A busy workweek and new projects have kept me from pursuing longer walks, so much so that when most people ask me if I have any big walks coming up I usually say no. That was until Spring Break sprang upon me with nothing much to do.
After a Monday afternoon bike ride to Chula Vista’s Bayside Park with longtime friend Brent (who found me my first and only road bike 6 years ago), I suggested we head south again, but this time on foot. I thought if I could walk home from L.A., there’s no reason why I couldn’t walk from home to Mexico, only 16 miles away.
So I packed my passport and an extra pair of socks (just in case Brent was crazy enough to go without any, which he was), and headed out the door Wednesday morning.
Our route was straightforward, heading south and hugging the harbor until reaching historic National City Blvd, which was known by Spanish explorers as “El Real para de Frontera,” but since 1920 has been known to San Diegans as “The Miracle Mile of Cars”. Considering the history of this successful stretch, it was hard not to notice the recently vacated parking lots of a more “Mournful Mile” than anything.
Things were more lively once we crossed the 54 into Chula Vista. It was 9:30 by then, stores were opening, we witnessed and old woman chase down a bus, and a chihuahua escape a trailer park. But perhaps the coolest site was from the memorial at Montgomery-Waller Community Park, where it became clear how Chula Vista (“beautiful view”) got its name. Love it as we may, and despite all the buzz about their Little League sluggers, or the national attention gained by the Otay Ranch Apple Store shooting just two days earlier, Forbes magazine still dubbed Chula Vista one of America’s Most Boring Cities.
Our last leg through San Ysidro proved to be a cryptic mélange of Mexican villages and American outlet malls, with consumers stockpiling on goods for their trips back south. Brent almost liked the bad joke I made as we were following a family of 3 with a young girl sitting on tops of a shopping cart piled high with bags of dog food, remarking, “It’s a shame they have to feed that kid dog food.”
Bad jokes aside, we entered Mexico hassle free, but it didn’t take long once we hit the streets to figure out that the local news outlets have been doing a great job lately of keeping us gringos out of our neighboring city. We were singled out by vendors and restaurant hagglers all along our walk to our luncheon destination, and it was clear why: there were no other anglos around. This did not stop us, however, from enjoying a hearty meal before getting back in time for a 3:30 trolley ride back to downtown San Diego.
The entire 10 hour journey can be seen here, in this 7 minute video taken with my Canon PowerShot SX130, which was graciously gifted to me from Lily (whose elegant head appears at the end of the video):