Thrills and Thrilled
Thrills experienced and thrilled to see…
Cal Guy Jnr has a passion for motorsport. Boatwif was delivered a long briefing during the Las Vegas warm up races of the Formula 1 season and then came an invitation. “I’m going kart racing tomorrow – you can come and watch if you want.”
So, in contrast to watching ultra-high performance racing cars hurtling along the Las Vegas Strip, Cal Son and the grandparents drove to Carlsbad to watch four excited 14 year olds demonstrate their skill on the track…
The smell of tyre rubber, the race winners’ podium,
images of motorsport moments,
deep concentration of the drivers,
Cal Guy Jnr (second from left) and racetrack mates.
A different sort of thrill was a drive up to Julian. It was in a good cause - to hunt down a Julian Pie Company pie for the Thanksgiving meal. Julian, a former goldrush town, is about 50 miles inland from San Marcos. At 4,226 feet above sea level this small town requires about a 3,000 feet of climb to get there.
“Shall we try the inland valleys route?” the Captain pondered, gazing at the satnav options on his phone. This was a slightly less direct route, which involved steep and twisty drops and climbs,
thrilling sightings of casino resorts
and valley bottom settlements,
rugged hills and autumn colour.
Julian on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving was in a full tourist overdrive.
There was nowhere to park until eventually a spot on a steep street was discovered – but the car, parked facing downhill on the left hand side of the road had to be moved, turned round and re-parked to face uphill on the right hand side. It’s best to stay legal…
The shops were packed with browsing tourists (“ironic comment, from a tourist”, Cal Son texted. But Boatwif feels semi-local here, absolutely not a first-time tourist…). Several shops displayed “NO PUBLIC RESTROOMS” notices – had Julian gained a Venice syndrome, too popular for its own good…?
There was a browse in The Julian Book House and a sampling of Julian Pie Company apple pie with ice cream as an unconventional lunch.
Sales of Julian pies were brisk from a side window, the line of buyers stretching across the yard.
By mid-afternoon the car was travelling back down the mountain, past a couple of cherry pickers hosting tree trimming operatives,
down past an unexpected notice,
through Ramona, down past the citrus groves,
past the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and on through Escondido - to deliver the pie to Cal Son for the Thanksgiving meal.
It was a couple of days after Thanksgiving that the Oceanside Pier walk was decreed. (“I’ll drive us there,” Cal Guy Snr declared.) There had been a briefing about the pier – some months ago a fire had burnt out the restaurant at the end of the pier, so the walk wouldn’t be so long. What was a surprise though was the sea fog…
but hosts of committed anglers and surfers were not being deterred by the poor visibility.
Only a few metres away from the street end of the pier is an iconic building, the original Top Gun house, which featured in the Tom Cruise movie released in 1986. And just look at that motorbike…
A place new to the Cleddau crew was The Green Dragon Tavern and Museum, an upmarket eatery over in Carlsbad. The recent building was modelled on the original 18th century Green Dragon Tavern in Boston which had been a meeting place for the colonists.
The Carlsbad building includes paintings, portraits and information boards
outlining the key players
and issues
during the American Revolutionary War. What a find – a free museum in the same building as the dining rooms (although the modern obsession for large scale TV screens relaying live sport jars somewhat with the historic ambience…)
Another ‘thrilling to see’ item was sparked by a Cal Guy Snr invitation. “If you like, Granny, there’s something I’d like to show you. I’ll drive us there.” It was after dark – and that was the point. Up and down the rolling slopes on the inland side of San Marcos, through residential neighborhoods (yes, US spelling) passing twinkling Christmas lights, before eventually the car was stopped at a tree. But what a tree…
How does a tree that size get adorned with so many lights? Duly photographed, the car was driven back, passing garden versions of Mrs Claus and Santa,
of elves and penguins, of toys and candy canes…
The “holiday season” may be in full flow but schools, colleges and workplaces are back in action after Thanksgiving. While much of the eastern United States is crippled by deep snow, here in Southern California surfers continue to seek out the waves… On TV pundits are locked in analysis of Trump tactics and appointments in the Trump Transition Team. Adverts promoting the use of such and such medication are frequent and bewildering as to what conditions they are recommended for and in the string of possible side effects.
One begins to wonder whether life back in the UK will be less of a thrill but more comprehensible…
