Blast to the Past...Part 2...LA to Sacto..and Back !!

  

Alfalfa Field Lancaster Calif. 1988

That's me and my oldest son Christopher.. tip toeing through the alfalfa fields somewhere in Lancaster Ca. The year was 1988 two years before we moved to Mojave. Wait..let me back up a little..In 1980 I was offered a job  by a large furniture manufacturing company in Sacramento Ca. and they offered to relocate my wife and I along with all of my belongings  ..all expenses paid !! Wow what an opportunity !! How could I resist ? So we decided to take the offer !! The very next week a big shiny truck pulled up and loaded up all our stuff ..and off they went ..to the "North State" and Sacramento Ca...Well they put all our stuff  in storage and  they even set us up in a nice hotel for two months while we searched for a decent place to live.  Well after many day's of searching we finally found a nice place to call home ..Everything was working out just find..I really liked my job and Sacramento was gorgeous..lots of outdoor activities for anyone who likes to hunt or fish ! I did my share of deer hunting as you can see in the photo below !!

Wait a minute ..that's not a deer !!

 Well I worked for that company for five years  from 1980 to 1985.. business got slow and the company decided to downsize...( in other words ..I got laid off !) Well the timing could not have been worse.. because by that time we had already started a family ..Christopher was born in 1983 followed by my daughter Leonela  in 1985..so we were faced with  two choices..stay and look for employment ..or go back to LA where the chances of getting a job were much better...Well we decided to move back to Los Angeles because of the more favorable employment opportunities..Plus all my family was living in So-Cal.. Well I found a decent job at another furniture company (my trade involved all phases of furniture making..mostly upholstered furniture)  and worked there for a couple of months until my big sister Mary decided that she wanted to go into the restaurant business (my mom and dad owned and operated a Mexican restaurant for 12 years .. I guess it's in the blood ) and she wanted me to help her manage the business.!!  Well... I left my job.. rolled up my sleeve's .. put on my apron .. and got to work !!..Well we got the business up and running ( we named it Elia's Mexican Restaurant ) Truth  is..I was enjoying my work especially the day to day adrenalin rush  ( not to mention  the occasional  Panic Attacks !!) and the challenges of running your own business ..but still,  in the back of my mind  I wasn't really happy working and living in a large city like Los Angeles.. especially after getting a taste of the rural outdoor life  in Sacramento and now added to that the open spaces and beauty of the High Desert..plus our family was getting larger ..we were blessed with another child.. Alexander in 1987.. as our new family grew we recognized that the big city life was not a good environment to raise a family.. so we started to plan our escape!!  Fast forward to that Lancaster alfalfa field 1988 !!

Image via Wikipedia

And this is where my brother Efrain enters the picture ! My brother had already been living in Mojave  several years before we ever thought of moving our family here. We would come once in a while on the weekends to visit for a day or two..I really liked the desert and enjoyed every moment ..especially the starry nights and spectacular sunrises..my children also liked it here and really enjoyed  the openness and the many opportunities to explore and play and all the things that kid's can't experience in a big city..in fact before that time ..we never knew and were surprised to learn that there was actually cities and real people living on the other side of those mountains that we knew as the San Gabriel and Angeles National Forests ! Well after about a year of visiting my brother on a regular bases (we would use the excuse of visiting my brother to get out of the city..plus we had a place to stay !!)..my wife and I started to develop a feel for what it would be like to actually live here on a permanent bases..so little by little with every visit.. we filled our hearts and minds with a little bit of  the Mojave desert experience..and then it got to the point that with every visit it became harder and harder to leave ! When we compared the peace, tranquility and open spaces.. together with the peace of mind knowing that our children would grow up in a safe environment ...with what was waiting for us on the other side of those mountains...needless to say our decision became easier to make with every visit!!  

Stay tuned for the big Move !!