Today was pleasant and mostly low-key. I had a very leisurely morning, taking care of a few chores such as cleaning and lubing my bike chain (which was way overdue; eek!)
Then I cycled over to Hazel & Jade bakery in Hillcrest, one of two wonderful all-vegan bakeries along a brand-new (since I was last here, in October!) bike lane. The two bakeries are just about three blocks apart, although sadly I discovered that Starry Lane was closed today. But I got a decadent chocolate-peanut butter brownie at Hazel & Jade. (No pic—I ate it too soon!)
Michele came down with her doggie Dawa from Escondido to meet me there, and we drove out to check out a little vegan hotspot on the northeast outskirts of town: Grossmont Center, which is a shopping area with a very vegan-friendly food court. We got some good Chinese food at Tasty Inn Express. (Again, no pic—oops!)
Then we stopped at the vegan grocery store nearby, Mission Square Market. I always enjoy visiting there when I’m in town.
And then Michele dropped me off, just before sunset, in Balboa Park again. I watched the sky dim, with the purple mountains in the distance, from the rose garden. Then I biked back to my Warmshowers hosts’ house in North Park. We had some good conversation over a meal of homemade garbanzo bean curry. Before dinner, I had spent about an hour just sitting out on the porch; I love that it is now warm enough here to do that! I’m really looking forward to spending longer chunks of winter time in San Diego in future years.
Tomorrow, I hope to soak up a bit more time in the park, and then I’ll head west for two nights, to say a fond farewell to the Pacific Ocean in the fun little hippie enclave of Ocean Beach.
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Today I got to see a few friends, which was wonderful. But mostly, I spent the day in Balboa Park, which to me has always been the heart of San Diego. My favorite part is the cactus garden, as you may recall. I always have to visit every time I come to town, and center myself amid the particular beauty that is that place.
Then I always walk the Prado, and admire the fountains and architecture.
Meanwhile, on the way to and from the park, I got to enjoy the neighborhood signs that are such a classic part of this city.
I really do love San Diego. I’m continuing to set an intention that I will live here for part of future winters, for somewhere between one and five months.
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Today was a luxuriously slow day (I didn’t even get out of bed until noon) which felt wonderful after the past two active riding days.
The weather was beautiful. My first destination was a vegan Vietnamese spot for lunch, Thanh Tinh Chay, in the City Heights neighborhood southeast of my friend’s place. The only time I’ve been to City Heights before, actually, was about ten years ago, on my initial “recon trip” to San Diego. I had been researching cities that I might want to move to for the months of December through March, and San Diego looked like my best bet. So, never having seen it in person, I hopped on a plane—in late April, as I recall—and spent three or four days here checking it out “on the ground.” (No bike, of course; I got around by bus.) At that time, I stayed in the cheapest Airbnb I could find in the whole city, which turned out to be a tiny but very cool spot in City Heights. It was a small vintage travel trailer parked in the recently remodeled backyard of a woman who owned a small two-bedroom house. The remodel added two bedrooms’ worth of outbuildings—not including the Airbnb trailer, which contained a king-size bed but little room for anything else—as well as an outdoor bathroom complete with shower, and a complete outdoor kitchen! She had a contractor friend who had done all of the work. She herself lived in one of the outbuilding bedrooms, and I think her boyfriend lived in the other. She rented out the two bedrooms in the main house on a long-term basis, and the trailer for Airbnb.
It’s funny, too, because the only other time I’ve seen an outdoor kitchen was yesterday, at the house of my Mira Mesa Warmshowers hosts! They had had a flood a few years ago that nearly destroyed their house. (Hmmm, I wonder what that’s like?) They chose to live in their RV in their front yard rather than move into temporary housing for several months (like I did, first in a hotel and then in an apartment) and they used the insurance company’s “housing allowance” to build an outdoor kitchen instead.
Anyway!
The restaurant meal of crispy eggplant was great. I ate it at a park nearby. The woman at the restaurant was extra nice and friendly, and even gave me two free desserts: some sort of sweet bean pudding, and a vegan flan!
