Central Park, NYC

Central Park, New York City: 843 acres of park in the midst Manhattan Island, New York City. A quick online search says it’s the most visited urban park in the US. I had never been but it sounded like a cool place to visit. I after all have been a lover of parks my entire life. . Sounded like a cool place to visit since I am a park connoisseur. But I  but never planned on it. First opened in 1858, Central Park was completed in 1876. I visited Central Park in 2023.

I remember learning about Central Park in college, and even knew the landscape architect’s name at one point (my husband also is a landscape architect). The only things I knew of the park came from the television Sitcom Friends which was set near Central Park, in an apartment above a coffee shop named Central Perk, and also of course, sadly, the Central Park jogger brutal attack back in 1989 (when I was only 24 years on this planet, so of course it left quite an impression on my brain).

In June 2023, when I stayed in Harlem, NYC for six nights, I was about a ten minute walk, 13 blocks,  from Central Park (specifically the Harlem Meer near the northeast corner of the park).

My husband and I visited Central Park on at least three occasions during our stay in NYC. I can’t be sure. I recall our first morning, we made a deliberate trip to the park, stopping at a deli on the way back to our brownstone. Another time we bought some Cajun fried calamari and made it lunch in Central Park. And on another day, we set out to see the park in it’s entirety (or at least skirt by its entirety).

NYC has Citibikes every few blocks (possibly less if you know the map and locations). We rented said bikes. I can’t tell you the cost because I don’t recall. It’s so much a mile, and you must dock every thirty minutes. What I mean by dock is, you need to find a Citbike rack, park your bike and check it out, or another again. For a standard bike, the cost is only $19 for 24 hours (but I believe you do  not need to dock every 30 minutes). I opted for said standard bike and mistakenly rented a pedal assist bike for my husband. I was okay with that because, hey, even though I’m old and out of shape, I’m strong (famous last words?).

Well, that dang standard bike was fun for at least one additional dock. After that, with all the gentle slopes in the park, I was fricken exhausted Still, I wanted to tough it out because I’m that stubborn. Thankfully, we had to park our bikes through the tranquil botanical gardens. That bought my heart some time. But after that, I had more hills to cover before I was absolutely exhausted.

Eventually, during one of our every-thirty-minute dock, I traded my conventional bike for a pedal assist bike so that I could keep up with my husband, and Central Park opened up. We took in as much as we could, traveling along paths through meadows, along green lakes lined with weeping trees. We rode alongside horse drawn carriages and through traffic jammed roads of NYC for 51 blocks, and pedaled around the entire perimeter of the park. Even with pedal assist bikes there was too much to see. It was all green, lush and a little muggy with a cool breeze – pretty perfect for a ride around the park. If we had more days, we would have definitely returned for some more detail trips.

A Quick Preview of Harlem

Not much running or hiking this summer (in fact, none). But there’s always an adventure, right? My first adventure for the summer is that I got to visit New York City. New York City (or even NY for that matter) was not on my bucket list. But it quickly made the list when my middle son was accepted into an orchestra for the Guitar Federation of America at the Manhattan School of Music.

And so, thanks to my son, off to Manhattan was I. It was a little surreal flying over that Manhattan Island skyline. We landed in LaGuardia on a Sunday evening and shuttled to a lovely historic brownstone in Harlem. It was like a bed and breakfast, without the breakfast. But we had a small kitchen in our room, which included a loft for our son’s girlfriend. We were a little less than a mile from the Manhattan School of Music which was perfect being that our son stayed at the dorm there on most nights.

