Outrun Dreamin’

January. The coldest month of the year for the middle of the eastern half of the US. Living here nearly all of my life has made me expect a few things out of this month: snow, cold, ice, sunsets at 5:20, overcast skies, heavy coats, scarves, dead trees, dead grass, cars powdered with road salts, snow tires…

So, it’s much to my happy surprise to find that I’m shipped off to southern California for a couple of weeks in January.

Two things immediately stick out: The weather is great. And the traffic is horrible.

Every year, the 405 is recognized as the worst freeway in America. It most definitely lives up to the reputation. California is strikes me as a testament to the modern automobile. Here, the cities were created with the vehicular travel in mind. Opposed to the compact, centralized spaces used in the cities of, say, old Europe, everything is spread out and connected with roads to allow new car owners to put their machines to the test.

And people do. Cars of all shapes, sizes, years, and styles litter the road. It’s actually a nice change of pace, where on the other side of the US, people get a few months in the summer to ride their bikes and show off their nicer cars that have been in the garage hiding from the snow for the winter months.

In a way, it’s very much Americana.

But there’s one thing that I can’t shake. It just feels so familiar.

Outrun. Yes, Sega’s arcade racer from the mid ’80s. Outrun is California in a game. The palm trees, the blue skies, beaches… it’s the first thing that grips me as an outsider. It’s also a signature calling card of the game. Continual warm weather and miles and miles of ocean-side beaches brings a certain culture with it, one involving shorts, bikinis, tans and a fun atmosphere that’s become the game’s essence.

A game to epitomize California has to be a racer. The car culture here is the dominant force. Cars of all sorts – fast slow and in-between – outnumber people and litter the roads. The roads themselves are part of the landscape, ranging from multi-lane mega freeways to two-lane highways traversing up and down mountains and along the shorelines. Driving down the coast, there are open stretches of road interspersed with public beaches, strip malls, skyscrapers, and airports.

It completely reminds me of Outrun, racing through the different stages, seeing the ocean beaches and palm trees give way to open strips of highway and night-time city scapes. Driving an open-top Ferrari, weaving in and out of traffic with the girlfriend in the passenger’s seat is probably not the typical California experience, but I’d dare to say that it’s the California dream.