Chargers Game Day - and a bit about the days after

It is Game Day and we made our way to the stadium for Monday Night Football – at 1:30 in the afternoon.  Watching football on the west coast is weird.  MNF starts at 5:30.   So with an hour or more drive to the stadium and wanting to get there early as usual we are leaving our RV at 1:30.   By the time we get to the stadium it is about 2:30 and the parking lots are starting to get a few cars.  They don’t really start to fill up until about 4:00 tonight.   Getting into the parking lot is easy.  Just follow all the other cars off the highway and into the lot.   Unfortunately we are apparently at the wrong gate.  We find this out after the person at the lot takes the part of the parking pass they are supposed to take off and scans the pass.   They tell us you can’t get there from here – you must go out of the parking lot, around the stadium and enter on the other side.   We ask how do you do that?.  There is no road that seems to go around to there.  They say “I don’t know”.  I ask how will I get back into the lot, you have taken off the part of the pass and scanned it.  They say “I don’t know”.   I say so what should I do now.  They say – well you get the picture.   Finally someone comes over and says “oh no, all you need to do is go down to the end of the row there and use the inner ring road to get to the other side of the stadium”.  So off we head down to the end of the row and there we meet another person who says “oh no, the gate to the inner ring road is locked. You can’t get there from here you need to go back to the gate and around the stadium”.   We explain as before and ask the questions as before and he says – “I don’t know”.   We thank him and decide to seek our own path.  We drive in the direction where the letters are going down.  We are looking for lot A1 and are currently in G4.  So left and in are the directions we head.  Finally we find someone who says – “Oh, the only way open into the inner ring road is down by gate K”.  At that moment the other attendant opens up the gate to the inner ring road to let someone out and into the lot we are in.  Waving our parking pass frantically we go to the gate and she lets us out.  Finally we are able to drive around and get to the location for A1 where the attendant says that we are one of the few cars that have come in to this area and she can’t understand why because usually there are a lot more.  We do not bother to enlighten her.

From lot A1 it is a quick escalator ride up to the club level and after looking around the club for a bit we head for the little bar they have there.  We get a drink (we needed one by now) and order an appetizer.  Their new carne asada natchos.   The waitress takes our order and then comes back with another server about 10 minutes later to ask where we saw carne asada natchos because they are not on their menu.  We point to the large sign on the wall announcing their new for 2015 menu items and the top one which is the natchos.  They say oh, I didn’t notice that before (this is the middle of the season and signs are everywhere around the lounge).   Without hopes for a positive outcome we await our natchos.  Needless to say they fulfilled our expectations. 

We then headed for our seats because as far as a club goes there is absolutely nothing to recommend this one.  There are no special foods or drinks, no where to sit, no special give aways or programs or anything.   They do have wait service at your seats.  But unlike several of the other parks which offer this by way of the team app.  They offer it by flagging down one of the servers who steps over and on people to get to your seat and take your order and payment and then steps over and on people to get back to the aisle and when your order arrives they step over and on….. well you get the idea.   Apparently they don’t, but you probably do.

The “Jumbotron” is mostly advertising for their various sponsors with a small video space in the center to show replays.  I am fairly certain my TV at home is larger.  Certainly relative to the distance you are from the screen it is.  Now the advertisements were interesting.  You could see them very well because they were larger than the screen.   For example the charger gals want to thank California spray tan studio and the Beaches wax studio for their support.    Lets just leave this topic and head to the game itself.

As you all already know somehow the Bears won.  The crowd was about 20% Bears fans and with about 15% empty seats that became a significant percentage of the crowd.  On our side of the field it was probably 30% Bears fans.  That is huge considering how far away San Diego is and that it was a Monday night game. 

Leaving the stadium was easy.  You sat in the parking lot next to your car for about and hour and a half after the game until a large part of the lot emptied and then got in the line to wait your turn to exit.  Or you got in the line right away and waited over an hour to get out of the lot.  Your choice.  We chose the former.  Being in one of the inner lots we had to wait until all the outer lots emptied before we could have a shot at getting out of the parking area.