After relaxing in the sunny park for a bit, I decided I wanted to check out a vegan cookie place I had been hearing about in vegan circles since they opened a couple of years ago. Maya’s Cookies is a Black-owned, woman-owned business, both of which I always enjoy supporting. Plus, I had heard the cookies were amazing.
They were indeed, and I even got to meet Maya herself! I enjoyed a classic chocolate chip on-site, and later, a s’mores chocolate chip.
Unfortunately, the ride over there from the park showed me some of the bike-infrastructure gaps in this city. It was a bit harrowing at times, with green bike lanes (kudos to the city for that) sometimes “pausing” for freeway on- and off-ramps. The photo shows just one of probably at least three of these situations I encountered on that one segment of the ride today. (I also encountered three similar situations in Mira Mesa the other day, traveling from the Loving Hut restaurant to my hosts’ place.)
But I made it, even crossing the 8 freeway on a dedicated bike-and-ped bridge.
When I was looking up directions to Maya’s, I noticed on the map that there was a basilica nearby. Despite all my trips to San Diego over the years, I had never been in these areas in the NE section of town. I rode over to check it out, arriving right before they closed so I couldn’t see inside, but the outside looked pretty cool; again I admired the Spanish architecture and multiple-bell towers.
Then I headed back to my home base. What should I discover along the way but the actual bike path along Interstate 15 that I should have taken yesterday. I had misunderstood Google’s directions; they didn’t mean to route me onto the shoulder of the freeway itself, but to the off-road path on the east side of the freeway.
This was much better!
When I reached the end of the path, the light was starting to dim, but I decided to stop for a rest on a bench in a lovely neighborhood park before heading back inside.
Tomorrow I’m meeting a friend for a tour of trees!
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I am tired right now! It was a beautiful but challenging day, with close to 30 miles and about 1200 feet of elevation to climb. I did indeed follow the route my Warmshowers hosts recommended last night—including UCSD, La Jolla, and Mission and Pacific beaches, before turning inland to get to my friend’s place in Normal Heights—and it took me about seven hours! I left at 10:30, and arrived as dusk fell, about 5:15. I continually marvel at how snail-like my pace is out there on the road, but I have to remind myself it’s not a race.
I’ll mostly let the pictures tell the story.
I did get lost for what felt like about an hour, but was probably less, on the beautiful campus of UCSD, in La Jolla. I was near tears of rage and helplessness as I kept going around in circles, always in the wrong direction, in this one particular spot. (I was using my newly downloaded/highly recommended app, Ride With GPS, and my hosts’ personally curated route was superimposed upon it, but the GPS didn’t seem to be tracking me exactly right, and meanwhile the pathway system was like an octopus in that forest. Good grief! But at least it was a pretty setting to be frazzled and losing my mind.)
Very shortly after I made my way out of that vortex, I found myself in front of some incredible views of the ocean. Unfortunately I couldn’t really get pictures of them, since it was a very busy road. But, it was another example of situations turning on a dime.
La Jolla itself was incredibly beautiful. The route took me along the beach, and also through the neighborhoods and business districts just a block or two away from it. The weather, the architecture, the ocean… wow.
Once again, the temperatures varied continually throughout the day from too warm to too cold to just right, and back again. I’m so grateful for my layers! Although I feel like I must look like such a weirdo to these Californians with their T-shirts and surfboards, when I’m wrapped up in my North Face fleece and REI rain shell!
The end of the route was probably the toughest: I had switched to Google Maps at that point, and it routed me onto the freeway! Like, literally, the Interstate 15, for about a mile or so. I turned skeptically into the on-ramp, which specified no bicycles. The shoulder was actually quite wide, but it was very unpleasant to be riding alongside all that speeding traffic. Meanwhile, I was keenly aware of the high cliff to my right, assuming I would need to climb a steep hill to get to the neighborhood up there. (Google had told me I would be climbing more than 300 feet in a mile.) Somehow, though, most of the climb felt very gradual.
