I've Been (Nearly) Everywhere

Often when I am on a sports assignment for the Orange County Register the Johnny Cash song "I've Been Everywhere" runs through my head.

Sure, I had been out to Los Angeles to see my Dad on seven or eight trips since 1978, but the first chance to quantify some of the travel I have made around the Southland comes from the datelines of the football, basketball, baseball and softball games I have covered in the past 12 months.

Most of the games have been in Orange County, of course. I now know several ways to get around the nightly closings of the 405 near the 22 on the widening project that will probably be done sometime around 2022.

I'm pretty sure this list is comprehensive as of right now:

ANAHEIM
HUNTINGTON BEACH
WESTMINSTER
GARDEN GROVE
PLACENTIA
COSTA MESA
NEWPORT BEACH
IRVINE
LAKE FOREST
SANTA ANA
LONG BEACH
LOS ANGELES
TORRANCE
COMPTON
CARSON
ROLLING HILLS ESTATES
GLENDALE
PASADENA
CULVER CITY
EL SEGUNDO
MANHATTAN BEACH

Whew. Quite a list. I won't lie. I was a little concerned about going to Compton, but folks over there were great. And my Los Angeles entry came from a new high school in the south-central area, but, same thing. A great experience.

The non-league season has allowed me to stay closer to home, and save money on gasoline, but eventually I'll be on the road to Orange County again. We'll see how much that adds to the list real soon.