I'm stuck in Gorman
 

Some of my family decided to make a spur of the moment trip to Sequoia NP. I took yesterday and today off work, and Bill and I drove up in the Mini to join them. We had planned to drive back this evening.

The I5 is closed. All southbound traffic is being diverted on to the 138 towards Palmdale and the 14. We got stuck in that mess and went all of 2 miles in 1 hour and 10 minutes.... So, we turned around and found the 2nd to the last room in the only hotel in Gorman(we got here at 8:45). There is no long distance phone service out of town (but I was able to connect to earthlink via dial-up - go figure) So I don't know if the rest of my family that were headed back to OC got through, or if I'll be able to call work tomorrow morning and let them know I may not be in!

Yikes!

As I read this, I am listening to the news reports on the fire.

I hope all works out!

Drove through the fire on Sunday evening. It wasn't threatening I-5 at that point but was all over in the hills above Castaic and then around Pyramid Lake.

I know it sucks if you live there but it was very pretty to drive through at night.

Enjoy Gorman, I've always wanted to stop there just to eat at the Sizzler. But never have.

2 lanes south bound reopened around 11-11:30ish, but our local news is warning people to be prepared for more closures. I know it was having a lot of trouble all day Monday and yesterday, sporadic closures, but they only seemed to be affecting the Southbound side. Last night was the first I had heard about Northbound being affected.

You always get stuck in the most, uh, "interesting" places.

I can think of several adjectives to describe Gorman, but "interesting" is not one of them.

We just got home about 45 minutes ago. The 5 is down to 2 lanes in either direction. We passed several spots where the fire had come right up to the freeway. We saw a charred freeway sign lying on the ground, its wooden support burned away.

Yikes! Good thing they closed the freeway.

My car has a fine layer of ash all over it, and the sun was blood red through the smoke all day long. With the 5 closed, a lot of people were diverting off the 5 onto the Old Road (which runs alongside the 5 through Santa Clarita) which, conviently, is the road I take to school everyday, so there has been tons of traffic. Rumor is that if the fire gets any closer to Castaic (or jumps the 5), it will spread even faster, and school will probably have to close (about 75% of our student population is from Castaic).

I hate fires.

Our news (in Bakersfield) said that if it jumped I5 it would threaten a lot of houses. When it first started they said they were just going to let it burn itself out since it wasn't threatening anything.

I got stuck in Needles once. Car broke down. About 1975, was that an interesting town, NOT! And not much better now, I bet.

When we lived in Temple City we had a house/cabin in Coulterville. I was around 5 when our Jeep died. The fan belt broke and sent the fan through the radiator. We spent over 5 hours in Selma waiting for it to be fixed. All I can remember (other than mom freaking out when she saw what she thought was smoke billowing from the hood) is that it was verrry hot and extremly boring.

In January I spent an extra 5 hours behind the wheel due to snow in Castaic. We were heading home from DLR and ended up having to go out to 101 and back to 166 to get around it. David was driving Dawn's truck and I was driving my Blazer. I was going to do anything to NOT be stuck with her kids overnight.

:eek: That's exactly what hapened to us!!! We were in a Ford van (the old kind with the motot INSIDE between the front seats!) when it happened. The smoke filled the van. We had left the house at some ungodly hour and were in the desert at just about sunrise, then poof! My dad hitched a ride into town, we got towed as soon as the auto shop opened. Then it took 11 hours to fix because when they got it done and test drove it, it wasn't right and had to do it again.

What a way to start a family driving vacation, in a small waiting area in a auto shop in Needles with 3 young kids and nothing to do for 11 hours!

Gorman! Yikes.

There's another name to add to the list of Cali city names that come up on the screen during the Soarin' pre-show...

:D

Hmm, is Leo aware of the existence of a city called "Coulterville"?

LOL

It is an old gold mining town off of Hwy 49.

There's an antique shop in Gorman, just across from the Carl's Jr.

See? There's always something to do.

