California seems the perfect place for a walk. This is chauvinism. Everyplace is good for a walk.
That includes New Jersey.
Jersey gets a bad rap from its ugly industrial area near New York City.
But minutes from there it’s a green, pleasant land of large suburban houses on large lots, of farms and little old towns, of beachfront and boardwalks. There’s no shortage of walking opportunities even when making a short visit like the one we just paid to Laura’s family there.
In California we admire our old 1850s gold rush towns. Their towns are sometimes two hundred years older. There’s a sense of history there that we lack. A suburban development even preserves an old graveyard in its midst.
California boasts of its agriculture, but NJ grows a lot of food too. They do call themselves “The Garden State”.
We arrived the day before Tropical Storm Henri came. It went east of us, and dumped rain on NYC. We got maybe two inches of rain. I took a walk the morning of the storm to get a coffee and a paper – and to see all the water.
Here in NJ trees grow anywhere they’re allowed to. Forests are so plentiful that apparently the locals don’t value them – large areas have been cut down, some “on speculation”. For example these apartments replaced a nice stretch of woods.
Beachfront abounds.
They are stricter about beach access than in California. There are private beaches and even the public ones might require an entrance tag. I left mine in my pocket, inflicting trouble on my NJ family. Sorry about that!
Rivers flow into the ocean up and down the state. Most are well-civilized.
Speaking of civilization…we took a walk at Sandy Hook, home of old military installations, beaches, and a view of the storied spires of NYC.
That tropical storm came and went. The next day was sunny and bright and the storm had cleaned everything up.
There’s more but for now that’ll do. Happy walking!
Matt's Journal 
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