All in all I understand why the chargers want a new stadium.  The one they have is a dump.  At the moment it ranks as the second worst stadium we have been to.

We left San Diego Tuesday heading for Dallas to see some friends.   We stopped at Phoenix “on the way” to see some of the Coaches relative’s.   More about Dallas and the rest of the journey in a future post.  But before I leave you I want to relay some of the fun we had getting to Dallas.

ON THE ROAD

California Highway 78 is an interesting road.  It runs next to, and sometimes under, the California Dunes Recreation Area.   The under is part of the fun.  Here you are barreling down the highway and suddenly half the road is buried in a couple of feet of sand.  There are no fences or barriers to try and stop the sand and the highway isn’t raised above the ground level to keep the sand from flowing freely over it.  Nope it sits level with the ground next to it and becomes one with the dunes environment.  

After a while you leave the dunes area and enter a land of brown hills, brown desert and the typical brown sage brush farm.   These areas are interspersed with occasional bright green areas where someone has decided this is a great place to grow “insert plant here” and has irrigated the fields and grown a crop.   Parts of this road go around the hills and parts seem to enjoy becoming one with the hills and remnants of the dunes.  So it does things like do a straight up climb to the top of a tall hill followed by the crest and a swoop down the backside of the hill.  Followed immediately by a climb up the next hill.  The drops and climbs were so close together that you saw places where trucks had scraped the pavement because they were longer than the space at the bottom between the two hills.  Now anyone who is a fan of rollercoasters would have thought this was great, but even they would have been a little concerned when you get to the top of some of the hills and the road abruptly makes a sharp left or right turn and there is no longer a road in front of you.   After a couple of miles of these rollercoaster like hills we see a sign that says “Dips Ahead”.  I am not kidding you.   It turns out these new dips neither climbed so high nor dropped so far, but instead were like huge overgrown speed bumps placed 20 feet apart. 

And so it goes on California Highway 78.

If you will indulge me for a moment I need to engage in a little rant about driving in Texas.   This is different from the story/rant about driving on California Highway 78.   This is just some observations and you need to keep in mind the thought that runs in my head throughout this is “Who Does That?”.  Now the other thing you need to keep  in mind is that the speed limit on most Texas Highways is 70 mph.

Lets start with what had to be a fascinating budget meeting one day.   I imagine if you were a fly on the wall the conversation went something like this:

Sir, we have a problem with some of Highway 10.

Well what is it?

Sir, the road has buckled in some places and there are potholes and when that happened apparently the low bidder we used didn’t secure the road well and it kinda twists up and down a bit.

Well how much is it going to cost to fix?

Sir, it will be about $ome large number of thousands of dollars.

Well, we don’t want to spend that – what else can we do.

Sir, we could put up a sign telling people there is a rough road ahead.

Well, how much will that cost.

Sir, only a couple of thousand.

Well, lets do that then.

So end result, you are speeding along this highway at 70 and see a sign that says rough road and all of a sudden the road drops out from under you, twists and bucks like a bronco and then is straight and smooth once again.

WHO DOES THAT?

Next we have the guardrail.  Now we have all seen guardrails up on tight turns.  They are there to guide you and provide protection in case you miss the turn so you don’t shoot off the road into never never land or a corn field, or mesquite tree or whatever.   Sometimes these guardrails get damaged when someone hits them.  In Texas they apparently don’t fix them, cause someone might just hit it again and it would just get damaged.  So what do they do?   They put up a sign which says – wait for it – Guard Rail Damaged Ahead.   Like that is going to help stop a car which is plunging off the road.   “Oh look Marvin, the guardrail is damaged up ahead.   Maybe You shouldn’t hit it.”

WHO DOES THAT?

