Some Little Libraries in Normal Heights on Mountain View

Some Little Libraries in Normal Heights on Mountain View

Welcome back to Riding Bikes in San Diego. We are on Adams Avenue and hanging a right here on West Mountain View. And I want to take you around Mountain View today. Um, partially because at least this section of it has some of the worst pavement in the whole neighborhood of Normal Heights. But aside from that bright side, I have a soft spot for Mountain View. when I used to ride uh primarily, you know, just as exercise, um I would really hop on Mountain View uh daily and this was part of my normal ride. I would do this a couple times. I’d ride the entire length of Mountain View and then again and um it was just it’s it’s nearby where I live and it’s pretty calm and um uh I just have a soft spot for it. Um, I I know some people up here now. I have I have great neighbors who live north of Mountain View and um or live north of Adams rather on Mountain View and around the area. And it’s just a uh what I think is an essential route. And when there are neighborhood events like the Rock and Roll Marathon, it goes down here. When there are events like the Adams Avenue street fair, the bus usually gets diverted onto Mountain View. And it’s just uh it’s it’s excellent. I do wish it had a bike lane sort of like Max Street over in um Tamage. That would be ideal for me. But uh I could use some kind of infrastructure up here, some sort of uh markings or paint. But that’s okay. Um really you can ride the entire rim of Mountain View and really only have to deal with like two stop signs. Another benefit of Mountain View is that there are all these little free libraries around. So, this was a day I was doing a lot of work at home and um I really just needed to get out for a little bit of exercise. So, my wife and I have been kind of thinning the place out, uh getting rid of some things and made a bunch of stacks of books. And Mountain View is a great place to go if you want to uh access some free little libraries. Uh you saw there that particular place has a couple of TARDIS uh phone booths from uh Doctor Who and one of them is like a main one, but he built a whole second one just for children’s books which I think is just really um it’s tender and it’s generous and it’s much lower so kids can get in there and look around. Um and it was packed with kids books. This is not the only little free library. There’s one that that we just passed. Another friend has it there. But I wanted to show you a couple of the cool ones. So, we’re making our way. We’re now on Mountain View, North Mountain View. And Mountain View is actually three different streets. It’s West Mountain View, North Mountain View, and then East Mountain View. And um uh there’s also a great little parade that happens here, Fourth of July. No permits or anything. No city officials marching in it. Just neighbors coming out. uh walking around a couple blocks and then having some popsicles talking to each other. Uh one of the fellas I see at that event every year and at other events around the neighborhood also is a guy who actually once um really gave me a hard time with his car and flipped me off and and uh it was 6:00 in the morning. Uh I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but he didn’t like um that I was out biking and uh gave me a hard time. And then a few days later, I rode by and he was out walking his dog and he apologized. There’s this Viking ship over here um on 35th in Mountain View and the fellow who lives here built this and uh it’s really impressive just the craftsmanship of it. There’s a little bench there. So I throw a few books in there and then I like to dip up 35th when I ride and uh and go around. There are just all these little nooks and crannies, all these little side streets. I’m not even exploring all them in this video, but it’s a neighborhood worth exploring. It’s a neighborhood worth taking your time uh and just having a leisurely bike ride on, getting a few miles in. Um and uh and that’s all I’m trying to do. Uh I did after this uh and I’m not going to bring you all the way into Kensington with me, but when I just need to like get out, get moving a little bit, take a break from what I’m doing, a good 35 minute ride, I like to ride around Mountain View and then I take Adams Avenue over into Kensington and ride north of uh Adams and Kensington just up uh what maybe Marorrow and then Cambridge and then come down um uh another road and um it’s it’s a it’s a good loop and um pretty peaceful. So, uh there’s another little library that we’re going to head to. And it was actually built by the same guy who built that Viking ship. And um uh I’m not going to tell you what it’s called. I’m going to I’m going to let you discover it on your own if you happen to be in the neighborhood. Uh these are these are just wonderful little finds. Uh here’s the last one. I only have a couple of books left by the time I get here. So, it’s a quick visit. But, um, when I need to get rid of books, I really love to, um, go to little libraries around the neighborhood. This part of Mountain View is East Mountain View, and it got new pavement a while back, which was super cool cuz it was rough over here. Also, that was years ago, though, and I kind of thought that they were going to go all the way around Mountain View. For some reason, the city decided not to do that. I don’t know why. I don’t know what dictates um the need, but West Mountain View uh if you go back to the beginning of this video is just atrocious. And and actually they quit over here. So, uh we’re actually about to uh pass a house that a former Puez surprise winning poet lived in. So, um all these kind of little landmarks. Um, when I head down here, I like to make a turn over here because then I get to the traffic light and the controlled intersection that I can get through. It’s a lot easier than making a left off of um, Mountain View otherwise. But from here, we’re going to drive less and ride a bike. Thanks,

We’re taking a casual ride in Normal Heights on West, North, and East Mountain View Dr, stopping at a few of our Little Libraries along the way.

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