But the daylight was waning, and the shoulder was thoroughly strewn with debris, including many pieces of steel-belted radial tires, which I had to keep carefully swerving to avoid. If there is one piece of warning advice I have heard emphatically from fellow bike tourers, it’s to avoid running over any shred of this material, at any cost. Apparently those little “hairy” fibers get into your tire and cause a flat, while being nearly impossible to detect and therefore remove. Ugh.
My tires did remain firm until I arrived, so I trust I did manage to avoid all the debris, but it was ubiquitous, and I didn’t want to swerve too dramatically on that freeway.
Yikes.
Glad I’m here! I was greeted by my friend’s housemate, as well as her two small elderly dogs, and I immediately set out on foot for the neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant for some eggplant-tofu curry, which I devoured with gusto.
I think tomorrow will be mostly a rest day. Balboa Park and Ocean Beach later in my stay.
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Today I bade farewell (for now, though we hope to meet up again before I head east) to Michele and Dawa. They were kind enough to indulge me in a selfie, although Dawa might not have been fully ready for her close-up.
I hopped onto my rig and set a course for Mira Mesa, about 18 miles south. There was about 1000 feet of elevation along the way, so it was a good way to get a bit of exercise after several mostly slothful days.
Two decent-sized segments of the route took place on dedicated bike paths, which was really cool. I went through Hodges Lake, although the lake itself was barely visible from my vantage at the far eastern edge. But the bridge was cool.
Shortly after the bridge, I got back on some busy roads. I made a couple of wrong turns, and had to double back for short distances. Google Maps couldn’t seem to make up its mind on the routing, either: after scaling a 100’ hill, I checked again to see where to go next, and it had apparently changed its mind and told me to go back down the hill and take a different turn.
No thanks, Google. I’m going with your first instinct.
At another point, I turned right where I thought the map showed me to do so, but it was onto a very wide and busy road, with multiple lanes in each direction and a concrete median bisecting it. I double-checked after going maybe 100 yards, and found that no, I was supposed to have crossed that big road, and then turned right on the sidewalk on the opposite side, to meet up with a bike path about 100 yards in, right across from where I was at that moment. So frustrating! I wished I could just cross the road right there, but there was no way I’d be able to get the rig over the median with three lanes of traffic swooshing by in each direction. I’d need to turn around again. Not a big deal in terms of distance, but this was becoming a pattern, and I was becoming cranky.
But then!
I happened to look down at my front tire, and what should I see but two red madrone berries lying right next to it on the sidewalk.
Could it be??
I hadn’t been sure if they really did grow this far south, and if they did, I had been concerned it might be too late in the season for the berries to still be good. (Google had told me that November and December is the season, at least in the Bay area.) I thought I might have had the last of this delectable treat for the year.
I glanced up at the bank to see where those two might have come from, and lo and behold, my eyes fell upon the motherlode! I had never seen a madrone tree so full of spoils! The branches were laden, and the ground—my favorite place from which to glean almost any fruit, since I know they’re nice and ripe there—was absolutely carpeted. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I clambered up the steep bank, and sampled a few.
Perfect!
Well, actually most of them were not perfect—too hard and dry, not soft and flavorful—but there were so many that even if only 5-10% were perfect, I could still enjoy a dozen or more.
And I did. And they were warm from the sun, and it tasted like eating strawberry jam. (No wonder these are sometimes called strawberry trees.)
I giggled with glee, looking up at the boring strip mall above, from whose parking lot I’m sure no one had ever noticed this tree. I looked down at the passing commuters, zipping by in their metal boxes, surely never having noticed this tree, nor even having any safe way to enjoy it. If they even knew that madrone berries are edible. Which most people do not, I’m finding—and I myself only found out this marvelous secret within the past couple of months!
It was another reminder of the magic of this journey, and of this way of traveling. (Including my slow pace!) It was also a reminder of how situations can turn on a dime, from good to bad or bad to good—or both!—in a very short time frame.
Having had my fill, I descended the bank. I now had a smile on my face as I backtracked to join the bike path on the far bank.
There were more pretty views to be found there, as well, as the sun began to set.
