Long Walks On Leafy Streets

6/28/2016 Vista Sorrento Pkwy, San Diego, CA.
This morning I woke up at 5 a.m and the two darlings of my heart were sleeping beautifully. Nicole was probably up a little bit during the night with Prashant. I was quite exhausted and didn’t know anything until waking up just now. We are in San Diego, CA for a week on vacation. It has been a great trip so far.

California is really like a second home to me. I still remember arriving in the US for the first time, at LAX in the September of 1989. I had been accepted to the Ph. D program at CalTech in Pasadena. After clearing customs and immigration I came out of the airport to catch the bus to Pasadena. It was a brand new world. I marveled at the landscape and the quiet and smooth operation of cars and shuttle buses. It is amazing how quiet even the busiest areas of the US feel when you arrive after being in India. I remember enjoying the views on the road to Pasadena. California is also the place where I had my first romance.

So every time I come to California it brings back all those good memories. It is a special place even without all those memories. I love the palm trees lining the streets and the golden flowers of the Tipu (one on the picture above) and gold medallion trees. I enjoy the mild weather and bright sunny days. I feel refreshed by the feeling of endless possibilities and openness to new ideas that accompany the sunny outlook of Californians that have made this state the engine of innovation and the US economy, perhaps even the world economy. It also warms my heart to see how passionate they are about protecting the environment, starting from recycling and composting to building large solar and wind farms. It made me very happy to see solar panels on so many houses as well as on top of buildings and on parking lot shelters.

On Sunday morning (6/26) I went on a run. I started at 6 am from our hotel near La Jolla and started running towards the beach. The streets were quiet and at the 4 mile mark I passed the Crest park that literally sits on the crest of a small hill and as I reached the top I was thrilled by the view of the vast Pacific ocean downhill. I then ran through the Torrey pines state forest with great views of the ocean. I cannot remember having a better time on a run!

I had planned to run 10 miles. I made 8 miles in under 80 minutes, which was not bad considering there were some long uphill sections. I felt elated and relieved that there was no cramping. I then started running through the Science park campus – the map had shown a bike trail running through it, providing a short cut back to the hotel. Unfortunately I didn’t know that the trail was really a series of small driveways around the campus ending in a bush trail that descends down a hillside to Rozelle street that led to our hotel. Wanting to stay on the proper streets and not to cut through brush-land on unknown paths I turned back. I asked some people about the shortest route to Rozelle Street but none was able to give me proper directions. I had been running now for more than two and a half hours and had run out of water. The sun was shining bright now and it was getting hotter. I had told Nicole I would be back within two hours so we could all go to breakfast. I was upset with myself and it started to feel like this was the worst outing I had been on. One thing I don’t like about California is that people drive everywhere and the freeways dominate the streetscape. I had to go far to avoid the freeways. I even called zipcar to see if they could open up a nearby car but they said without the card I could not start it, even though they could open it remotely.

I ended up running about 15 miles and was beginning to feel quite hopeless when I met a young man who looked athletic and was going on his morning walk. He looked like a cross between one of those surfer dudes and tech types. He was very sympathetic and looked up the shortest way to my hotel on his smartphone. Thanking him I took off but ended up at a dead-end again. Luckily I ran into him again as I was back-tracking. He checked the route again and saw that part of it was on a foot trail. So I went back and found the trail but at first it seemed to lead nowhere. Then I found another smaller trail branching off from it and it went down a steep hill. The ground was dry with loose sand so the footing was not firm. Normally one should be able to walk on it but in my tired state of mind the trail with its steep drop off on either side looked quite intimidating. But good thing is that running helps to bring more calmness to the mind and I was able to relax and take it one step at a time, although I did not dare to do it without holding on to the ground with my hands.

The path finally took me to Rozelle Street and I breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was a bit nerve-wracking I felt glad that I had the adventure. Moreover, it made me confident that I can indeed run a marathon because I had run almost 3 hours without any problems. On the afternoon that day we visited the home of my good friend Chris McCarthy’s parents. It was great to see the place where he grew up and what a place it was! The house was on this narrow strip of land between the ocean and Mission bay. We enjoyed the conversations, the hearty dinner she made for us and in between Prashant had a great time playing on the sand. The sunny ambience and the friendly people of the neighborhood were really heart-warming. No doubt Chris grew up with such an open-minded, adventurous outlook on life!

This morning around 8 am we went back to Torrey Pines beach. Nicole put Prashant on a stroller and walked on the park road while I ran along the beach. The beach runs on the side of a cliff and is sheltered from city sounds. The first mile was a little busy, with fishermen and shorebirds such as Whimbrels and sea gulls looking for food. It was also full of pebbles. After that you climb over a large rock and enter a two-mile stretch of wide beach with smooth sand and very few people. Apparently this is also an unofficial hangout for nudists. I saw couple of guys enjoying the ocean breeze with absolutely nothing on them. After that I saw very few people. I ran at a decent pace but it didn’t feel like I was exerting myself. It was great to run on that quiet beach with nothing but the sound of the waves to accompany me.

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