Day 38 Wed. Oct 22, 2008

Day 38 Wed. Oct 22, 2008

At Greg & Rebecca Carroll’s, La Costa, CA. Last Evening. There were children in the cul de sac waiting to greet us yesterday.. Everyone was smiling and hugged us as they immediately continued their games in the street. Grandma Pam was the main feature of this visit. We made sure the heavy articles were left in the van. It’s funny, when clean, good tasting water is available how much of it is consumed.

We had supper with the family and then made plans for tomorrow—Wed. It was going to be a long ride from Imperial Beach to La Costa.

We left home this morning about 9:30. We purposely waited until the rush hour traffic was over. Rebecca cut out 4 maps to guide me on the bike trails from Imperial Beach to La Costa (Carlsbad) or as far as I was able.

Pam drove me down to Imperial Beach. I found the bike trail and I accompanied an old (68) Mexican gentleman on the way to the Coronado Hotel. He rides 9 miles, one-way, to the Coronado every day, so that his remaining years will be filled with healthy habits. As we parted, I remembered that Bud and Ava were in a condo near the Coronado Hotel. I called Pam to call them before I traveled any further. This was our 3rd attempt to get together since we had lunch at their home Phoenix. They insisted we go up to Bud’s condo. Then Ava insisted on making lunch for us. She had made Borscht the day before, with every conceivable vegetable in it. She heated it up for us and it was very delicious. Bud has a beautiful condo in a new building near the Coronado Hotel. As we were waiting for the elevator to leave, they pointed out that John McCain has a condo in that building. I think they also said that one or more of his children have a condo there.

I continued my ride on the waterfront bike path. I was lucky enough to catch the pedestrian ferry to the mainland without waiting too long. I met a group of visitors from Chicago. They are into insurance and sales businesses, particularity the money market. Together we hurried to get aboard. I shared my experiences with them, handing them each a card.

On Broadway near a floating museum, I met Pam. We discussed the rest of the ride for that day. It was quite uncertain that I could finish it partly because of rush hour and partly because of the uncertainty of the route we had chosen. I was willing to ride but she was uncertain because of gaps in the bike trails.

I made it as far as LaJolla and the chaos began. There were no traces of a bike trail. I tried to follow the harbor route, but it disappeared among the private residences occupying the waterfront. Pacific Coast Highway goes by many names. The biking map we had wasn’t much help. I asked people for directions and got something different from each person.

Pam and I finally connected on a city street. There were 2 cyclists following me, but they kept going. We discussed the situation for a while and decided it was too late in the day to continue biking. There were so many cars on the roads, we weren’t sure where the bike paths were, the city streets were in dire need of repair, so we put the bike in van and spent some time trying to find I-5. We found it, returned to La Cost and remained there the rest of the evening. For Pam, being with her grandchildren was the best part of the trip.