It was ominous for sure...a surreal hellish red glow...as I drove those last few miles from Victorville to the Cajon Pass. I just wanted to pick up the last load of family items to complete our recent move to our new home in the Pacific Northwest. Our old house in Los Angles County had closed escrow a couple of months ago and was already inhabited by the new owners.

Heading Southwest from Las Vegas on I-15, the radio had warned me that my freeway had been closed due to the many fires burning in and around it near the Cajon Pass. Fires burned not just in Los Angeles County but San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside as well. Oddly as I approached the burning area they opened the road and I drove into what seemed like a modern day version of Dante's' Inferno on the freeways of Southern California.

Since leaving my tradeshow in Las Vegas, I had envisioned a couple of days of work loading the 20 foot U-Haul trailer and then spending the remaining time visiting with my in-laws and friends before the trip back North. I had budgeted just under a week of easy work with leisurely travel days coming and going. Fire-snarled traffic started eating away at my "surplus days" the moment I arrived at my destination. Five sunless days later (due to smoke mixed with fog and ash) I wanted out of my smoke filled prison.

And if that wasn't enough the last day out gridlock converged on the Foothill Freeway/I-5 transition because of...you guessed it...fires burning too close to the freeway. As I inched my way closer to my escape route past Magic Mountain Parkway, my ear strained to catch the "traffic sig alerts" peppered on the radio every ten minutes and watched my thermostat needle climb into the "hot" zone.

I felt this trip was kind of symbolic of the Love/Hate relationship I had had with the Los Angeles basin for the 23 years I lived here: Love...met my lovely wife, had two great kids, easy weather, and shopping. Hate...Traffic, Crime, Congestion Earthquakes and Firestorms.

I felt a sense of relief as I passed the dozens of fire trucks helicopters and bystanders lined along Interstate 5 Southbound watching the "fire show". I slowly wound up the Grapevine and to freedom and left the smoke filled theatre known as So Cal...behind me.

Learn more about this author, Dan Wilbanks.
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