I arrived at the house of my Warmshowers hosts after dark, and was greeted warmly by the human and canine denizens. They made me a lovely dinner of vegan burritos, and regaled me with amazing and hilarious tales of the highs and lows of their own bicycle tours, in the US and Europe. (They ride a tandem when they tour, and they are waaaaay more athletic—and adventurous!—than I.)
When they showed me my room, I had to appreciate the themed comforter!
Tomorrow I will head south again, to the Normal Heights neighborhood of San Diego, where I’ll be staying in my friend’s house for a night while she’s out of town. I may take a longer, more scenic (coastal) route than I had initially planned, because tonight’s hosts have hand-curated it and highly recommend it. We’ll see how I’m feeling in the morning.
But today was a good day.
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Today was a quiet, relaxing day. Michele and I hung out and chatted; I sat in the sun for a while (even napped a bit!) and I had a wonderful hangout with my former-Portland friend Trina (and a brief hello to her sweetie Phil).
Trina and Phil live just about a mile away from Michele—having moved here about a year ago to escape severe seasonal depression in Portland—and Trina and I sat on their beautiful balcony overlooking the pool, with hummingbirds buzzing by at the feeder. Her balcony is filled with beautiful plants, reflecting her passion for them.
We talked about trauma, chronic pain, and healing. Trina (who gave me permission to share this info) is dreaming up a plan to share her own painful life experiences with others, to share her powerful healing journey and help others who may be struggling. I love her vision, and can’t wait for her to manifest it and help others who are struggling. These are the kinds of conversations I most seek out, and enjoy, on this journey: people who are dreaming up cool ways to make the world a better place. Goodness knows the world needs all the healing it can get right now.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my little respite here in Escondido. Tomorrow I’ll be heading south to Mira Mesa.
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What a wonderful day! I was hand-delivered from the gracious hospitality of my Newport Beach host Janna to the gracious hospitality of my longtime friend Michele in Escondido. (Some of you may recall that I stayed with Michele for a few days back in October, on my way to northern California from Arizona.)
Janna and I stopped on our way down, to visit the beautiful mission church at San Juan Capistrano. I loved how the sun hit the architecture at that particular time of day.
Shortly after Janna dropped me off in Escondido, Michele and I headed out for an excursion to the dog beach at Del Mar, with her adorable coonhound Dawa. While the two of them scampered on the beach with the other dogs and their people, I climbed the stairs to the serene lookout area on the cliff above. It was so restful, and I drank in what will be one of my last experiences of the Pacific Ocean until probably next September, when I complete my loop.
Today felt especially poignant, when Facebook reminded me that exactly two years ago to the day, I had been here in southern California with Michele and her friend Jennifer, visiting a wolf sanctuary in Julian. Looking at myself in the photo reminded me, in turn, that this was only two days before my life would begin turning upside down: January 7th, 2020, was when my condo flooded and displaced me for three months, beginning the nightmare that was 2020 and all the challenges that followed. In hindsight, I can appreciate that all of those “rugs being pulled out from under me” led me to this most amazing journey of my life, so I can value it from that perspective. Still, it’s interesting to look back at this previous version of myself, who had absolutely zero idea of what was coming down the pike, for myself and for the world.
Synchronicities.
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What a beautiful day! Janna was a wonderful host to the area for me. She took me first to Laguna Beach, south of here, where on the recommendation of my friend Mimi (hi, Mimi!) we went to the vegan food cart The Stand, which is in a building attached to a bike shop—so cool! I enjoyed an avocado sandwich.
Afterward, we went thrift-store shopping. For $14.42, including tax, I snagged three (three!) new-to-me activewear shirts, and a bottle each of travel-sized lotion and hair conditioner. I can now pitch at least one of my existing three shirts, which was ill-fitting to begin with and now has pretty bad pit stains at this point in my journey. I might pitch even another one that is also getting pretty grungy; we’ll see how much room I can make in my suitcase.
Then we went to Balboa Island, which was really cute. Look at the banana stand! (“There’s always money in the banana stand.” I’m assuming that that aspect of Arrested Development—which was set here in Orange County—was based on this business. There was also a nearly identical one a few doors down.) We enjoyed some chocolatey banana treats there.
