Road Trip to Field of Dreams - Day 1- Pasadena CA to Cedar City, Utah

Early Saturday morning, June 25, 2022, we headed out from Pasadena on our bucket list road trip to the Field of Dreams in Iowa.  Our first night's stop would be Cedar City, Utah, which according to google maps was 430 miles away and a 6-hour ten-minute drive.  

We were sailing along on the 210 east when, big surprise, we hit traffic.  What better way to depict our first travel day than California freeway traffic!  The jam here is going over the Cajon Pass down into Victorville.     

Aside from the traffic, our trip through the California desert was uneventful. Oh yeah, Barstow has a new Dutch Bros.  And I got a BOGO deal on shoes at the outlets there.  Regrettably the rest stop near Baker was closed. 

As we left California we followed this Ram truck, which according to its rear window is part of the exodus of Californians to other states.  Unlike the Ram, we would be returning to our home state, we just didn't know exactly when.  

Going over the Colorado River, we saw the water level was low. We knew that the next day, we would see the River again as we headed into the Rocky Mountains.  But, first, we had to cross southern Nevada, a nice bit of Arizona and a huge chunk of Utah.  

Cedar City is home to the Utah Shakespeare Festival.  We had tickets for opening night of King Lear and, due to traffic delays, we just made the 8 PM curtain.  The photo above was taken outside the open-air Englestad Shakespeare Theatre, which is part of a three-stage complex at Southern Utah University.  The setting is beautiful, and I think both of us would gladly return. The rendition of King Lear was very good. But the actors all wore masks, which unfortunately detracted from the performance.   

There are plenty of hotels near the university and we stayed at Baymont hotel on South Main Street, a nondescript almost clean place in walking distance of the Shakespeare Festival. 

More important, it was also in walking distance of our morning coffee find -- the Bristlecone at 67 West Center Street.  Bristlecone is in the middle of an interesting older downtown and it was fun to walk the streets.  Kind of a mix of coffee shop, restaurant, cool place and yoga studio, Bristlecone served up uncommonly good coffee, had healthy breakfast options and engaging friendly staff.  It was a great way to start the day. We sat outside to plan our day's trip but wound up playing Jenga and cornhole.  Bristlecone is highly recommended.  

Vin Scully Called Up

Vincent Edward Scully, known by all as "Vin" or "Vinny," has died.  Over 67 years, first for Brooklyn then starting in 1958 for Los Angeles, he announced Dodger baseball.  For summer after summer and generation after generation, he was the voice of baseball.

As many are saying in tribute, Vinny was so much more than an announcer. 

Vinny and I arrived in southern California about the same time - he as the 31-year-old Dodger broadcaster and me as a newborn at Pomona Valley Hospital.  From my earliest memories, the Dodgers have always been my team.  Year in and year out, reliable as the sun, there was always Vin Scully.  

So, though I never met the man, his death feels like a loss in the family.  That's crazy. And its not.

To kids growing up in my neighborhood, he was "VinScully," pronounced as a single name. It would have been unthinkable for a child to use the familiar "Vin" or "Vinny." Scully brought us the Dodgers, but he was also our teacher on all things Dodgers and baseball.  I remember more than one boyhood argument ending with "VinScully says so" which was the final word on the matter.  

I don't associate Scully with any one place. I remember listening to his voice in cars, backyards, front yards, garages and living rooms.  As I grew older, Vin Scully and Dodger baseball was something parents and a laconic teen could share.  

As a young man, I lived in other cities with other teams and other announcers.  But, none were Vin Scully. 

I became a father. Rocking back and forth, with a sleeping baby on my shoulder, I listened to Vin Scully on the radio.

We celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and wrote to celebrities hoping to get a note of congratulations.  Some sent autographed photos.  Not Vin.  He handwrote to my mom and dad, "I would say God bless you, but I can see that he already has." Just a simple thing, but so elegant and kind that I'm retelling the story 15 years later. 

In 2016, I watched on television as the Dodgers honored Vin and then watched him broadcast his final game from San Francisco.  The next year, Marcia and I heard him speak at the Pasadena Civic.

Last October, I was at Dodger Stadium for the post season series against the Braves. I was up in the reserved section and instantly stood with 50,000 others as Vin Scully appeared on the big screen. He was at his home and appearing by live video feed.  There he was, smiling on the screen, gently waiving to the crowd. His smile grew. He knew very well what was coming next. He was 93, his voice shook, but there was a boyish glee about him. We all knew exactly what was coming next and a kind of reverent clapping erupted. Then, at Vin's invitation, all together in his sing-song cadence, we yelled "It is time for Dodger baseball."   

............

The Dodgers play the Padres tonight at Dodger Stadium.  Game time is 6:10.

Bucket List Road Trip -- Pasadena, California to Field of Dreams, Iowa

In March, I received the perfect birthday gift -- a bucket list road trip to the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.  That's right. We were going to Iowa and I couldn't have been more excited.

Field of Dreams is the title of a 1989 Kevin Costner movie.  The movie site, including corn fields, baseball diamond and farmhouse, have been preserved, same as they were when the movie was filmed.  On their own, a corn field, ball diamond or farmhouse hardly warrant a 2,000- mile road trip.  But, add in the movie's magical stories of redemption spun around America's Pastime, family, and rich Iowa soil -- now that's another matter.  

      

When I told others of my bucket list road trip, I typically got two equally emphatic answers.  Many just didn't get it politely asking "where?" "what?" or "why?"  But, those who got it really got it and shared my excitement.  One wanted to go along (to which I said "no") another wanted to nominate my wife for sainthood (to which I said "yes").

