Bicycling In Chula Vista

Friday the 12th

A beautiful day with blue sky and no clouds though a bit chilly in the mid 60's. Regular morning until noon then we took the bikes and headed north out of the resort thinking we'd stop at the Chula Vista Sweetwater Marsh NWR (http://www.fws.gov/sandiegorefuges/Sweetwater.htm).

After a mile we reached our turn off and followed a bus through the gate. Before we'd gone a hundred yards a women pulled up next to us in a car and started shouting that we weren't allowed in there. Eventually she calmed down enough to tell us that the only way to get to the Sweetwater Marsh was to take the shuttle bus. We thanked her for the information and returned to the parking area where we decided to come back another day.

So we returned to the trail and continued our ride north. Soon we reached a point where we were riding next to the southbound lanes of I-5, separated only by a chain link fence. As we approached a major interchange the trail crossed a large river flowing down out of the hills and into San Diego Bay. We paused here for a photo then continued into National City where the trail continues on the streets on up to San Diego another four miles away.

After doing a little riding around the area we found Pepper Park on the banks of the river where we could launch the kayaks to explore the river or the bay. With the wind out of the northwest we had a quick ride back home arriving in time to take the kids for a long walk. Then it was time to go to the pool with our books to get a little swim in. Getting out of the pool someone mentioned a pizza party so we checked the bulletin board. Since it was Friday, the resort was hosting a pizza and karaoke night starting at 5:00 PM.

Back at the coach we decided to join the festivities so we went up to the clubhouse around 5:15 PM. They had set up a tent and karaoke machine in the street with tables and chairs for dining. We got some drinks, grabbed a plate and got in line to get some pizza. We got two pieces each of different "Papa John's" pizza's and sat down to dinner as the DJ was belting out a country standards. The pizza was okay, the music was okay but with the wind blowing and the temperature dropping we decided to pass on the entertainment so we returned to the coach and watched a movie instead.

To see all our photos, click on:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski