Writer Explores San Diego’s Best Scenic Drives

You are listening to midday I am Tom Fudge. Millions of Americans are expected if the road system weekend. It's all about the destination buffer Jack Brandais is about the journey. Jack writes about the trips and scenic drives throughout Southern California. He writes the column weekend driver for the San Diego Tribune.. He joins us today on midday to talk about his new book, John to Julian and many other John said that maybe new studio even if you are a long time Sandy old resident. Glad to be your time let's take a drive. Is the drive your favorite part of getting away? For a lot of me and a lot of people. It is the road we may stop at a place and do something but for really hard-core driving enthusiasts like me. We like that twisting curvy roads. I have been writing about those for a long time. We live in one of the greatest areas in the world for this type of thing because it such a short time. You can leave the hubbub of the city and your the twisting winding isolated country road. So we go on vacation you don't like to take interstate? No not if I don't have to. I take trains of I have to. The twisting backroads of the blue highways they are called. Are a way to explore America's scenery. The interstates for transportation and get you there, especially. Your new book jaunt to Julian is part of a Kindle book of joyride do row in fact I have a right here front of me. On a Kindle what you can settle to be joyride? Exactly what you were describing right? A lot of people know the road to Julian the old Highway 78 because of their old Highway 80 out in East County driving up the Palomar Mountain those types of twisty roads and I started the series to try to use the technology in a way that I could deliver an individual tried to somebody for cheap. They are 299 and the nice thing about the Kindle format is the links work. So I have a Google map and here you can push that it opens up Google maps and away you go. If you want to find out on the Julian Drive find out all the up school history of Julian a link have a link there to the story Tell us something up score, but the drive to Julian that's a drive that I'm sure a lot of her listeners have taken. Is there anything in particular you really like on the road. Most people take high 70 weight and it's really night this culturally road everything else. When you are leaving Ramona, right before the highway MainStreet Ravana narrow cigar on the curve when you go run the return you end up on a road called should be old Julian highway in the twist around the foreign country back there. There's still some ranches and chicken farms and things. And it's really an exciting road one that you have to take very carefully because of all the twists and turns and how narrow it is. And emerges up with Highway 78 just past the camel ranch with some people do or do not know about as well. And then in a book I talk about some of the back roads around Julian where budget to driving or fuel one another little detour to get there, you can take these two there. The rolling hills back there. There's some spectacular places to hike and picnic there. You bought up the fact of old Highway 80, which I think runs parallel to the It does is one of the best preserved stretches of the 19 Thirties Hwy. in the country What's the history behind old Highway 80 I used to be the Bankhead It was called a whole lot of things Bankhead Highway the old Dixie Highway before there was highway numbers next year is the 90th anniversary of Windows Highway numbered created by the government associations would create these highways and Ed Fletcher of Fletcher Hill in the Fletcher family early San Diego family was a real boost for San Diego and the coast-to-coast highway Association that came around that such a get involved in I have to tell one personal story. I was married in a church on the Lincoln Highway in the state of Iowa the Lincoln Highway was dedicated in 1913 and ran from Times Square in New York to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. So that is my story of an overt I've been on the Lincoln Highway and it's great that they built the bridges the small bridges on the highway and the rails on the highway at Lincoln Highway and the concrete. It's a great experience Let's get back to old Highway 80, who was Mr. Bankhead Mr. Bankhead if you have ever heard of the Broadway star from the 40s and 50s tool of Tallulah Bankhead. Her grandfather was a big shot, Senator. in Washington around the turn of last century when the federal government started doling out money for highway improvements and they wanted to honor the senator and see if they can get money for San Diego County so they need to Bankhead Springs, it's unknown whether or not either Tallulah or the senator ever went there Ever drove on the bank anyway They may have because the old Highway 80 was how Hollywood stars we get to the hot springs and that was a pretty hot spot in the 30s. One pretty intense stretch of road you talk about which I guess has a few scary critters is called in with us it is wrong to crazy closer Cows are cows are is in North County parallels I 15 around Pala Road. So if you're going up there to the Indian casinos you have been the near there. The space between Valley Center not 15 is very hilly very beautiful a lot of people in are on motorcycles up there. There are a lot of car clubs in San Diego. I was at the Pantera club a year years ago Pantera was an early 70 sports car and I asked them what your favorite road and they said cows are can you road. That's the cover of the cows are Canyon Drive actually has a guide. What is that a 45° angle run the curve with the twisty road on Kaiser Connor wrote Will cut a car do you drive I have a almost 25-year-old Mosso Miata that is semiretired right now and I the Mini Cooper, which is the larder, Germany So you go for sports cars? Yeah I do get off-road vehicles. The column is in 15 years on the couple. The drives to take root to roads. There's a wonderful stretch of dirt road anybody with an SUV can take that runs between the Canso and the Pine Hills area of Julian do you really need an SUV to drive on the road. It's an unpaved road so there's people that will take it. There's a false down there and you'll see of all kinds of roads and Heights Sioux Falls, it's a little bit better. If you have an SUV because you