Views of Ridgecrest

Re “In high desert, Navy has recession at bay,” July 22

Nice article about our town. It’s small, and we selfishly want to keep it that way.

We don’t want you to know about our museums, concert and theater associations, music and sports opportunities, and excellent schools from kindergarten through college.

Anyone contemplating a move here needs to learn about the blazing summers, cyclonic springtime winds and bitter winters that can touch freezing at night. And the traffic. Weekdays at China Lake’s main gate, at 7:30 a.m., cars are sometimes backed up for a third of a block.

Really, there must be better places to which you’d consider moving.

Bob Rockwell

Ridgecrest

I have wonderful memories of growing up in Ridgecrest during the ‘50s and ‘60s.

It had few traffic lights or sidewalks. But the surrounding area has always offered much: hiking, camping, hunting and fishing, birding and rock collecting.

Perhaps it’s best defined by what it lacks: smog, crowds and serious crime.

Jeanette Davis

Pomona

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There is a certain breed of person who is attracted to small-town life in the high desert, while amiable weather conditions and the numerous comforts and pleasant diversions of suburbanized living in coastal Southern California attract the multitudes.

Yet from Ridgecrest you can readily view the austerely majestic Eastern Sierra, and Mt. Whitney is just up the road on Highway 395.

Next time you find yourself stalled in auto traffic on a gridlocked freeway, you might reflect on the values associated with such a life.

Chuck Hackwith

San Clemente