Thanks, Alisha.

Sometimes you just need a boost. 2020 has been emotionally, spiritually taxing. I miss traveling. It has become one of the best joys of my life. Needless to say, I (just about everyone) has been grounded, US bound this year. Along came a random, fortuitous Friday to break up the monotony.

On this day, I was going through the motions. I was driving Uber, just making some cash, and to be quiet honest, I was really not feeling it. Do I take a break? Quit altogether? I stopped for some food, and then decided to just keep trucking and work. The next blip on the Uber screen was to pick up “Alisha,” in South Pasadena. After reaching her pickup location, I saw her standing near the road with some luggage. Standard. Maybe an LAX run? Nope, not at all. After starting Alisha’s trip, the app let me know that she was heading to the border, as in the US/Mexico border at the southern tip of San Diego. Awesome.

Alisha’s plan was to walk across the border to meet a friend and hang at his house for a couple of days. Nice escape during a quarantine year wouldn’t you say? The moment inspired me. Per usual, I keep a Nikon in the car with me and saw this long journey south as an opportunity to take a breath and enjoy the ocean. After a 90 minute ride and a nice conversation with Alisha, I dropped her off and opened my trusty All Trails app to find some coastline views in the San Diego area.

I ended up making three stops. One, pretty standard, a second was me not wanting to pay for parking, and the third was a return to a familiar place.

Sunset Cliffs

Pretty standard California feeling, but I loved it. Sunset Cliffs featured waves crashing against jagged rocks. Can’t ask for much more:

Fort Rosecrans National cemetery

This view was impromptu, as I was actually heading towards the Point Loma Tidepools near the Cabrillo National Monument. I’ll admit, I was a quitter and didn’t go to trial, simply because there was paid parking in order to get to and visit the trail. Sometimes I’m frugal like that. Instead, along Cabrillo Memorial Dr. I noticed a really great view of San Diego from the southeast, looking over the North San Diego Bay. It was a different view of a skyline than I’m used to for two reasons. First, a very industrial side of San Diego was showing: very sandy and sterile. The second was that the foreground contained a cemetery. This is the location of the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. It has been in use since 1882 and is the resting place of over 101,000 souls. Quite a view:

A panorama of the city view:

La Jolla Cove

My last excursion for the day was a return to a place I had not seen in over 7 years. In March of 2013, I made a journey to Southern California to see if it would be the place I lived next, and on that trip, on a Tuesday, I made a visit to San Diego. One of my stops was to La Jolla Cove. On this day, I made it back there and it was such a great breath of fresh air:

More panoramas:

a surplus of seals

I’ll end this page with the best feature of La Jolla Cove. It is home to some seals, and it’s pretty awesome. I remember this from 7 years ago and it was heartwarming to see it again. I admired the seals on this day, they faced and soaked in the sun, lied down on the rocks in lazy fashion and played and splashed in the water with each other. It was a great reminder to be peaceful and joyful no matter the circumstances. They don’t know everything wrong with the world, and maybe to escape it all and enjoy the beauty of the earth is the answer sometimes.

(Be sure to watch the short video after the stills.)