Going Green for Earth Day

Yesterday, we did our part. We drove to Oceanside (11 miles) , parked our car, and joined the train headed for San Diego, thus reducing our carbon footprint. We had to be on 5th street by 10:30, which meant leaving Oceanside on the last early commuter train which left at 10 till 8 a.m.

There were many other green people on the coaster, figuratively speaking. The most admirable were our seatmate and one other gentlemen who strapped their bikes into the place reserved for them. They cited expanding girth as well as enviornmental consciousness as their reasons, but whatever it takes, I guess. They had ridden their bikes to Oceanside, parked them on the Coaster, then rode them to their separate destinations as they disembarked. Our caps were tipped to them.

One elderly gent who got on at Carlsbad (A toney suburb) exclaimed as we moved along that "this whole thing is un American." When we looked puzzled, he extrapolated "people getting on the train, then getting off to busses; it's socialistic." He was joshing, but right.

The ride took us along Highway 101, the original 1 also known as the Pacific Highway with its whitecaps and fancy houses and restaurants; my dear hubby who always drives and therefore can never rubberneck marvelled at the sights he had never seen. A small enclave in Solana Beach which featured cedar shake houses particularly delighted him. "I couldn't see this from the road," he exclaimed.
We spent $11 for two senior round trip tickets and learned we could have spent $2 more and taken the Sprinter to the Coaster (alas, there is an ad man in every organization!) and only driven .35 of a mile. The Coaster tickets were good for the trolley, so we got within two blocks of our destination, a 46 mile trip.
And best of all, was the relaxation. John (hubby) kept saying "this is like being on vacation."
He was right.