11/28/03
Where do you live now? Ridgecrest, CA
How many years were you in the desert? 30
Are you willing to help with pictures? I have :-)
Are you willing to help with stories? Yes
Comments:
It has been great working with you Pat, and certainly have enjoyed seeing this webpage on the move. Bet you miss the good ole days back down here in the desert, but there is a reason for everything. Keep up the good work and enjoy the weather up there and especially the "Webmastering". I commend you!
Bob and Sue Holly
| Stephanie Whitfield (Parker) | Email |
12/24/03
Where do you live now? Ridgecrest
How many years were you in the desert? Off & On for the past 30 years
Are you willing to help with pictures? Will have to look...
Are you willing to help with stories? I will search my memory banks...
Comments:
This is a great site for any and all who've called Ridgecrest/China Lake place home. Anyone remember the trailer park on base & the underground tunnels? Base housing life as a kid? NAF pool? A great place to grow up...
01/31/04
Where do you live now? topeka,ks
How many years were you in the desert? 20+
Are you willing to help with pictures? yes
Are you willing to help with stories? dont have many
Comments:
love this site...was hoping for pics of CLALL of 82 but great site anyways
scott
12/18/04
Where do you live now? Sacramento area, foothills
How many years were you in the desert? 15.5
Are you willing to help with pictures? yes
Are you willing to help with stories? no
Comments:
Was glad I grew up in the small town, but it seemed so big when we were there. BHS grad, 1972. Came back after the military service, but Ridgecrest wasn't my idea of continuing me and my wife's life. Left in 1979 for good, after CCCC grad. Still have friends and family there and visit once a year. Things I remember that still have a place in my memory: 10 movies at the Station theater with movie pass around your neck Laurensten Road house is gone on the base The Malt Shop on base That "huge gym" on base The galley on base, Station Restaurant? The CPO Club, worked there 3.5 yrs The Harlem clowns each year/ Thee was also a touring softball comedy group but what was their name, Schofield field China Lake freezing and driving the Jeep on it The 10 MPH motorcycle trails on base and those silly rules Benthams corner R/C first stripper bar C/L trailer court, it had class My TV Guide magazine route and how 15 cents was too much for some. Lots of firecrakers Partying in the desert, what was a DWI, DUI or a 502? Ahh base security! The Rowe St. house and Rowe St. school
10/17/04
Where do you live now? Hollywood, FL
How many years were you in the desert? 6/69 to 3/73
Are you willing to help with pictures? don't have any
Are you willing to help with stories? Oh Yes
Comments:
I remember the very first time my dad and I drove in from Southern California. He pointed to a shiney spot and said, "that's Ridgecrest." And I thought... 'oh God, we're moving to nowhere." I was 12 yrs old. We came in from Newbury Park CA. Dad was transferred with his aerospace job, and brought his family to live in Ridgecrest. I went to Jame Monroe Jr High, my little sister went to Las Flores Elementary. We lived on Drummond Drive. I used to get spanked by [B]Mr. Dixon[/B] at least twice a month. They used to use this paddle with holes drilled out of it.. It was awful, because they would spank us in the hallways, and the acoustics... I took advantage of the acoustics and used to yell and scream with terror.. I do believe they stopped the spanking that year.. 1969.
I learned to drive in the desert. Dad had gotten a VW Bug, and there was a landing strip behind our house on Drummond Circle, and Dad used to let me take the VW out on the landing strip and practice driving.
Mom didn't last very long in the Desert and she left. Dad dated Marty Badalich, who owned the Cut and Curl Salon, and eventually married in 1970.
I remember hanging out with my step brothers and going to places like Robber's Roost, where the guys would wire their 8 track stereo's to their guitar speakers and blast the animals out of the mountains.. Led Zepplin was the big thing then.
I remember going to Foster's Ice Cream, where Tony worked in 1969. We used to hang out at the Circle Drive-in for cherry cokes, and La Fiesta for our mexican fast food.
There were no traffic lights when I lived in Ridgecrest. But we had the base pool, the base theatre, concerts at the Officer's Club.
Ridging dirt bikes was a way of life. I remember hanging out with Jerry Eyre, and Greg Turnbow, Ed Sigler, riding motorcycles. In fact, it was a blast to go watch the Barstow to Vegas Desert Bike run.. I discovered moto-cross racing from living in the desert.
Dad took us on field trips every weekend. We discovered Kennedy Meadows, Kernville, Walker Pass, Bishop, Red Rock Canyon, picnics at Mt Whitney porthole. Y'know... when you think back like this, there was a ton of stuff to do in the desert. And the air was clear, no smog, or pollutants.
Windstorms used to sand blast the finishes off the cars,we didn't have bus service from school to my neighborhood, and therefore, had to walk in windstorms home from school. Mountains of sand would be inside our windows every morning.. but where else could you be raised in purity? I remember laying in the back of Ed's 56 Chevy truck and counting shooting stars. I still try to watch for shooting stars (30+ yrs later).
I used to drive to Mojave to redeem my S&H green stamps. And one day I was gassing up at a gas station in Mojave, in 1971 and who should be standing at the next pump? Walter Brennan and Elisha Cook. They were out "exploring" they told me, so I got their autographs. And then there was the time I was in some all night restaurant in Palmdale and John Wayne had walked in. I was in total disbelief. Got his autograph too!
If it wasn't for Ridgecrest, I might never had learned to snow ski at Mammoth, or drive thru Death Valley, or water ski at Lake Isabella, or motorcycle ride all over the mountains, or see the Sierra Nevada's, see old mines and towns like Randsburg.. or have met some of the neatest people that I grew up with.
Living in the Desert has hellacious as a kid, but as I look back, I realize it was a wonderful experience, and most of us came from somewhere else because of the Base.
I have really fond memories of Ridgecrest. I think I need to drag the girlfriend back with me to see the beauty, and take millions of pictures. Thanks for the memories!!!
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