have a higher ground clearance, a dirt road. You never know when the county has been upgraded and if they went and rated it on Tuesday and it rained. It's gonna be a mess My guest is Jack Brandis uses San Diego freelance writer and author of the jaunt to Julian book and the San Diego Union Tribune and were talking about rise in San Diego, they may not avert about speaking of curvy roads and one which I think is fairly dangerous is the East great going up Palomar Mountain Yes, that is a famous motorcycle road. There was a crazy driving shows that did a piece on that and I was quoted as it's the post most Memorial Drive on the road and you have to be very careful. Driving because you may go around a blind curve in situ monarch of cycles in your late. I don't condone that stuff I have enough problems without riding a motorcycle myself, but a lot of people have a lot of fun on it and it's very beautiful road up the mountains Palomar is really the most densely forced from traditional forest here in San Diego County All the top amount is very beautiful The camping up there. The absorber Tori they can actually go into there's a neat little restaurant up there. So I give you in my Palomar book 3 ways to get up there. The one is these great the South grade is justice was able comes down the road downhill faster not as long and you may run into motorcycles up there as well. And then the meat harassing grade, which is another County dirt road which if you have an SUV can take up that it's a lot of fun to drive that Are there more than one camel ranch in San Diego or just one? I think there's only one that I part of. Okay , But you've been around longer than I have if you've heard of more than one I will let you know [ Laughing ] , Jack your book features trips from the backcountry to the coast. Why don't you tell us about your favorite coastal drive The drive from Oceanside to Torrey Pines is probably them one of the most beautiful in California West Coast. Really. A lot of what we call the Gold Coast Hwy. is the seaside say 101 is still left over when I was the highway and you can find some original pavement. If you are crazy into that on some of that coast highway and it's place with beautiful views the towns are neat. There's lots of places to eat my favorite donut shop in the county is there BT donuts and Carlsbad in Cardiff sorry. Some of the other cells and where you can twist up the original grade to the Torrey Pines Lodge up there is beautiful. Atascosa, California what he gonna do. You've taken a lot of trips around the county Hominy trips to be taken? I working on column 104 for the Union Tribune over 15 years and I am getting one of things about that is, I've read for the car section of paper the manufacture send car so I am taking a Jeep Wrangler out to the desert this weekend for column that's gonna run at the end of October. So I will take the heat in the desert. This weekend, and readers will get to see it at the end of October. The idea of getting into the cargo for drive. I don't know it sounds almost unfashionable these days when people talk about carbon emissions and you shouldn't drive around so much in your car what he say to people who say that you It's a tradition in my family. My mom was born here. Her parents came here in the early part of the last century and even in the depression. You can find money to put gas in the car and get out and explore the city they did that with me. It doesn't take a lot of gas because we were talking about Highway 80 to get all the way out to the end up and to the county from the beginning of Highway 80 in Ocean Beach takes about an hour, maybe a little bit more. And if you explore it. You come back home. Maybe you've done have to take a gas. And you are seeing neat nature. Spiriting a very unique part of the country you are seeing things that you can just stop by the side of road and there's not a lot of traffic out there and just enjoy and I think it's a good trade-off between wanted to save energy and not pollute but also being able to just breathe as a human being Do you recommend: Weekdays. If you can go on weekdays? If possible, especially if you're going someplace by Julian because it does get busy on the weekends somebody's other roads get busy on the weekend, but if you have you can get outdoor and we do it I shot of little video of Highway 80 during the week when you're shooting video. Of course it helps to have a car on a road is a more interesting picture and I would have to wait five or 1050 minute sometimes for Carter tried by so I get a picture on it. [ Laughing ] you have gone on hundreds of these drives of at least 100 so tell us another story what some really nice drive they want to tell people that We talked about the dirt drive that goes through their. It goes up to the Pinos area and then back through? Makkah. If you have never been through? Mathis, it's gorgeous. Since we have had we are still the drug situation because we import or water, but our climate here we have had an average rate your That's true actually The trees are growing some of the trees that were damaging fires a few years ago are start a back and some of them were stunted by the trout they are coming back this year, probably gonna have a beautiful time amount Laguna this year we do get the change of the seasons up there same thing a Palomar and that will drive is great. I have to desert tribes that are going to happen to be more popular as a close off one goes out to an area of fonts point. If you have ever seen that it's like a miniature Grand Canyon I guess is how you would describe it. The Abrego Badlands you are able to drive out there really in any kind of front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive I have done it in a Miata and it's a separate ticket view out there. There are others that I did in the desert is through the Clare Valley and the little player Valley were guy named Marshall South took his family to live in the 30s because they wanted to get off the grid and you can hike up to the ruins of their house and drive on these nice really nice dirt roads the Desert State Park people take good care of them We are out of time. I have to say thanks very much to Jack Brandes uses San Diego print freelance writer and author of the Kindle series of John to Julian and calling Ms. for the San Diego Union Tribune and thank you very much My pleasure