Finally, we returned to the Newport Beach peninsula where Janna lives, and took a golf cart ride(!) around the neighborhood, during which we passed and waved at a number of her friends and neighbors. We got to the end of the peninsula just in time to catch the sunset: magical!
When we got home, we threw all my new clothes into the washer and dryer, and then Janna generously offered to darn one of my socks! I had planned to do it myself—after discovering the hole with dismay this morning—but she insisted, and she even had a “darning egg”! (Thanks again, Janna!) We also talked more about the historic hamlet of Waterford, Virginia, where I grew up and where some of her ancestors lived as far back as the 1600s. We even called my parents, in Waterford, to say hi and thanks for putting us in contact. (Hi again, Mom!)
Tomorrow I’m taking her up on her incredibly generous offer to drive me to Escondido—saving me a long and convoluted combo of bicycling and train-riding, which I especially appreciate during this COVID-frenzied time when it’s probably safest to stay out of crowded, enclosed spaces like trains—to stay with my friend Michele and her doggie for a couple of nights, and hopefully see a couple more friends as well.
I’ve enjoyed my brief time in this beach-town area. I know I’ll be turning inland soon!
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Well, you’ll all be pleased to learn that I did get the $20 cash deposit back, as promised, when I checked out of the motel this morning. Phew!
I exited my room into the sunshine, and soon pedaled south toward the beach. I passed some cool artsy buildings and street paintings along the way. When I arrived at the beach, I biked the length of the path to the north, then turned around to head south for the rest of the day, to Newport Beach via the Huntington Beach Bike Path.
The ride itself was pretty uneventful. The temperature was mostly comfortable, and the sun stayed out all day, with no clouds.
I was disappointed to note, however, that various stressors from many different areas of my life seemed to nag at my mental state, distracting me from the amazing Pacific Ocean to my right. I chided myself for not fully embracing the present moment, then felt extra glum for chiding myself.
Ah, well. The human condition, eh?
But I pulled in to Newport Beach in the last hour of daylight, and was charmed by the cute beach-town-ness of it.
I arrived at my host’s house, on the peninsula with the water on either side, and we shared a meal and some lively conversation. She has family ties to my hometown in Virginia—which is how we met—so that is fun. I’ll be here one more night; I hope to explore a bit of the area, probably with my host as a guide, tomorrow.
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Today was a nearly perfect day! I’m happy to be on the road again, after a restful two weeks in LA.
My ride to Long Beach was thoroughly pleasant. After some very car-centric LA streets for the first few miles, I found myself on a car-free bike path (although unfortunately not loud-moped-free) next to a canal, and it stretched for miles and miles. The weather could not have been nicer (yay!) with temps in the mid-60s, continuous sunshine, and the gentlest of breezes. I felt like my life was beginning again, after the recent rainy hiatus.
At the end of the bike path, I joined Hwy 1—the Pacific Coast Highway, a high-traffic road—to arrive in Long Beach. I rode it for several miles before arriving at my motel for the night, which if I’m honest sketched me out a bit when I pulled in shortly before dusk.
The “office” was simply a window of bulletproof glass. While I waited for someone to answer the doorbell to check me in, a haggard-looking man rolled up on a bike to use the vending machine in the parking lot.
While I was checking in, some other residents came by to complain to the attendant that they had had some groceries delivered to their room from Walmart, but the groceries were nowhere to be found.
I had to fill out a registration form, and even put down a $20 cash(!) deposit, which the attendant assured me would be refunded when I check out in the morning. I didn’t have $20 cash on me, but there was an ATM a few steps away. Hesitantly, I went ahead and took out the money, for the low fee of $2.95 (plus whatever fee my credit union will charge me.)
Wow. Hmm.
But, as soon as I settled in to the tiny but clean room, I headed back out on my bike to hit the highly rated local outpost of The Grain Café, an all vegan and all organic restaurant. I ordered breakfast for dinner: a tofu scramble with sweet potatoes and toast on the side. Naturally, I also had to sample their chocolate cake. (Isn’t it photogenic with a Brompton in the background?)
Now it’s time to rest up for my ride along the coast to Newport Beach tomorrow!
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