Mountain View in California is by definition a sleepy leisure loving and rich town. Its more appropriately called a village – for it has a single street where you can find Shops and Restaurants. What arguably makes Mountain View famous is Googleplex and maybe the NASA Ames Research Center. In this environmentally conscious hub in Silicon Valley, I have probably seen 50 people and 5000+ cars in four days.
My first thought as I came out of the San Fransisco International Airport was – “Wow, This Looks Like a Scene from Pixar’s Cars“. And as we drove along the 101 to Mountain View, I spotted fewer humans beings than wild rabbits at 2:00 p.m in the afternoon. The prosaic buildings and the uninspiring landscape did not help in forming better opinions either. The only saving grace was the imposing Santa Cruz mountain range that lent some character to the horizon.
I wonder, if like in Australia where Kangaroos outnumber people, in United States the Cars outnumber the people ? Most houses have 2 to 4 cars in their posession – one for each member of the family ? And it seem astonishingly senseless to me that more than half the working population of Mountain View lives in San Francisco, a good 50-60 KM away. Like Douglas Adams remarks, “Why the hell can’t people decide where they want to be ?”. The Silver Lining is that Google gives free bikes that I can use to commute to work through this fine biking trail.
Standing on the bridge over Route-101, I ponder over the legacy of J.D. Rockfeller, why the largest industrial corporation in history is one that rapes the planet, the 1973 Oil Embargo, the Lust for Mesapotomian (s)oil and so on. But the incessant sound of Cars from the freeway tramples on my imagination and only one thought lingers – “The People aren’t driving these Cars. The Cars are driving these People”
Filed under: General
Thats a good one so now u in googleplex great.I remember this from The hitchhikers guide to galaxy where Ford on his arrival on the planet tries to get introduced to a car thinking it to be the primary life form in this planet
Where do you stay, buddy? In Mountainview or in Santa Clara? If you are looking for an inspiring landscape around that area, try Highway 1 that joins San Fransisco and Los Angles. It goes along beach side through wineyards and sierra neveda mountain ranges.
@ Sundar,
Wow ! That sounds great fun. In fact reminds me of the awesome Sierra Nevada scenery from the video game Road Rash !
However I am in MountainView and the nearest exit to Highway 1 is ~35 miles away. I only have a measly Hybrid City Bike and am not fit enough to ride more than 10 miles.
The Santa Cruz Mountains are about 5 miles from my place and look inviting …