The somewhat famous local overboard on the decorations for the season to be jolly, often referred to in a lump sum as Candy Cane Lane, is really 4 avenues. Three of which are 3 blocks long and the 4th is two.
I'm sure I knew this sometime in my childhood but once again I took a refresher course and this is how it works. Coming from the west side the street which has already been referred to here as the 4th avenue, the short two blocker, begins Candy Cane Lane. For anyone who is/was local or for some other reason finds this and cares to know this would be Penfield Avenue, in the 91367 zip code, coming in from Hatteras Street. Penfield is shorter than the other 3 blocks because there is a hill at the end. That's where the street dead ends, depicted yesterday here. If you are inclined to visit this neighborhood for any of this and you come in from Winnetka Avenue onto Hatteras don't turn left into the short dead ending block. If you don't see a bunch of traffic and you really feel like it, well OK, but I'll tell you turning around when this scene is hopping with cars just for the 10-12 houses on the dead end street isn't worth the hassle. It is at this sign, I recommend you make a right turn. Are you following this? I'm not gonna make a map, you can do that yourself.
You've got about 18 houses on Penfield without that dead end I told you to skip. You're continuing west now to the next block by turning left onto Martha Street. If you started on Martha Street that probably means you got into this mess from the 101 Freeway exit on Winnetka. That would also be a big mistake. If you come to see this and you have to take the 101 freeway get off well in advance of Winnetka. That means about a mile from all this. To the west that would be De Soto Ave., to the east it would be Tampa Ave. But if it's anytime close to Christmas, especially on a weekend, 8 PM and you've got a car full of kids running high on a sugar rush you don't want to expend 1/2 hour just getting off the freeway and making a right turn onto Winnetka even though you'd be a mere 25 yards away from the right turn onto Martha. So pay attention to experience here and Google map this from Tampa Avenue or DeSoto Avenue and find a back door onto Hatteras on either the Corbin or Winnetka side. In fact make it Winnetka no matter what. I live right off of Corbin Ave. I don't want any collateral traffic near me from people who are screwing this up.
Anyway, back to Penfield > Martha > Lubao Avenue. You go left, that's the only way you can go. The 101 is just to your right. On Lubao guess where you are?
That's right. you're still on Candy Cane Lane. Why the two streets of 5 blocks shared that holiday name has always been a mystery.
The next set of 3 blocks is Oakdale Avenue, aka, Candlelight Lane.
On the other end of Oakdale, they're still working on the sign.
Coming off Oakdale to the next set of 3 blocks west you'll be on Jumilla. Jumilla is Bell Lane or Caroler's Lane or something along those lines... I don't think I was ever really sure. They don't have a sign on Jumilla, at least not yet.
On a personal note. We did this when we were kids. We picked a night, got in our jammies and went out in the car to look at decorations. The most fun part for me was getting to stay up and do this... in our jammies. The traffic can be horrific. Also, people drive without headlights AND they aren't really looking at where they're going. The upside to that is you're only moving about 2 MPH, unless you're stopped completely.
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