Somehow, I imagine this shop filled with the detrious of failed vacation attempts, and objects more commonly found abandoned in cars.

A window into the lives of many. Think of all the stories behind that kind of abandoned stuff. The speculation, no doubt, would be much better than the truth. I think someone needs to do a photo essay.

But as far as stopping for a bathroom break, Gorman sure beats trying to get off the road at Magic Mountain. After you've stopped in Gorman, you can sail past MM, thinking "so long, suckers!"

You mean like the fish that is hanging near the bushes by your front porch? ;)

I keep seeing this thread title as "I'm Stuck in German," like you received a brain injury and now only speak auf Deutsch.

In which cast the title would be "Ich bin auf Deutsch gesteckt".

Not any more, apparently. There's an empty, fenced off building across from the Carl's.

I bet it's open again - Did you notiuce anything missing rom your car?

Yes... 12 hours of my life. :(

Heh - the Twilight Zone theme is playing in my head

During his previous trips down to Long Beach driving an oil tanker, David has spotted a few totaled and abandoned cars stuck in the hills around that area. He said that most of them are just shells of old cars, pre 1950's.

For some reason, I get an image of David driving one of these:

lol noooooo... tanker truck....

One of those in Gorman... THAT would be interesting!

You could probably fit all of Gorman on the deck of that ship and still have room for a few tanker trucks.

and maybe even a spare antique store :)

Okay, a tad bit off track....

I have been searching the CHP/Caltrans sites for info on the Grapevine, the area where the fire is {maybe right after or before} and nothing.

Is HWY 5 open? I am heading up in a few days...

Help? Oh, and did someone say 'antique store' in Gorman? And a Sizzler? I haven't noticed. Isn't the place right next to the big gas station, is it? Or is Gorman the place further that has a Jack in the Box?

I5 is open. ummm... I want to say that Gorman is after you hit Lebec, heading south, but I am usually too busy trying to slow down through there to pay much attention.

Correct.

There is a Sizzler, an Econolodge, a Carl's Jr, and a couple of gas stations. Not much else.

CHP can run heavy through there. I usually have to remind myself to slow after topping the grade going south and then going north I am dodging trucks.

According to our local news, the fire is no longer threatening I5.

Thanks, you guys!

Ah, yes, thanks :snap: for the info on the CHP. Would hate to add the cost of a ticket to our trip.

So there is an Econolodge {LOL, of course, that is where you started this thread, right?}. Was it clean? Safe? We are coming down from Sacramento and will either stop there {yes, a planned stop!} or in Diamond Bar. Big difference, right?

When we've driven through there, we've mostly nervously watched the temperature gauge, suffering without A/C.

The last time {oh, I think it was end of March of this year}we were stuck in traffic from a big accident. The freeway was stopped. We had little walkie talkie radios {well, I guess now that I am an adult, they aren't called walkie talkies?} and cracked up because others did, too, and were talking back and forth from different vehicles. We have done that on road trips when we've used more than one car.

Thanks again, you guys!

When I read this thread title, all I could think of was...

"Who is Gorman ?"

There goes the Coke. *Pfffffftttttttttt*

:D

It was suprisingly clean... for an Econolodge. The beds were hard and lumpy, and the whole place smelled... well... old. But other than that, not bad. Oh, and the ice machine is in a janitor's closet off the lobby. And when you go to get ice, just ignore the stares from the small East Indian family who seem to be permanent fixture of the lobby. They seem nice enough.

What about staying in Bakersfield? It is only about 45 minutes north of Gorman. There are some nice hotels at the Rosdale Hwy exit.

Ah, so, Mousey Girl, Bakersfield you say?

Thanks for that review, JWBear. I have a very keen sense of smell and that 'old' smell would probably overtake me.

That family may be related to the owner/manager of the motel? Either that or they were also 'stuck in Gorman' but didn't get a room. Ya think, maybe?

I am off to look into Bakersfield lodging. :snap: