Highway 92 and a brief personal update
I love Highway 92. This is a newfound love; I did not love it before, when I took it from Half Moon Bay to 280 and it nearly made me roadsick with its voluptuous curves. I did not love its weekend congestion. And had I taken it during rush hour yesterday, I still might not have discovered my love for it. But Highway 92 from San Mateo to Hayward (or vice versa) is one of the most beautiful drives in the Bay.
I never had occasion to discover this before; living in the South or East Bay means that you need Highway 92 not at all to get to most of your prime destination points around the Bay. But now that I live within five minutes of one of its entry points, it's the best way for me to go East. And let me tell you, it is the best way.
When you come out of San Mateo, the bridge goes up in this graceful curve that looks like it might be a ramp - like you might get up to the top and suddenly sprout wings and fly. You don't, of course, but what happens is pretty breathtaking on its own - the whole bay opens out ahead of you.
You can see to San Jose on one side and San Francisco on the other as you zip along, a mere few yards above the water itself. On a clear day, you can see the entire ring of the bay up to the Bay Bridge - you miss the Vallejo marshes and the Golden Gate, I think, but everything else is visible. It's like being a bird and a fish and a car all at once. And speaking of birds, you can see those too, pelicans and cormorants, perched on the bars of the occasional towers that line the bridge. I've wanted to take pictures each time I've driven over, but I was driving, and so I didn't. Besides, I don't think my camera could capture the sheer sense of space.
Mostly when I'm driving, I'm doing it to get from one place to another. But that stretch of Highway 92 feels more than utilitarian. San Mateo and Hayward, the end points, whatever; but the bridge in between, my God.
I've been out of touch - the move took weeks of time, and then the things I've thought to write about I've then thought better of; I get more cautious each year about what I am willing to put on the Internet. But I'm well, and the new house is well, and Himself is well, and the dogs are well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
Also, Amazon.com now sells sex toys. Soon they will start selling foodstuffs and nobody will ever shop anywhere else ever again. Go, Amazon, go!
I never had occasion to discover this before; living in the South or East Bay means that you need Highway 92 not at all to get to most of your prime destination points around the Bay. But now that I live within five minutes of one of its entry points, it's the best way for me to go East. And let me tell you, it is the best way.
When you come out of San Mateo, the bridge goes up in this graceful curve that looks like it might be a ramp - like you might get up to the top and suddenly sprout wings and fly. You don't, of course, but what happens is pretty breathtaking on its own - the whole bay opens out ahead of you.
You can see to San Jose on one side and San Francisco on the other as you zip along, a mere few yards above the water itself. On a clear day, you can see the entire ring of the bay up to the Bay Bridge - you miss the Vallejo marshes and the Golden Gate, I think, but everything else is visible. It's like being a bird and a fish and a car all at once. And speaking of birds, you can see those too, pelicans and cormorants, perched on the bars of the occasional towers that line the bridge. I've wanted to take pictures each time I've driven over, but I was driving, and so I didn't. Besides, I don't think my camera could capture the sheer sense of space.
Mostly when I'm driving, I'm doing it to get from one place to another. But that stretch of Highway 92 feels more than utilitarian. San Mateo and Hayward, the end points, whatever; but the bridge in between, my God.
I've been out of touch - the move took weeks of time, and then the things I've thought to write about I've then thought better of; I get more cautious each year about what I am willing to put on the Internet. But I'm well, and the new house is well, and Himself is well, and the dogs are well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
Also, Amazon.com now sells sex toys. Soon they will start selling foodstuffs and nobody will ever shop anywhere else ever again. Go, Amazon, go!
2 Comments:
you moved? where and when? inquiring minds want to know all about the new place.
i love your description of the bridge. i want to be a fish and a bird and car.
Early August - it was an emotional fiasco, if a fairly smooth process otherwise, and it just didn't make for good blogfodder. We live in the Silicon Valley now, about twenty-five minutes or so from San Jose proper. Three bedrooms and a yard, oh my God, the sheer luxury of it all is overwhelming sometimes. After this next weekend, I hope to have almost all the boxes unpacked. I can hardly believe it.
The bridge is really, surprisingly stellar. I'm not usually one to notice such things, but it is very wow.
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