I really like how the author enumerated all his "mistakes" along the way. I was reminded of my mistakes the night I couldn't sleep and embarked on a full-day b

I really like how the author enumerated all his "mistakes" along the way. I was reminded of my mistakes the night I couldn't sleep and embarked on a full-day bicycle journey up to San Clemente at 3am (mistake #1). Woefully unprepared (#2) and on my mom's upright commuter bike (#3), I got lost in Camp Pendleton (#4) after convincing the entry guard I'd walk my bike all the way to San Clemente since I didn't have a helmet (#5). Pretty soon I started hearing closeby gunfire (#6), found myself next to extremely fast traffic (#7), and was eventually escorted off the premises by a friendly, but firm Military Police officer whose parting words of wisdom were "you might want to try the 5; the highway patrol might have a problem with it, but you sure as hell can't ride back this way!" (#8). As soon as I got off the base, I opted to explore a bit before immediately taking my chances on the freeway. Sure enough, there was a deserted road a little off the beaten path, sandwiched between the army base and the freeway. Pretty soon, I realized the MP had inadvertently dropped me off in familiar territory. I was on the very beach trail to San Clemente I had taken with my dad, from many years prior in my childhood when I went on my first multi-day bike tour. A few whimsical "mistakes" every now and then can make up for the rest of the bullshit in life. Oh, the places you'll go! Great post, thank you for sharing!