CCR & Lodi

Creedence Clearwater Revival wrote a song Lodi, where there's the lines,

"Ran out of time and money,
looks like they took my friends.
Oh ! Lord, I'm stuck in Lodi again."

Ok, I have never been a musician or anything anywhere close. So why the song?

Well, on May 1, 1971, Linda and I were living in a small house in North Highlands, north of McClellan Air Force Base north of Sacramento, and hitchhiked to and from a Judy Collins concert in the Stockton city Civic Auditorium. It was a great concert as it was on her birthday and she gave a great concert with just a piano accompanist.

We got a ride all the way there from a friend who was driving to LA and it was only a few miles off his way on highway 99. After the concert we walked and hitchhiked to the intersection with highway 99 north to Sacramento. It wasn't long, being near midnight to get a ride north, but the four kids who gave us a ride was only going to a house east of Lodi.

They dropped us off at the on/off ramp with highway 99 on the east side of Lodi. Well, it was just after midnight, and being Saturday night we pretty much expected to catch a ride north reasonably quickly. Well, it was not to be as no cars came and around 2 am, it began to rain.

We didn't bring anything for the rain as it was California in May, and so we stood there. There was nothing within walking distance to get out of the rain or just sit and wait for awhile. This was 1971 and the on/off ramp was in the boondocks and the only road was west to Lodi and east into the darkness and rural country.

About 4 am the same group of kids drove by going home south, but then they saw us and decided to give us a ride to the first major intersection in south Sacramento where there were typical businesses, gas station, coffee shop, etc., all open. There we got something to eat and talked someone going north on highway 99 to Interstate 80 and to Auburn to give us a ride.

They dropped us off at the off-ramp at Watt Ave, and from there it was just a ride north to the rural countryside to our home sometime around 10 am. For many years it was always a memorable experience, the concert on Judy's birthday and the long trip home.

And yes, we were stuck in Lodi, only once but once is enough in Lodi.