U-Turn Laverne
The drive through the San Joaquin Valley favors Spanish-speaking evangelicals. From the bottom of the Grapevine to the City of Modesto, 95% of the 48 radio stations that reach this area broadcast in Spanish, religious zealotry or both. Before the I-5 opened in the 1960s, driving to San Francisco on U.S. 99 took you through the middle of every hick town there was north of Bakersfield. The I-5 turned out to be a straight shot along the west side of the central valley that took far less time but provided drivers with fewer stimuli than a sensory deprivation tank. Driving alone to Munson's on the I-5 was a long and monotonous chore that always sent me searching the radio dial for a distraction. Popular music has never had any appeal to me. In any other circumstance, it would be a toss up between listening to Cher for five hours and undergoing a colonoscopy. On second thought, schedule the colonoscopy. On my trips north o...