Road Trip

[Ozzie Nelson]

Leaving soon with my sons on our annual baseball trip…this year to Phoenix and then Road Trip to San Diego. Anyone been to these ballparks? Anyone made the drive from Phoenix to San Diego?

 

[Wbbfan1]

I've taken the drive between Phoenix and San Diego a couple of times. However, its been awhile and I suspect there's been more development. I would recommend that you plan the drive very early in the morning to avoid the Phoenix Morning Rush Hour traffic and plan to arrive after the San Diego Morning traffic. IMHO early mornings are best to avoid the heat of the day during the drive. Obviously another option is to leave Phoenix after 6 PM which would get you into San Diego around midnight.

 

[JimGunther]

Only been to the SD Park once. Stayed in LaJolla - drove to ?Light Rail? Station (free parking as I recall) and trained right to the park. EZ - Peasy

 

[EricLA]

Leaving soon with my sons on our annual baseball trip…this year to Phoenix and then Road Trip to San Diego. Anyone been to these ballparks? Anyone made the drive from Phoenix to San Diego?

The SD ballpark is very fan friendly, but ugly as . It was supposed to be a spectacular mission style complete with a bell tower and stucco everywhere, and that is how they sold the project to us (public funding). But once they got started on the actual building of it, they took out almost every aesthetic feature and left us with a blue and white metal (albeit very open and airy) venue.

I hate the way the ballpark looks - it was one of the newer ones and an eyesore compared to Baltimore and San Francisco. Still, I'm sure you will enjoy it as it's laid out very well and probably not a bad seat in the house...

 

[MilfordHusky]

Eric, the DC ballpark was oversold too. It's comfortable, functional, and reasonably attractive, but not at all distinctive or memorable like the one in SF. A review when it opened said that if they had only spent $10M more to upgrade some materials and enhance the design, it could have been outstanding. That may seem like a lot of money, but on a $600M base, it really isn't.

I haven't been inside Petco. From the outside, it looks interesting, but I agree there is no mission tie in. It looks like a pleasant but generic park. The location is great.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I haven't been inside the Phoenix ball park, but it is next to the indoor arena, where we attended a concert (and will attend some Mercury games this season). It is also well serviced by a light rail, and we actually stayed at a Holiday Inn Express that was in walking distance.

Looking forward to some day making that drive from [Tucson] to San Diego, just probably not on this year's schedule. So much to do when you move to a different area of the country!

 

[vtcwbuff]

Oz - I haven't made the drive but it looks like a 5-6 hr trip on I-8. Timed right traffic shouldn't be a problem at all. There's nothing between Phoenix and SD except nothing.

I haven't been to Petco, but I know it's a very easy access. I've stayed at the Harbor Marriott and the Coronado Marriott. I can recommend both. Coronado for night time views of the city and the Harbor for easy access to everything.

 

[ochoopsfan]

I haven't driven the SD to Phoenix, or visa versa route in over 15 years.
The ball park in Phoenix is nice. Depending on the heat, the roof may or may not be open. When I went there you were able to buy water from the street vendors for $1-2$ and bring it in. So if if thats what you want, do that vs spending $5.00 inside. If you like a sports bar after the game Cooperstown is a block away. Now it does have the same name as the baseball Hall of Fame, but I believe it is named, and owned, after rock star Alice Cooper.
Going to SD you see almost nothing. Yuma is the border town and its probably the hottest "city" in the USA. After that its Imperial County on I-8 and flat farms. Once you get out of Imperial County, wave good bye, you survived. Eastern San Diego county does have a mountain range you will go through, so if your car cant make it up the mountains, dont take that car. Or, dont take that route. You can also take I-10 to I-15 south to which is longer, but less hills.
Petco Park is as Eric said, Eh. I was expecting a lot more when it was built. The parking is on the streets or in downtown lots which will cost about $15-20. You can also park at some of the trolly stations and take the trolly to the park for a couple of bucks. The Old Town station is less than a 10 minute trolly ride and usually has spots. Check the weather before going to the game at Petco. If the fog is coming in, a sweater might be helpful as Petco is a block from the Bay and cool breezes can come in.

Enjoy your trip and let us know how it went.

Edit to correct that when I said you see almost nothing I meant the California part in Imperial County. They have farms as Tomcat said put not much else. If seeing farms, which can be seen in many places in the USA. is something to view than we have different tastes. I find flat farms boring. The mountains in East SD County are nice and break up the monotomous drive of flat roads.

 

[tomcat]

We live in PHX and drive to SD a couple of times a year, and I completely disagree about seeing nothing, at least the first time you do it.

The exact route depends on where in the PHX area you will be. We live in Tempe in the East Valley and find the best route is the back way through the city of Maricopa to Route 85 in Gila Bend. Then pick up Route 8. This is also a good way to avoid the dreadful traffic on Route 10 during rush hour. After you've done it a couple of times the drive is a grind, but the first time is kinda fascinating. Be sure you notice the Space Age Motel in Gila Bend, which is a town that looks like The Land That Time Forgot. The motel is a hoot. Between there and Yuma there is Dateland, AZ, where you can stop and get a date milk shake. Why you would want to, I'll leave to you.

When you get to Yuma (good place for a potty break and to fill the tank with cheaper AZ gasoline), watch for the Colorado River. Once you cross it, you're in CA. A short distance in, you'll see some really pretty dunes, probably the only ones you'll see in either AZ or CA, since our deserts look quite different than the kind with dunes. You will go mile after mile past fields of hay and vegetables (remember that this is where much of the nation's veggies are raised). El Centro is not much of a town, but good if you need a break. A while later you'll see a mountain off in the distance. You'll see signs for Ocotillo, the town, and Plaster City. Sure enough, if you look off to the right, in the distance you'll see a giant gypsum factory. If you were to go there (no reason to, really), it'd look like plaster all over.

You're going up that mountain through some really crazy geology, including great rock formations and canyons. A feast for the eyes, at least the first time. You'll peak at about 4,000 feet and drive in the highlands for quite a while, through beautiful countryside. Some of my favorite non-ocean places in southern CA are up there -- Lakeside and Alpine among them. Just genuinely nice places with a great climate. You'll come down toward San Diego through El Cajon and La Mesa, with gorgeous homes draped on the side of the hills. Very California!

When you get to SD, say hello to Ocean Beach for me. And have a wonderful trip.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Thanks to all for the fine info. We intend to eventually see every park together, and at this point we are over half way. My peripatetic sons have been to more parks than I and double up on some, but that is not a problem! We see many families traveling to games as we do, something baseball is perfect for.