garden area, the imposing convent and the mayordomo’s (ranch foreman) home sit outside the main enclosure. The mayordomo’s house is essentially one large room attached to the east end of the convent building with a cooking area in the center.
The convent building is a large, two-story structure, with a couple of rooms on the main floor open for viewing. As with most historical sites this time of year, school groups are everywhere…
Rooms open one to another, displaying an impressive collection of artifacts from the early Catholic Church in California.
The library contains a wall of books from the early years as well as an “Antiphonal”, written in the 1600’s in Latin and used by priests during prayers.
The mission church dominates the northern side of the courtyard.
North of the church are gardens and the cemetery. The shell in the background of this picture shelters the graves of famous entertainment star Bob Hope and his wife, Delores.
Back through the church the inner courtyard opens before us.
The long building on the right houses a succession of mission workshops, displaying artifacts from the mission period.
All in all, an interesting visit (though next time I’ll visit in the afternoon when there are fewer field trips scheduled!) From one oasis of calm to another, my last stop in the San Fernando Valley is the Japanese Garden.
The Japanese Garden
The lush green of the San Fernando Valley masks the fact that the area is naturally warm and dry. The mountains on three sides tend to trap heat during the warmer months and prevent rain from reaching the valley at the same level as the Los Angeles Basin just over a low range of hills to the south. Consequently water conservation has developed to a sophisticated degree over the last 50 years. The Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant was completed in 1984 and services nearly 800,000 residents in the northwestern portion of the valley. Approximately 60 % of the wastewater is from residents, 40% from industrial and commercial sources. The administration building is a striking modern architectural piece under the brilliant blue sky.
The reclamation plant includes a stunning Japanese Garden, a quiet oasis in the midst of the nearly 1.75 million people who live in the San Fernando Valley. Once through the entrance gate of the garden the administration building rises majestically above the calm and placid waters of the garden lake (which is part of the system that purifies and recycles the waste water.)
To my right is the dry garden, an island of tranquility introducing visitors to a path that wanders around the lake.
Imagine the chirping of birds and the gentle breeze wafting through the garden as we walk around the lake to the teahouse at the far end.
Once past the tea house the path passes over a rushing stream and follows the far side of the lake back to the administration building.
A glass corridor runs along the inside of the administration building and the exit passes by a cascading water feature.
Remember, this is all part of a water treatment plant that creates recycled water from residential and industrial waste water!
Next up: The Gipper…
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