Next you have the signs over the road that point out which lane goes to which highway when they split.  In Texas they put the arrow on the line between the lanes.   Not in the center of the lane.   So you kinda get to guess, do they mean the left lane or the one next to it goes to that highway.  This leads to lots of last minute jockeying for lanes at 70mph. so people don’t miss their turns or don’t turn off on some road they don’t want.

WHO DOES THAT?

Last we have perhaps my favorite Texas road sign of all.  Various lanes closed ahead.   What kind of a sign is that?  What good does it do?  How does it help the driver speeding along at 70 do anything to avoid the closed lanes, help move traffic along or avoid an accident?   Why even have the sign.

WHO DOES THAT?

Last we have a feature of the drivers here in Texas.  Apparently they have mistaken a turn signal for a yellow light.  It means Drive Real Fast.   If you want to change lanes and you put on your turn signal everyone in the lane you want to turn into speeds up so you absolutely can’t get in front of them.   So in Texas the way you change lanes is you quickly turn on the turn signal as you turn the steering wheel and dart in front of someone into the next lane.

WHO DOES THAT?

I leave you as always - Go Bears.   On to the Rams.

Chargers Game Day - Tomorrow

Today is supposed to be football day.  It is Sunday, the holy day of sitting and watching the ultimate in sporting events.  A day dedicated to the body of the holy chicken wing done in the style of Buffalo and the blood of the hop done into a great beer.  From Noon on into the night we are treated to game after game and the chance to root for our beloved Bears.  But no, we play on Monday and so while we were privileged to see Green Bay fall in defeat, we had to watch it starting at 10:00 in the morning.  Something about the whole process seemed wrong.

But we were able to at least go in the afternoon in search of the fish taco.  By general agreement all the best fish tacos were to be had in food trucks.  So after noting the locations of a few of the highest rated and most recommended we set out.   The first spot we found was Mariscos el Prieto.  This is the the height of the food truck concept.  They have a person in the parking lot directing traffic and helping people in and out of spots.  They have a large table set up outside the food truck under a tent to give customers a spot to stand and eat.  They have made a deal with the cell phone shop they set up in front of to allow patrons to use the bathroom in the store.  The have a cauldron of seafood consume set up boiling away to give customers something to eat while they are waiting for their order.  And wait they do.  On a Sunday at 3:00 there was a line of people waiting to order and it took a good 10-15 minutes after you placed your order before you hear your name called out.  So was it worth the wait?  The shrimp cocktail that the Coach ordered came out first.  They have four sizes and she selected the chico.  A good thing because it came served in a 16 oz clear plastic cup and was filled with 1/3 of a pound of shrimp.  Not bad for $6.   And it tasted great.   Basically shrimp in a thin salsa.   Next came the tacos.  Between us we had three, marlin, "fish" and shrimp a la diabla.  The marlin was the best of the three.  Tasty chunks of marlin in a slightly spicy sauce with peppers.  The "fish" was the next best.  Interestingly they make their fish tacos here out with breaded fish.  The taco was quite good with slaw and a crema sauce.  Limes, pickled onions and radishes are available to be added to any of the tacos as are three kinds of sauces and salsas in bottles on the table.  The shrimp a la diabla had great shrimp, but the sauce was a bit salty and not all that spicy.   But it was still a good taco.  

Next we headed for another food truck Mariscos El Pescador.  This truck was also set up quite nicely if not up to the standard of the previous one.  They had a much larger selection of offerings however and the advantage of speaking at least some English.    They had a tv set up under their tent to show the football games.  Unfortunately their tacos were not up to the standard set by el Prieto.  The fish taco was good, but not outstanding and the octopus taco was good but nothing spectacular.  Service here was slower if possible then el Preto.  Their sauces were also a bit off and very very salty.

We did not try the other two places on our list out of the fear that we might be silly enough to order something and eat it and explode. 

So in summary - fish tacos were good.  I still prefer grilled fish tacos to breaded fish tacos, but an interesting and tasty signature dish in all events.

