San Diego Road Trip 1

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It's been 7-months since I had driven down to San Diego for a road trip. In that span of time, a lot of change has happened in my life. As you can imagine, when I jumped on the car yesterday morning, a little bit of nostalgia swept over me. And, using the lessons of my past visits, I crafted an extraordinary day in San Diego and set a stage for even better visits in the future.

I loaded my bike into the back of the car and headed south on the 215 for Qualcomm Stadium. The two-hour drive left me catching the Trolley south to Downtown and transferring on to another Trolley south to the San Ysidro Border Crossing. Within a stone's throw of Tijuana, I set out north on my bike for a ride up into Coronado. Being that close to Mexico, I smiled to remember Baseball Road Trips to Mexicali and how fun it would be to somehow mix in a game in Tijuana with a game in San Diego. Like I said, settling the stage for something new. 

The bike route I had planned would take me through Imperial Beach, up the Silver Strand Bikeway, and right to the heart of Coronado. The 17-mile ride was absolutely fantastic and had probably some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever had on a bike ride. Past pristine beaches and along the San Diego Bay, with the beautiful skyline overlooking me, I was so happy to be out and riding. I'm thinking that after every game I do in San Diego, I'm going to do this ride. You just can't compare it to anything. 

After catching my breath, I grabbed a drink and some food at the Coronado Brewing Company, rode down to Coronado Beach, then caught the ferry to the Convention Center and Petco Park. I love that ferry, and considering my pledge to do the Silver Strand ride after every game, I'll get to take that ferry back into San Diego every time too. 

The Padres were playing an exhibition game against the Tripl-A Mexican League Diablos de Rojas from Mexico City. It was free to go to the game if you had a voucher for their Fan Fest from prior to the game. I decided not to go to Fan Fest because of the bike ride and the fact that I went to Padres Fan Fest last year. Still, a free game in San Diego at Petco was plenty of incentive for me to hit it up. By virtue of me planning early, I got great seats right behind the Diablos dugout on the first level. It was seats that I had never gotten before at Petco, so I was excited to sit so close, at least initially. 

To start with, one of the reasons I like the nosebleeds at ballparks is because when the game gets slow, you have something to distract you. At Petco, it's the downtown skyline. At Angel Stadium, it's the trains and mountains. At Dodger Stadium, it's the hills of Elysian Park. When you're on the field level, you don't get that view. Everything is focused on the game, and that can get a little boring, at times. 

Secondly, the fans around me were annoying as you know what. I get that the game was free and that anybody could come, but the people around me were annoying and wouldn't shutup about beer and parties for the entire game. They were loud and obnoxious, which really affected my enjoyment of the game. I guess it was just one of those instances, and I've written about it on here before, when certain fans at MLB games can really drag down experiences. 

The game wasn't really a contest as San Diego trounced Mexico City 8-0. Newly minted Padre Matt Kemp had a good game going 2 for 3 with two rbis.

Well, the professional season is now upon us. My opening weekend is Thursday to Sunday consisting of the Inland Empire 66ers Home Opener, two 66ers game, and my first Angels game on Sunday as they take on the defending AL champion Kansas City Royals. I'll be bringing my bike along and doing the whole get-up down in Anaheim and Orange on Sunday too.

Keep watch on Twitter, Facebook, and FourSquare for the updates!

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)