Running in Place(s) 2.5

As I posted last, I tried to post a "Running in Place" about my trip to Omaha in mid August.  It got deleted after finishing, twice.  I included some of the pics of the nice trail system around Omaha in that last post.  That's why I'm calling this 2.5 instead of 2 or 3.
I was afforded the opportunity to go to Monterey, California last week.  It was the first time I've been there since 2009 and I was pretty excited to head back.  When I was originally living in Monterey, I was still very much in my "martial arts, weight lifting, and eating/drinking whatever I want" style of fitness.  Yes, I started to gain weight and my fitness scores started dropping.  Still hadn't accepted my slower metabolism and what that meant.  I ran when I had to but that was about it.  Even tried making it all the way up Franklin hill a couple times, unsuccessfully.  Granted, who hasn't drunkenly stumbled up that hill or somehow made it up there without exactly knowing how?
We were only in town for 36 hours, so I was able to get in only one run.  I wanted to make the best of it though, hitting the Monterey highlights that I could during a 5-7 mile run.
Luckily, our hotel was directly downtown, in middle of most of what I wanted to see.

Texas running in California

Oh, and it was only in the mid 50s.  Such a welcome change from the 90s and 100s here.  Afer a string of poor runs, it was nice to get in a nice, comfortable, happy run in.

I started at the marina, went out on a couple of the wharfs, and ended up going down Cannery Row to the famous Monterey Aquarium.  The whole time memories came flooding back to me. 
Going to Monterey was big for me.  I still had those strong connections with "back home," but it was time that I was moving ahead with my life.  I was making friends from all over the world and trying to figure out who I was going to be when I wasn't around anyone that had known me for decades or even a year.

Pretty sure I found Uncle Jim

 And that's maybe where my "thoughts from a place" come in here.  I have been thinking a lot lately about the past.  My awful run in San Antonio a couple weeks ago went through my favorite running areas. I've written many times about how much San Antonio meant to me.   I can say I've had two "homes" in my life, Davison and San Antonio.
Growing up in Davison, the feeling of home was simple.  Much of my family lived nearby and had lived there for generations. 
I lived in San Antonio for 7 years.  It was where I had my "own" place (with OB), bought my first home, and got involved with a local culture that wasn't mid-Michigan.

Since arriving to San Angelo, Mila and I have been looking ahead.  "What's next?  Where are we going?  Are we returning home to San Antonio?"  What I've been thinking about lately though is how you can't exactly go "home," no matter what Bon Jovi says.  I had a dream the other night about some of my old karate friends.  Friends that, although I've been back to Michigan several times, haven't seen for years.  We still care for each other but who knows if/when we'll ever get together again.  If we do, we've all changed.  We're no longer teenagers used to punching and kicking each other constantly.  haha, we're also no longer all smitten with Nicole or Cory.  I'm sure our significant others are all glad of that.  

I'd love to move back to Monterey.  I mean, look at these pictures!

I don't remember this little park.  sure is pretty though

The thing is, it won't be the same.  The fantastic, romanticized version of Monterey in my mind no longer exists.

Noel Lamy and Curtis Zapf circa 2009

Mila, Lubys, and Angie in 2008.  I searched for that otter but couldn't find hiim!

pretty sure this is one of those beaches pictured earlier.  check out that flip phone!

None of those folks are there anymore.  They all played big parts in making it what it was.  Just as Britt, Pat, James, Annie, Jason, and Anne all are gone from San Antonio and helped to make it "home" for me.  Nostalgia is great, but the world moves on.  

Does that make me "homeless" in a sense?  I'm pretty sure that if I am, everyone is.  The hometown of your childhood has changed.  for better or for worse.  One of the things that people that have left their hometown notice, and sometimes are shocked by, is how the town didn't freeze and wait for them to return.  Every time I return to Davison, there are fewer people I recognize out about town and I need Google Maps more and more.  

 Is this a problem though?  I think it opens us up to new adventures.  New ways to look at old places.  I wasn't a runner my first time in Monterey, so I saw it a bit differently on my feet in 2018 compared to 2008.  

the world famous Cannery Row

early morning sardines anyone?

really wish I would've had a chance to go back

 

100% primal approved, right?

the bottom of Franklin hill.  5/6 mile long, average incline 8% with a section of 16%

I did it!  First time ever making it to the top without stopping

I just KNEW I'd forget this fellas name

I think that places aren't only points on a map.  They're often points in time and what that means to us personally.  Meeting my future wife and some lifelong "siblings" (Britt and James), skew how I view Monterey.  The physical location hasn't changed much since I left in 2009.  However, the feeling would certainly be different if I moved back.  It's not a bad thing, just a different thing.

I almost miss these guys waking me up Saturday mornings.  Almost

I think we'll be sticking around San Angelo for a while so no "Running in Place(s)" entries for the time being.  Don't worry, there's a stair climb tomorrow.  And here's a couple pictures of crazy people running during a flash flood warning.

photo credit: Jammie Preiser

Your mothers would be so mad at you (photo credit: Jammie Preiser)