In the last post I mentioned my son, Reed’s family and their road trip. I wanted to “crash” their party for a little bit, but didn’t want to spend too much time on the road with them. Besides there wasn’t enough room for his whole family and me in his truck. So, I flew to San Diego and stayed with a buddy named Daniel, whom I have known since kindergarten. He has a beautiful place where he lives with his lovely wife, Rita, on Coronado Island. The photo above is one I took of the beach near their house. They were very kind to host me for a few days and I was able to secure some good seats to a game at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. We watched them play the Washington Nationals. I am trying to get to all 30 of the Major League Baseball stadiums and before this trip, I had not yet checked San Diego off the list. It was number 16 for me. We had a good time and had perfect San Diego weather. The only sad thing was that my Nats lost to Daniel’s Padres.
When we were kids growing up inside the beltway of the Washington Metropolitan area, Daniel’s house backed-up to the local Little League fields, and the local MLB team then was the Senators. They played in what came to be known as RFK Stadium and they were not a very good team. In fact, the saying about the city and the team at the time went something like, “Washington: first in war, first in peace and still last in the American League.” Even though they didn’t come close to winning any championships, I still have fond memories of those days. By the time I had children of my own the closest MLB team was the Baltimore Orioles. I took my oldest son to Baltimore to see the team play when he was young and playing Little League baseball. To this day, my son Reed is an O’s fan, and like me, he is trying to get to all the MLB stadiums. Some we have been to together.
The morning after the game, I rented a car and went for a scenic, solo drive on Interstate 8 through the coastal mountains of southern California, then through the desert close enough at some points that I could see the border wall with Mexico off in the distance to my right. At times the temperature outside exceeded 110 degrees. Fortunately the rental car air conditioning was working well. After a gas stop in El Centro, where a guy tried to sell me a few bunches of freshly dug onions out of the back of his pickup truck, I continued eastward; crossing the Colorado River at the border of California and Arizona. Due to agriculture and other uses by humans, the river only has about 10 percent of the water that flows into it by the time it reaches Yuma, Arizona. Traveling on towards Phoenix, but before getting to the city, I exited the interstate heading north; gaining elevation and rapidly leaving 100 degree temperatures behind. I had to make a pitstop in Prescott, Arizona to pick up supplies at my favorite store, Trader Joe’s. The stop was made essential because my cell phone was running out of charge and it was my only source of information to navigate to Sedona, Arizona. After I explained that I didn’t have the right cord to charge the phone in the rental car, the kind manager of the store charged it as I shopped. The detour took me through Prescott National Forest land and Coconino National Forest land onto winding, scenic roads with drastically different views than I had been seeing on the interstate. I should have allowed more time to stop for photos, but at this point I was eager to see the grandchildren and the place I had “won” for them for the week. I knew they were having fun, because my son had been supplying me with videos of their adventure. Nevertheless, I still wanted to get there before dark and before the grandkids were in bed. We were going to have only one day together in Sedona before driving to Phoenix to see Chase Field, another MLB park (number 17 for me); this time with grandkids to see the Arizona Diamondbacks play the Athletics. It was a dreadfully hot walk from our hotel to the stadium, but once we arrived we found the roof was closed and the place was comfortably air conditioned inside. It was a fun family event.
The next morning they headed eastward on their long return drive home to Virginia. I headed back towards San Diego to spend a couple more nights with my friends. In typical try to see it all fashion, with little advanced research, I added a few stops along the way. I had flown over the Salton Sea on my way west. I had never seen it up close before and since childhood I wondered what the big blue spot on the map in the middle of the southern California desert would be like. I knew that Phoenix is a Capital City and I am also on a mission to get to all the State Capitols. Most of the buildings are worth the visit. (Put the word Capitol in the search box to see more of what I have written on the topic, if you are interested, after you finish reading this post.) I put those two destinations into my phone and followed Google’s directions.
The first stop that morning for me was the State Capital grounds. It is unusual among the capitals that I have personally visited (Though I have visited all 50 states and been in most of the capital cities, I have only actually visited 37 Capitol buildings and some of those including Arizona were not open for me to go into and take photos.) in that the building, at least the photogenic one, is older than the State. The history of the state is an interesting one which regretfully I haven’t explored in any detail. The Old State Capitol Building is now the State Capitol Museum. Unfortunately it was not open at the time I was there. I am sure it would be worth a visit. It was first opened in 1901 as the Territorial Capitol Building and after Arizona became a state in 1912 the needs of the legislature grew so that additional buildings had to be added to the Capitol Complex. Most of the buildings are less impressive to look at than the original building. I tried to photograph enough to show that I saw it, though it would be untrue to say I saw it all. Phoenix is a sprawling city and the Capitol Complex is west of the modern downtown.
After my brief visit to the Capitol, I headed west following a different route than I used going to Sedona. I followed Interstate 10 until Google instructed me to exit to get to my next destination, the Salton Sea State Recreation Area. The drive there was hot, but there were places that seemed like they would have been inviting and interesting (especially the area at the border of California, where again the Colorado River forms the boundary), if it was cooler. After exiting the interstate I was on a stretch of road that had signs warning that I might lose cell service. I was the only one on the road for miles. The geology was interesting and again I was thankful that I was in a new car with good air conditioning. It was hot as I drove through the box canyons on the two lane road with subtle tones of gray and brown. Eventually, I came out of the desert colors into a valley of green agricultural land made so with irrigation. It was such a surprise. It was still hot, but instead of a rocky desert landscape, there were perfect rows of citrus trees and what I suspect were date palms and nut trees. It was interesting to say the least. I didn’t expect this in the eastern Coachella Valley.
Finally, I got to an expanse of blue that was the Salton Sea. I pulled into the recreation area; paid the park entrance fee and asked the attendant what I should see. He recommended starting with the visitor center and pointed me in the right direction. The visitors center didn’t look like much and the parking lot was completely empty. It turned out to be great advice. I spent over an hour with an enthusiastic California State Park employee who sincerely seemed happy to see me and was able to answer all my curious and challenging questions with expertise. It was in a comfortable air conditioned room with good exhibits. He was my kind of guy. I gave him my name and this website address and told him it would be a while before I had time to finish the story, but I hoped he would see what I had to say and take a look at my photos. My final question for him before I left the center was– what route should I take to get back to Coronado? It was too hot outside to really enjoy myself in the intense sun. I did take a few photos around the visitors center, before taking his advice to go to the mountain town of Julian. The quaint town was at altitude and therefore much cooler. The drive was pretty and I had an opportunity to buy a delicious pie to bring back to my friends in Coronado.
Thank you to Rita and Daniel for showing me a great time. Coronado is lovely! I really enjoyed my time catching up and seeing the sites of San Diego and the beach. Watching Daniel surfing with his nephew was pretty special too!
To view some photos from the trip click here.
