Wonderful site to visit.

I truly enjoy your website.  I'm sure I can find pictures to fill in some of those gaps.  We still own a home in Ridgecrest and I am there often.  After living in the city I certainly enjoy the peace and quite of Ridgecrest when I get the opportunity.

The adventure that brought me to Ridgecrest in 1989 was a job interview with the City of Ridgecrest, to help run the new Kerr-McGee Recreation Center as its first facility/tourism manager. I rode the train 1200 miles from Colorado to Barstow and rented a car for the drive north to Ridgecrest. I wondered what I was doing so far from home, driving to what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, also late for the interview because the train had pulled into Barstow two hours behind schedule. Still, I persevered in the heat, leaving "civilization" behind as the desert mountains and not much else loomed ahead of me. The vastness and beauty of the high desert drew me in, and upon arriving in the city, so did the interview committee. I was hooked on making this move and was thrilled to get the job. I learned that residents were passionate about their town, some fighting against growth, others at the forefront of pursuing new ideas and looking for opportunities to spread the word about the unique sites and history of the area. A single parent at the time, my children and I were happy being Ridgecrest residents. The job provided me opportunities to travel throughout the state and boast about the warm people, its recreation/conference center, and the out-of-the-way tourism opportunities to be explored in the Ridgecrest area. My two sons were so influenced by seeing the airplanes of China Lake and living in a military town that they've gone on to join the US Air Force and the US Navy as young adults. Alas, we left Ridgecrest because the man I was to marry wanted me back in Colorado--otherwise we'd still be there! I met some wonderful people and have memories that will always be with me. I like to think I left a little of myself there in the desert, but even more, the community left a lot of itself within me.

What a great web site!! Was looking for my high school online and ran into it and all of this information!!! Thank you to whomever it is that put it together and keeps it up!!

My family moved to China Lake in 1981 as my father was in the Navy (of course!!!).  I went to elementary school at Vieweg, junior high at Murray and graduated from Burroughs in 1990.

I am very happy (but also surprised) to see that Mr. Bell is the principal.  He was the science teacher when I graduated, in addition to coaching football!!

I have many memories of R/C.  Still visit Johns pizza when I visit my grandmother!! And the drive thru dairy - LOVE that place!!!

I hope that everyone is well and I have left a way to get in touch with me if anyone desires.

So much to say so little time - what a wonderful trip down memory lane!!! I will visit again when I have more time to browse!!

Chy Grabowski