Drivers were almost mannerly as they zipped along together at 75 mph on Interstate 5. The absence of tractor trailers was a definite plus, too. The big rigs are required to use a parallel route. Free moonlight Nature can be part of civic life. California law, in an acknowledgment that the ocean belongs to everyone, allows public access to any stretch of beach.
Communities also encourage swimming, surfing and sun-bathing by establishing parklike beaches.
Encinitas has Moonlight Beach, a swath of sand with free parking, a refreshment stand, a beach volleyball court and a lifeguard stand. For those who don't care for the beach, San Diego County has nearly 200 hiking trails through the hill country and sometimes through subdivisions. It is possible to age gracefully. There is a lot wrong with this nation's commercially driven fixation with youth, but I admire California's fiftysomething surfers. They are as wrinkled as sun-ripened prunes, but they know how to have fun.