Planning the trip, as they say, is half the fun and we took three months researching big cities, small towns, places to stay, coffee houses to visit, games to see, and the like.  The Internet is full of You Tubes and other posts recording visits to the Field of Dreams.  But, we found little documenting an actual road trip to the Field, much less a road trip from southern California to Dyersville, Iowa.  Who would do such a thing?  So, in the next few posts, I am going to address that glaring whole the Internet and talk a little about our trip, the stops we made and interesting places we saw.  

Just so you know, near simultaneous to our trip east, professional journalists were on their own road trip heading west to the Field of Dreams.  Truly elite baseball writers Sam Dykstra and Benjamin Hill started in New York and did their own road trip to Dyersville.  Dykstra's journal of the trip along with some beautiful photography is at Major League Baseball's site here. 

   

Cameron's Seafood Sign Leaving Pasadena

The familiar Cameron's Seafood sign is on the trailer and leaving town.  

The sign, complete with handmade neon lights that outline the sign lettering, will be preserved at the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale.  Presumably the sign will find a home in the museum's extensive neon sign collection.  

Of course, I have many fond memories of Cameron's -- the lobster tank, a young boy who ordered calamari, graduation and birthday celebrations.  Cameron's was the kind of place you could enjoy a good meal and expect to see a friendly face from the neighborhood.  

On the corner of East Colorado Blvd. and Berkeley Ave., Cameron's was a fixture in East Pasadena for decades.  The restaurant was named after initial owner John Cameron and new ownership took over in the 1980's.  Reportedly, the restaurant closed due to Covid-19 restrictions and never reopened.  

So what will happen to the Cameron's site?  In August 2021, In-N-Out Burger applied to the City for approval to build a new In-N-Out restaurant on the site.  The proposal includes 45 parking spaces, outdoor seating and a two-lane drive through.  However, the plan would require zoning code exceptions, including a variance from current code which requires at least 500 foot separation between drive through uses.   

With the separation requirement, the Taco Bell drive through right across the street would make it difficult for the City to approve any drive through on the former Cameron's site -- even the immensely popular In-N-Out.  Not sure where the In-N-Out proposal stands or what other plans might be in the works for the Cameron's site.  

To round this story out -- Pasadena is, of course, home to the oldest operating In-N-Out restaurant.  The location on East Foothill was established in 1952 and cars still line up daily for the famous burgers and fries.  The location includes, wouldn't you know it, an historic landmark neon sign, which was the subject of this early East of Allen post.      

Garden Update -- Avocado Trees

It is the end of May and our avocado trees have finished with their flowering and fruit has set.  Above is a picture of a Lamb Hass avocado that I took yesterday morning as the sun very conveniently provided me a spotlight right on the young fruit.  A great write up of the history of the Lamb Hass avocado and its bearing patterns are the Yard Posts blog, which I have found to be a good resource on all things avocado. 

Young fruit on our Reed avocado, which is somewhat behind the Lamb Hass.  The sun was not quite so accommodating for my Reed picture.  But, you can already see the round shape of the Reeds as opposed to the more oval or pear shape of the Lamb Hass.  These avocados will be ready to pick in about a year.  I suppose one thing that has surprised me about the mature fruit from these trees is just how big the avocados are.  The Reeds will grow to softball size and the Lamb's are as big or bigger.  Both are excellent eating. 

May Garden Update -- Nectarines Are Ready

 This morning's picture shows nectarines that are just about ready.  This really is a beautiful tree, from the flowers earlier in the year to the bright red fruit. And the fruit is, of course, great to eat -- on par with our peaches, but I think even better. We will have nectarines in abundance for a week or more, depending on how hot the weather gets.  I was surprised to learn that nectarine trees have been around a long time, dating back thousands of years to east Asia.  

2021 California League Tour -- Last Stop -- Fresno Grizzlies

    On September 18, we were in Fresno to see the Fresno Grizzlies take on the San Jose Giants.  The Grizzlies are the low single A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The players here are looking to move up the Rockies farm system to the high A Spokane Indians, double A Hartford Yard Goats and triple A Albuquerque Isotopes.  

Chukchansi Park is owned by the City of Fresno who sold naming rights to the Chucksansi Resort and Casino. This is by far the most spacious park I visited. Built off of downtown Fresno, the ballpark was designed to jump start development interest in the area. Looked to me like the plan may be working -- we saw some interesting restaurants and shops nearby and a sizeable farmers market/flea market was busy as we made our way to the stadium.  We arrived a bit early for the game and a line had formed at the entrance.

    

Ironman and many of the Avengers were on hand to meet and greet as we walked in the gates. Nice to see Tony Stark made the trip up from Malibu for the game. I suppose flying to Fresno is easier than driving up the 99.     

    This was the view from our seats.  For a larger ballpark, we still had the feel of being close to the game.  There is an excitement about the park the night we were there and fans seemed active and engaged.  Added bonus was that we saw the Giants 2021 first round pick throw some couple of innings.   

    Parker T. Bear is the Grizzly's mascot and here he is leading three of the game's youngest fans, dressed in Parker costumes, on a first to third jog.  Actually, the park is set up well for entertaining kids. They have a cool water feature called splash park down the right field line.

    Here we are, Marcia and I, with the grizzly bear after the game. Overall, we had a great experience at Chuckchansi Park.  We missed pictures with the Avengers. But, I did walk away with a beer bat that formerly held Tioga-Sequoia IPA.   

    While in Fresno, we visited Forestiere Underground Gardens, which is rated by Trip Advisor as the number 1 of 44 things to do in Fresno. The tour was excellent and the grounds really unique and interesting. I don't recall what the other 43 things are you can do in Fresno, but this was a very worthwhile stop and I recommend it.