I had not been to LAX in probably ten years. I knew the airport was being remodeled, but I had no idea the extent of the remodel. In October of 2015, I started to work for Uber as a driver and knew that I would eventually pick up a fare to the airport. Figured the streets would be the same, leading to and from the airport, so I wasn’t terribly worried. The route to the airport was slightly altered, but my GPS directed my passenger and me directly to departures.
My passenger got out at Virgin America and I continued around the airport until I found Century Boulevard. Guess what? No Century Boulevard. I found Sepulveda Boulevard, but nothing else looked familiar. There was no Aviation Boulevard or Century Boulevard.
The area outside the airport proper was strange. It was as if I had crossed into another world. It was a Sunday and almost nothing was open. And yes, my GPS had stopped working. As I was driving around, I saw a car rental business and drove right up on the step to the entrance. Not purposely, but I was starting to panic. Thinking there was a nut case outside, the clerk quickly came out and asked, “Can I help you?” I said, “I’m looking for the 405 North.” She thought for a moment, still looking at me funny. She said, “If you make a u-turn, you will find La Tierra Boulevard. Turn right and you will run into the 405 North.”
I thanked her and left. I followed her directions, but the further I drove on La Tijera Boulevard, I felt like I was leaving civilization. I turned to my right, and asked “Mr. Serling, Why is this happening to me? Are you taking me on a tour of the Twilight Zone? Are you sending me back to the 1950’s? What did I do to deserve this?” Of course I received no answer. Talk about being paranoid.
I thought, calling my husband, Jay, might be a good idea. He’s got to be able to help me; I did not know how, but it had to be better than I was doing. I literally felt that I was quickly descending from reality.
I called Jay and said, “I don’t know where I am. I am going to take a motel room and maybe tomorrow things will look better.” He tried to calm me down. “Where are you?” He asked. I started to scream, “I don’t know.” With a calm voice, he said, “Go back around the airport and magically as I was approaching the airport exit, Century Boulevard appeared,
but I missed the turn. Jay stayed on the phone until I turned on to Century and
saw the sign to the 405 North.
Two hours later, I was back in Chatsworth with my family. What a relief!! What an adventure!!!! Was it real???
by Evelyn Goodman
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