So, let me tell you about Harlem. I loved it. It’s full of history, intricate architecture, excellent food and Central Park! The owners of our brownstone were great and gave us total privacy. The whole place was in fact private. I occasionally would see another tenant open or close a door but that was it. It was lonely inside the brownstone. But Harlem, it was not lonely. It was lively, reeking of marijuana and countless food joints. Many streets were lined with food carts (Jerked chicken, pork, warm nuts, etc.). I had my first New York pizza in Harlem. And I bought a blue paisley dress for $20 on the streets of Harlem. Harlem was not what I’ve heard about New Yorkers. Everyone talked to us. Everyone was friendly, regular people. We stayed six nights in the brownstone, ate at more than one deli (as there were about three deli’s on every block), plus enjoyed many other great eateries, including a gem that we ate at twice, Sylvia’s, Soul Food Restaurant (in business for 60 years!). Harlem is part of the big city though, so I was cautious and mainly stayed on the beaten path, especially after dark. I have to say, I very much enjoyed my time in Harlem, more so than any other part of New York City I visited  – I’ll try and preview some of those spots in my next post.

Covid Hike

I am just now catching up with my life after my Covid hike back in April (2023). The Sunday before Good Friday, I decided to head out for a 13 mile, lackadaisical hike up Black Star Canyon. Unbeknownst to me, I had Covid – my first bout. It didn’t dawn on me that I was sick. The symptoms were so weird. I felt emotional, worn out and cold. Of course, I put in some extra effort on this lackadaisical hike because that’s who I am. I took a detour down to the creek just above the falls, and then after that, I found a couple more detours up on the plateau. It really was lovely out. The skies were optimistic! Of course they were, it was the season of Lent. I had a stations of the cross hike coming up, and after that, my favorite service of the year: Good Friday. Alas, I was off on this hike up Black Star. Really off. But as I mentioned, the skies were optimistic. Wildflowers covered the hillsides. Water flowed in every creek. So, at the end of the day when I felt like I could lay down and die, I chalked it up to being out of shape. I remember stopping by the grocery store on the way home and bundled up, shivered down the aisles. I still didn’t think I was sick. No cough, sore throat, not even the sniffles.

Monday morning, I dragged myself out of bed for a much anticipated phone meeting with the USFS about race permits and dates. I got through the meeting but afterwards wondered if I was indeed ill. Still no normal symptoms, just extreme fatigue. Nah, it was the hike. So, I went to work (but I didn’t take the bus as I had been). Then on the way home I stopped by The Irvine Spectrum, a wonderful, beautiful . . .  mall!! I’m sure you can imagine the reason for my exclamation points. The thought that I had Covid never even crossed my mind. (I still cringe .)  No one in my family was ill, and to my knowledge I had not even been exposed. I just kept blaming the hike and other issues in my life. It never crossed my mind until I stumbled through the front door Monday evening and went straight to bed, shoes, clothes and all. Several hours later, I took a Covid test. After setting up class cancellations for the week, I went back to bed aching and shivering. I remained there for a couple days.  

I’ll tell you! It’s been a long time since I’ve done absolutely nothing. When I wasn’t asleep, I was laying in bed still because I had no energy. Never lost my taste, never had many of the classic symptoms. Mainly, I was lethargic, achy, cold, and emotional. When I finally got well (along with my family because we all got it), I was one of the last to regain my energy. It took several weeks in fact after testing negative. During that time, it seems like all the things that I normally do in my life went out the window – hiking, piano, reading, writing, chores – all of it took too much energy. My guess is that the Covid hike didn’t help matters much. I think I got sicker than I would have, had I skipped the hike.

In all, I thankfully didn’t really get that ill, though it wiped me out a great deal. I’m fine now. And I’m finally caught up. The spring semester has just ended. I’m all prepped for the summer session just around the corner. Looking forward to some local hikes and travel in June! Hopefully, I’ll be able to post a race date as well for the 2023 Saddleback Marathon by then too (just waiting on confirmation).

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Moving into Spring

Winter time in Southern California is not very wintery. Sure there’s snow on the mountains, some mountains, not my mountains. But here on the coast, I’d say we’ve moved right into spring 2023.

