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Lake Murray – A Great Outdoor Space to Run, Walk, or Bike

Lake Murray is a reservoir located at the confluence of the borders of La Mesa, San Diego, and Santee.  It is part of Mission Trails Regional Park which includes great hiking opportunities and a set of five peaks to climb.

There is a path around Lake Murray but it does not create a full loop as the area around the dam is closed to the public – it’s about 3 miles start to finish, so 6 miles in total if you do an out and back.  Lake Miramar was once similarly closed but reopened the full loop – hopefully Lake Murray will one day do the same.  There are a wide assortment of ducks and other birds that you can find in the water, although a local rule prohibits feeding them.  🙁

I took my two children to Lake Murray this week and brought along my bike and our 2-seat Burley trailer to give them a ride on the out and back path around the lake.  It’s mostly flat and has some nice trees lining the path in certain areas.  Below are some photos of the scenery and the ride profile (elevation, distance, duration) from my Strava recording.

As you can see from the elevation profile, the route is very flat

Lake Murray has a number of places to access the trail, I usually enter from Kiowa Street on the south side of the Lake, off of Lake Murray Boulevard, the address for GPS is 5540 Kiowa Drive, La Mesa, CA 91942.

This is a great place to have a picnic, walk, jog, or bike.  Cowles Mountain is also very close so you could do a hike there in the morning and then relax at the lake afterwards.  Fishing is also popular and there are kayaks for rent, but swimming is not allowed in the reservoir.

Final Comments:

  • Path Enhancement – If you know who to contact or what needs to be done to open the full loop around the reservoir please let me know, I’d love to see this asset enhanced with a full loop option and access to a greater portion of the shoreline.
  • Burley bicycle trailer – We’ve had our Burley D’Lite trailer for more than 5 years.  It is amazing and a huge help with grocery shopping, taking the kids to the park, etc.  They’re pretty spendy new, about $700 but we bought ours for $150 on Craigslist and it’s great.  Highly recommended if you have young kids, I also know people that use them for dogs and enjoy.

 

Ready Player One, Set For Life – Shipping Out Today

I’m sending out a couple of recent reads today – Set for Life by Scott Trench is heading to Wichita, KS and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is heading to La Mesa, CA.

I enjoyed both of these books though the topics are quite different – one is self-help / financial advice and the other is sci-fi / adventure. Set For Life is the former and I greatly enjoyed the first half of this read, although there were mis-spellings and edit errors throughout the book.  It’s mostly about building wealth through real estate and geared toward younger people looking to purchase their first property.  Great advice regarding cutting housing costs (the biggest monthly cost for most Americans) and building wealth by starting with a multi-unit or roommate and growing from there.

Ready Player One will soon be a movie and I had a birthday gift card to Barnes and Noble so I bought it on a whim.  I grew up in the 80s and 90s and would seem to be the target market for this sci-fi fantasy set in the mid 21st century but fixated on 70s – 90s geek pop culture.  Lots of music, movie, TV, and video game references from that era and the entire plot surrounds a huge video game contest.  If you’re into those sort of things you might like – if not, most of the references will probably be lost.

I’m sending out these books as part of my “Sharebook” campaign – my personal project to send out books I’ve enjoyed and start a number of book chains to continue them being passed after I first ship them.

If you’re interested in receiving a book you can request one via this simple form.  Takes 30 seconds and you’ll get a free book sometime in the future.

Cheers!

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Two solid reads

Sharebook – Sharing Good Books with Friends and Strangers

Interested in receiving a free book recommended by myself or another person?  You can enter your information in the short form at the below link and you may be lucky enough to receive one in the future.  After reading a book I’ve purchased or otherwise received I paste the below message inside the front cover and then send out to the next person on the list, who will hopefully read it as well then add their name and pass it on.  Or, if the book isn’t their jam simply pass on without reading.

https://goo.gl/forms/G0tbsLZA96vI58DJ2

Message Inside Book Cover:

Print the below text and tape it inside the cover of a book before sending to a friend to share good books with friends.  Packing tape is recommended.

————————————————-

Sharebook – Pass along this book to a friend!

This book is part of Sharebook.  After you’ve read it, add your name below the others inside the front cover to join the chain of friends.  If you have a book you’d like to pass on, print this message and paste inside the book, add your name, and send to a friend to start your own chain.

Thanks for spreading the joy of reading!    www.johnpatrickanderson.com/sharebook

Today I’m sending out a copy of “the Airbnb story” by Leigh Gallagher, which Airbnb was kind enough to send me a copy of recently.  A good, quick read of the history of the company and the rapid growth from blow-up air mattresses on the floor to a $30 billion valuation in the private market.  Mostly old news if you’ve followed the company over the past few years but probably an interesting read if you’re mostly unfamiliar.

Note: My previous website (same address – johnpatrickanderson.com) had a post regarding this book sharing effort, which I nicknamed Sharebook, but has now been lost.  This post replaces the old one and will hopefully lead to more sharing of great reads.  Cheers!

Running – Best Sport Ever

I don’t get to run as much as I used to, but appreciate the opportunity when I can find time.  My favorite sport to play is basketball but there is no better sport than running.  No teammates, no equipment (other than maybe shoes and clothes), and thus no excuses.  It’s you against you, fighting fatigue, pain, and weakness.

It’s a sport where grit and determination count more than natural ability.  Everyone has a chance to be a champion when it comes to running.

Meet the new site. Same as the old site.

I’m moving this website back to the WordPress platform after a stint on the Weebly platform per the advice of persons that know much more about these things than I do.

I’ll likely lose some old content in the process and will take a few weeks to get everything pretty but hopefully it will be worth the effort in the long-term.

Have a great night and hope to see you back here soon!

– John