Scooting over 30 miles around San Diego Bay


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March 13, 2021, I scootered over 30 miles around San Diego Bay

San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port located in San Diego County, California near the U.S.–Mexico border. The bay, which is 12 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's 840 miles of coastline. The highly urbanized land adjacent to the bay includes the city of San Diego (eighth-largest in the United States) and four other cities: National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Coronado.

San Diego Bay is one of my favorite places to hang out. As you might expect for a large bay connected to a large metropolitan city, a major portion is a "working seaport", replete with cargo ships, air craft carriers and various warships. Still there are large parts of it that are well designed for recreation. Here's a link for more info on recreation at San Diego Bay

Growing up in San Diego, I've explored many nooks and crannies of the bay, but never the entire thing in one day, and certainly never on a scooter. Personal challenge accepted!


I began my preparation by carefully choosing my gear. It had to be lightweight (I'd be carrying everything on my body) and functional. Above: A) A small cross body sling bag, I wear this on my chest. B) Fingerless gloves C) My photo tripod-selfie stick-remote control gear D) A wooden block I use as a kickstand for photos


Above: A) My Camelbak backpack with hydration bladder. B) Headlight and taillight blinker C) Charging battery and cable for my iPhone D) Rear view wrist mirror E) Horseshoe neck Bluetooth speaker


My Miata trunk packed for a day of fun!


Parked and starting off at Shelter Island: RIGHT HERE


Geared up and ready to go



Scooters are OK! 


Carved wooden head admires my scooter



Leaving Shelter Island, heading to Liberty Station


When I was a kid, Liberty Station used to be called NTC, the Naval Training Center. It has since been transformed and open to the public. Housing, eateries and open space to ... Scooter! This is where I took the above photo.



Parts of Liberty Station have sadly been neglected and have fallen into decay



This is the U.S.S Recruit. It's a wooden training ship. Completely landlocked and never meant to sail. It was used to train sailors on ship procedures before going out on the real thing. Where the Recruit is. More info about the Recruit



Beautiful views at rest stops along the way



The sculpture above "Cancer ... There's hope" at Cancer Survivor's Park.
Here's the park


A busy day in the Bay


Found a Geocache hidden on Harbor Island. Geocaching is a fun hobby. We produce a podcast about it here: podcacher.com


Views of the San Diego skyline behind moored sailboats


The Embarcadero has many floating museums
Where I took this photo


Here's a video about this $2,000,000 bathroom





Under Construction: San Diego Symphony Bayside Performance Park






Petco Park. Typically a busy and bustling baseball stadium, right now it's one of the city's largest vaccination sites.



One of the BEST things about exploring by scooter is that you get to see a LOT more than you would if you were moving around by car. I've lived in San Diego all my life, yet ran into things on my route that I had NEVER seen before. This is one of the odd, but delightful things I discovered on my scootering adventure.


I had a late lunch. It was hard to find good food where I was at the time, so I settled for food. Still, I was ravenously hungry and I have to admit, after a burger and burrito from here, I left feeling satisfied and good to get scootin'! One nice thing about my foldable scooter: I didn't have to find a place to lock it up when I went inside.





This is as close as I could get to the World Famous San Diego Zoo. There are restrictions because of COVID. This was my turnaround point. Time to head back to my car on Shelter Island.


Balboa Park's famous fountain



The Botanical Building


Some roads on the way back were STEEP! 


As the sun set, the temperature began to drop. I started getting some minor leg cramps so I stopped by a 7-Eleven and downed a Gatorade. Once again, I didn't have to find a place to lock up my scooter. I just folded it up and walked in the store. Good to go again!



I've found scootering to be so therapeutic and recharging for me. Many of my worries and stress simply wash away while I'm scooting. I have a clarity of mind to think of things that I'm sometimes too busy to ponder. Important things, trivial thoughts. At times it's the focus is on the mindful sensations of movement, my environment, sights, sounds, smells, the wind and sunshine. Even at the end of my ride today, I felt strong and still had "gas" in my tank. But the sun was setting and it was time to head home. 





Over 30 miles of scootering! I loved getting a chance to explore and experience San Diego up close and personal. What a great day! 

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