4 miles in the local hills:

Why I Love the Rain

We got quite a few days of solid rain recently. We even saw snow in our local mountains (which summits at about 5,400’). I love the rain. It wakes us in the middle of the night in our little  beach shack. And it soothes us with the sound of raindrops on the skylights throughout the day. They say it never rains in Southern California. But I know the truth. I’ve lived here more than 57 years. I know that it rains. You just have to have patience and wait. And the rain comes in abundance. I recall as a child in the 1970s, sitting at the kitchen table looking out onto the flooded streets, wondering if it was ever going to stop raining!

I’m still a bus commuter, and the rain didn’t bother me in the least. I’ve got a couple of good pairs of boots, warm coats, an umbrella and an awesome backpack for the trip. But best of all with the rain, the hills and mountains are covered in green, the creeks are flowing and the falls are falling. I don’t mind getting my feet wet one bit.

This past Friday, a few days after the rain stopped (and it has not since returned), my husband and I headed up Ortega Highway (Hwy 74) for a lovely, ten mile, technical hike to Chiquito (Aka Chiquita) Falls. The creeks were strong and the falls flowing. It was an awesome hike. Lots of boulders to climb over, and erosion crevices to maneuver. The skies were blue and the views far. The return was quite difficult because I was so dang tired. Much of the return is downhill, except for the climbing out from the falls and the last leg, San Juan Loop, which climbs back up into the parking lot across the street from The Ortega Oaks Candy Store. I felt wiped out (not quite trashed) on that final stretch.

San Juan Loop:

Heading up Chiquito Trail:Chiquito Falls:

Along last leg of the trip, on San Juan Loop

Ten tough miles. Afterwards, we ran across Highway 74 to The Candy Store. My eyes teared up as I crossed the threshold. It’s been a while. I purchased a nice cold carbonated soda and a couple pieces of fudge for my youngest son back at home. Felt good to be back.

Mercy Hike

My husband knows when I need to get out and wander. Years ago, he used to plead with me to get out and hit the trails (on my lazy days that is – otherwise I was driving on the road before sunrise). Now that I am without wheels, hitting the trails is difficult. It’s always somewhat difficult but now, almost impossible because I just cannot take the only car we have right now and head off to the mountains. It doesn’t seem fair. In fact, it seems selfish. I don’t want to be selfish.

This past Thursday, I mumbled something about trying to get out the next day for a hike. My husband jumped at the idea and offered to come along. Usually, I do the asking. But he offered. So, the last Friday in January (1/27), we headed out the door at about 9:30 am for a nice long stroll along The Great Suburban Trail, known by everyone else as Arroyo Trabuco Trail. After a 20 minute commute, we parked in the lot of a small Las Flores park. Then we crossed Antonio Parkway and caught a trail that took us behind a planned community where we hiked down a steep service road to Tijeras Creek Trail for a 12+ mile stroll to O’Neill Park and back.

The Green of a Southern California winter surrounded us. Chartreuse colored carpets of grass filled the meadows, clumps of green mistletoe hung from giant sycamores. Tijeras and Arroyo Trabuco were both flowing nicely, in addition to multiple tributaries meandering throughout the basin. Scrambling through the brush, we couldn’t find a place to cross Tijeras Creek, so for the first creek crossing, I removed my shoes and socks and waded through the ice cold water over hard slippery rocks. Well, that was enough of that. There were just too many crossings to do this every time.

Tijeras Creek Crossing:

Near Tijeras Creek & Arroyo Trabuco Creek Junction:

Felt so good to get out and get my legs moving. I didn’t mind the wet feet. I even packed a spare pair of socks that I didn’t change into. I admit, I was a little tired on the return. But I like that feeling – it’s familiar, and it’s rewarding. I often use the words “trashed” or “thrashed” to describe that feeling of really overworking the body. Well, I didn’t get trashed on this adventure. But it was close. Toward the end,  I was beginning to feel it in my hamstrings and quads. (Hurts so good!)

Back at home, I thanked my husband for my mercy hike.

He asked, “Is that what that was?”

“Perhaps.”

“ Well, I sometimes have you do things you don’t really want to do.”

“Indeed.”

More of the Great Suburban Trail:

A little over 12.5 miles