From King City to Huntington Beach

During the novel, Ike travels from just outside King City, CA to Huntington Beach, CA. I thought it might be helpful to take a look at these two places on the map. Driving distance between the two cities is five hours.


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In addition to the heavy surfing backdrop, TAPPING THE SOURCE pays a good amount of attention to motorcycles, particularly Preston's Harley Davidson Knuckle. The Knucklehead was introduced in 1936 (the same year as the one owned by Ike back in San Arco). The Knucklehead is so named because part of it resemble knuckles on the back of a hand.

To learn more about the history and pleasures of the bike, skip to 1:28 in this video from Discovery's THE GREATEST EVER:



And if you can't get enough of that sound, check out this clip of a guy kick starting a 1942 knucklehead.

Another presence in Huntington Beach that doesn't go unnoticed is that of the oil fields and pier. Oil was discovered there in 1920. The pier has also been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. (see the history of Huntington Beach and this awesome photograph from the 1960s)

And to get a sense of HB in 1985, take a look at this image of a few storefronts.