Neighborhood Walks: To Curbside Cafe & Vista Public Library

It's been a while since I've done one of these! Our first place in San Diego County wasn't within walking distance of anything interesting. Recently, my husband landed a new job, for which he requires our only car several days a week, leaving me stranded at home due to my own work schedule (my work is only a mile from home). Luckily, my seasonal job will soon be over, and so I can take some train trips on the days he takes the car.

Anyway, when I grew tired of being stuck at home last week, I decided to walk to downtown Vista to get some breakfast and then stop at the library on the way home to pick up a book that was on hold. Many of these pics are from my own neighborhood!

These folks down the street had this sign post up for months, empty. I thought they were either selling their home or had just purchased it & the realtor was lazy. But then this lovely hand-painted sign showed up:

I like this house's garage more than I like the house itself. It's so cute!:

A nicely xeriscaped yard:

I went slightly out of my way to take a picture of this realty sign. I can't get over the fact that this realtor uses a caricature as her professional photo. I just find it really bizarre. I'm half-convinced it's the reason why this house has been sitting on the market for months. (Note: I removed the identifying information from the sign; half the sign isn't randomly missing.)

Interesting flowers that I don't recognize:

For the first time, I noticed that this very blue house has a very blue fountain out front. They also have a very blue mailbox. I'm sensing a theme.

Someone is ready for Halloween:

The Vista Masonic Center makes me so sad every time I see it. I honestly can't tell whether or not it's derelict. It looks like a place in a horror movie that teenagers break into on a lark & end up getting murdered. (Note: I looked it up & not only is it still in use, the Vista Masons appear quite active. And they have a lovely website. I'm shocked. I've never seen a single car parked there or people going in & out.)

Yellow roses never look as beautiful in pictures as they do in person:

Fun cactus:

I spied this traffic cone on the roof of a local school. I wondered if it was tossed up there by naughty children or if there was something construction/janitorial related going on.

I took this picture to show how steep the hills in Vista can be. Also, you can tell by the utterly parched grass that it hadn't rained since June (it sprinkled the following day).

A favorite yard of mine:

Mural on the side of the Curbside Cafe:

Outside Lush Lounge (local coffee shop), they're ready for Day of the Dead:

I love a good Spanish tile:

Vista has had a bit of a rough reputation in recent years. It's a town in transition, and the city planners are working hard to turn it into an artists' colony. I liked this painted sign calling attention to the free doggie poop bags (note: it was completely empty of bags). Funny that the nearest beach that allows dogs is over 20 miles away from Vista. We've never taken our dog to a beach.

I may have liked the detail on the back of the sign more than the painting on the front:

My second destination:

I LOVED these amazing pieces of post-it note artwork in the library's side windows. There was also a Pac-Man & a Superman symbol. Unfortunately, access to the courtyard was locked, so I couldn't get in there for a good angle. Also, someone sitting inside was staring at me, which made me self-conscious. These windows look into the children's area, so I didn't want her to think I was being a creep.

This roundtrip walk totaled 3 miles. I enjoyed the exercise & the time out of the house!