Passport Road Trip ~ "Passport Though Time"
By Dan Conaway, HH80 President

Judging by past Road Trips, we anticipated a good turnout for this year's event on October 18th but even our expectations were surpassed when over 225 participants registered for the adventure on a beautiful California day!

Our 3rd Annual Passport Road Trip began with great participation from our Imperial Valley friends for our East to West journey, led again by HH80 Board Members, Ralph and Alicia Vargas. Twenty people in classic cars made stops beginning in Holtville for its 100th anniversary, then proceeded to Seeley, just outside of El Centro, along to Ocotillo, then to the Desert View Tower in In-Ko-Pah, on to Boulevard, Jacumba, Golden Acorn Casino and Pine Valley before reaching Viejas.

Our West to East contingent was something we all can be proud of with over 20 participant Stops:

5 Restaurants of great variety (The Chicken Pie Shop, New York Bakery [that most graciously provided over 200 breakfast pastries for registration], Marechiaro's Italian Restaurant in Lakeside, The Flinn Springs Restaurant & Bar and Fred's Old Fashioned Burgers in Alpine);

3 Car Dealers (Drew Ford and its auto group, Cunningham BMW, and El Cajon Ford); also Drew and El Cajon Ford were participants in our fuel efficient car displays;

3 Specialty Retailers (Iron Mountain Outfitters in La Mesa, El Cajon Harley Davidson celebrating its 60 year, and Phillips Hobbies, just getting started in El Cajon);

2 Museums (The San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park and its "little brother", J. A. Cooley's Museum on Park Ave. who shares space with "Frank the Train Man");

2 Businesses whose main feature is plants and flowers, but are much more – I call them "florists plus" (Summers Past Farms in Flinn Springs and Alpine Artistic Florist);

2 Beautiful properties each with a specialty business (Vacationers RV Resort in El Cajon, and Campbell Creek Ranch, a special events / party ranch in Alpine);

1 Arts-oriented organization (Arts Alliance in La Mesa);

1 Supermarket (the "new" Albertsons in Alpine); and

1 Site with everything (Viejas Casino and Viejas Outlet Center)

That's an excellent group who shares our vision of collective pride in what Col. Ed Fletcher and others started in the early 20th century and what others before us have nurtured over the ensuing 90+ years.

Special thanks to 1) the Ball Auto Group, the Fun Bike Center and the Smart Car of America group, all of whom along with Drew Auto Group and El Cajon Ford set up a great display of fuel efficient vehicles at both the Auto Museum and Viejas; 2) KUSI's and our own Dave Scott for being our Master of Ceremonies at both the Museum and Viejas; 3) Our sponsors: the Estate of Floyd, Betty and Gary Finnerty, El Cajon Harley Davidson, and Joe Bonin of EC Commercial; 4) The Brigantine in La Mesa for generously providing gift certificates; 5) Christy Hewitt for diligently doing all our graphic design work; 6) the El Cajon Community Development Corporation for loaning us barricades and cones to help identify our Stops; and, as always, 7) Viejas Enterprises for their indispensable in-kind donations of print materials, maintenance, water, and anything we ever require. And finally thanks to our Directors and their friends and family for doing such enormous volunteer work to make this a successful event.

It was a BIG day for everyone involved with no shortage of fun and adventure! Frankly, recognizing the need and objective to promote the Route in a unified manner in all our future efforts is the essence of why our nonprofit organization exists. Few people would be interested in Highway 80 if there were just an occasional interesting place here and there. Far more people will find it interesting when it's unified by a central feeling, theme or "brand" similar to what Route 66 and The Lincoln Highway have accomplished.

So please spread the word and jump aboard with us as we develop this concept and 'drive it" and Historic Highway 80 across the country!

The Early Days of Highway 80
Contributed by the El Cajon Boulevard BIA and Jim Cooley

Highway 80, the main thoroughfare into San Diego started out as a heavily traveled "truck trail," but not the motorized trucks that you see on the road today. Believe it or not, the horse drawn carriage was actually once referred to as a "truck." Horse drawn carriages were capable of delivering many of the goods that we receive today from the Imperial Valley such as produce and furniture, just a lot slower.

With this flow of traffic, enterprising ideas emerged to capture those people traveling through San Diego. New homes were built along Highway 80, and soon enough residents converted their front lawns into business stands. Small scale farmers also set up along the route and built truck farms, which were anywhere between five and 20 acres. A visible produce stand complemented the truck farm, which is considered an early form of a farmers market where we purchase local produce today. Farmers would need to "truck" their remaining produce downtown and sell it to a produce company who would then sell it to the grocery stores.

In 1936, once the road was officially designated Highway 80, the flow of traffic had increased greatly with the emergence of the automobile. The early automobiles needed more maintenance then they do today, so garages selling tires and other auto parts popped up along the road. Motels were also a new phenomenon. Previously, you would have to drive all the way into town to stay in a hotel. Motels were a convenience for those who wanted to stop in route, and they were more affordable.

Through the establishment of Highway 80, one of the greatest benefits for San Diego was being included on a national map system. Road maps were free at gas stations, and because San Diego was the last stop on Highway 80, the very first transcontinental highway in the United States, Americans had a clear understanding of where it was located and how to get here.

Did You Know?
US 80 passes through downtown Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vicksburg was the site of a major Civil War battle, the Seige of Vicksburg. The Union forces took the city after a seige of 47 days. This battle, and Lee's loss at Gettysburg, lead to the end of the Civil War. The Vicksburg National Military Park features 1,330 historic monuments and markers, as well as a National Cemetery.

Note - We hear many favorite Old Highway 80 memories from people as we're out in the community creating awareness of the route and now we'd like to invite all of you to share your favorite stories with our readers. Please send us your favorite story for inclusion in a future e-Newsletter issue. Stories should be three to five paragraphs and please include a picture if you can.

HH80 Membership
Historic Highway 80 is in full swing kicking off our 1st Annual Membership Drive and we need your help. Memberships range from $25-$2,500 with opportunities such as advertising, web acknowledgement, free subscription to "American Road Magazine" and HH80 merchandise. If you would like to become a member and/or be a part of the membership committee, please contact me at the information below. Please join our organization at the highest level you can afford in order to assist us in preserving, enhancing and resurrecting this irreplaceable community resource that almost literally lies under our feet – Historic Highway 80, the first dedicated intercontinental highway, the year 1926.

Thank you for your consideration,
Lori Cartmill
619.787.6635

HH80 Corporation welcomes our newest members