| I'll let Ken tell the story first, then I'll illustrate it. |
Nine of us that did NOT do the Rosarito-Ensenada ride Saturday explored San Diego. Ken had heard there was a Native-American pow-wow in Balboa Park, so Lois volunteered to lead us on a nice route to take us there. We rode east in Mission Valley, climbed Fairmont and wandered around Kensington, Normal Heights, and University Heights. Recalling that the Old Trolley Barn Park was on our route, we decided to find that golden ostrich statue nearby. We found it, and its next-door neighbor, Billy, came out to chat us up. He had stories about Bernadette, the ostrich. Lots of stories. We listened patiently (mostly). “Just hang on for 30 seconds more,” Billy said. He ran into the house and returned with a jar of pickles he canned. It had two kinds of pickles, carrots and onions, all of which he grew himself. We thanked him profusely and promised to return the jar. Ken carried it to lunch where we shared it around. After saying goodbye to Billy, we went on a circuitous route to Balboa Park, where there was NO pow-wow. Ken had it wrong. Still, we enjoyed riding in the busy park and through Hillcrest to Bachman’s downhill. Lunch was at La Piñata in Old Town. 26 miles of exuberance, exercise, exploration and excellent weather!
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| Gathered at the Trolley Station were quite a few riders. |
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| Joi and Paul |
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| Ruby |
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| Lois |
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| Sandra |
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| Susan |
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| Paul |
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| Keith |
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| Jeanie |
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| Ginnie |
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| Beverly |
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| Larry |
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| Lois, are you giving yourself a face lift? |
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| Barbara and Gayle |
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| Ken |
Nine riders followed Lois and headed to Balboa Park to see a Pow Wow, after a meander through Kensington and Talmadge and some other neighborhoods I couldn't identify. |
Additionally, five or so riders rode up to the Golden Triangle and had lunch there. Susan captured these riders coming out of the Rose Canyon Bike Path. |
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| Meanwhile the nine riders pedal to the pow wow. |
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| Lois lead us through Mission Valley to Fairmont and up to Kensington |
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| Regroup at the top of Fairmont |
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| Right around the corner was a yard sale in progress. Lots of great bargains but sadly, none small enough to fit into a pannier. |
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| We stopped to be astonished by a golden ostrich. Years ago there was an ostrich farm where there are now only houses. |
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| A neighbor, Billy came out to greet us. He took our photo, but only after we listened to a few stories. |
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| For listening to his stories he brought out a jar of his home made pickles. All the contents came out of his own garden he swore. |
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He presented the jar of pickles to Ken with the stipulation that the jar be returned. Ken said he'd leave it on the step. "No," said Billy, "knock on the door." No doubt he's got a more stories and Ken is not going to escape without hearing a few of them. |
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| Billy and Ken, BFsF |
 He had to show his pickles to Jacqueline, who described herself as, "... an 80 year old French woman." |
After our visit with Billy and listening to his stories we made our escape and rode through Hillcrest to Balboa Park. We couldn't find a Pow Wow so we made our way back to Old Town and had lunch at La Piñata. |
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| While waiting to be served we shared Billy's pickles. They were quite good. |
| Thanks for leading us on a great meander Lois. |
Most of the photos in this story have GPS data loaded into them. You are welcome to try to locate them in Google Earth. |