Open-Road Oases

Recently, along with what seemed like 99% of the rest of humanity, we headed our car northward on a vacation to enjoy some of the scenic splendors of the state. We began the trip by stowing the luggage in the trunk and the kids in the back seat. Two hours later we were seriously pondering the advantages of reversing this arrangement. After another hour, which found us well up on I-5, more urgent matters intruded. We needed a place where we could stop, stretch and attend to those things that we always tell the kids to attend to before they leave home. We soon found such a place, and we didn’t have to buy a tank of gas or consume a greasy hamburger to enjoy its amenities.

We pulled off into a rest area, one of what we later learned are 90 that exist along the state’s highway system. These rest areas are oases in the midsts of concrete deserts. They provide ample parking, cool drinking water and clean lavatories. They have shade trees scattered over plots of well-tended lawn, picnic tables and signs that quite properly ask people to keep their dogs leashed. On routes like I-5, which does not pass close to any major urban areas as it cuts through the San Joaquin Valley, there is a rest stop every 60 miles. North of Sacramento the rest areas are even closer together. Other well-traveled highways like State Route 1 and U.S. 101 have fewer rest stops because good-size towns and cities are usually close by.

Each year, California’s Department of Transportation tells us, 50 million people stop to take advantage of the comfort and services that the rest areas provide. And from each one, we would guess, comes a grateful sigh of relief.