We then went to Qualcomm stadium.  Unfortunately they don't let you near the stadium.  All the entry gates are closed off to the lots and access roads and so we can only give you the impression that it is right off the highway.  How that will translate into ease of access and exit only tomorrow will tell.

So at this point I leave you saying - GO Bears - Green Bay Sucks!!

Chargers Game Day minus 3

Today we went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.   I won't give a huge explanation about it, but if you happen to be in the area you should check it out.  Make sure you do the Caravan Tour.  It gets you out with the animals and there is nothing quite like feeding a 4 month old giraffe and having it bat its eyes at you.

The significant part about the trip today is it gave me my first chance to talk with Chargers fans about the team and the game.   Basically they have for the most part given up on their team this year.  They fully expect to have them lose to the Bears and suspect that playing for a draft pick is their best choice.  Should be an interesting game.

Tonight we tried a Mexican Barbacoa place.   Lamb traditionally cooked in a big hole in the ground and flavored with spices and the large leaves that it is wrapped in.   When you order you select what parts you want:  Meat, Ribs - the meat from near the bone, Head - just what is sounds like, the meat from the head, Tripe - mostly the stomach but some other parts as well, and Brain.   Not being a big fan of Brains (in case you can't hear it the Coach is snickering at that part), I elected to take ribs, head and tripe.  Surprisingly the tripe was the best of the three.   We also had fried grasshoppers and a huitlacoche quesadilla.  Well I had them anyway.  The Coach seems to think that perhaps I should have tried ordering some Brains.  At least that way I would have some.  The grasshoppers were good.  They were seasoned with a spice mix and would be great with beer.  They could have been a bit crunchier in my opinion.  The corn smut, or corn fungus, or huilocoche was ok but did not really sit well.

Tomorrow is of course at least partially dedicated to watching some football.   We will probably do a bit of sightseeing, but some down time would be well appreciated indeed.  We also still need to get a fish taco and review San Diego's signature dish.  It has been a busy week and we still have the Game, a trip up to Phoenix, a trip to Dallas, a stopover in Memphis and about 3000 miles to drive before we get back in time for the Denver game.   But that is looking too far into the future.  One day at a time.  And tomorrow is football.

Chargers Game Day Minus 4

Well here we are safe and sound in Chula Vista.   For those who are not "in the know" it is about 8  miles southwest of San Diego.   We got in a day earlier than anticipated and it was just in time.  I have had enough driving to last for a while.

To finish up our Roswell adventure we stopped for dinner at Galactic Sushi (no we didn't eat any raw fish).  It was an interesting restaurant all done up in sci-fi.  Signed pictures of all the star trek actors covered the walls along with other science fiction memorabilia.  A nice place other than the very bad Karaoke going on.

The next morning before we left town we stopped at the International center for the study of UFOs.   Now they take UFOs very seriously in this place.   They had all the information on the conspiracy and cover up of the crash, but then they pushed on from there and had a whole area dedicated to alien abductions, another on the ancient astronauts, another on .... well you get the idea.  And they take this all as Gospel.   Aliens may not be alive and well in Roswell, but you wouldn't know if from stopping in the Center.

Since I last posted an entry we have visited the White Sands National Monument,  seen the Saguaro cactus in all its massive glory, driven though the Cleveland National Forest (forests down here mostly mean scrub brush and if you are lucky some stunted mesquite trees), and crossed more miles of desert then I think I ever wanted to see.   

The most interesting of the places we saw was White Sands.  Imagine huge sand dunes all the purest white.  It was like massive mounds of snow.  And the way the park is set up you can drive out among the dunes.  So we did.  The RV towing the jeep out on the sands.   Along the path we saw people sledding on the dunes.  Yep, disk sleds skimming their way down the dunes as if they really were made of snow.  Now the really interesting thing is that some things actually live there.  A few lizards, some birds and mice mostly.  I am not sure what they eat other than each other, but apparently they live in this barren landscape. 

 Now interestingly enough another use for the White Sands is as a missile test range.   As you are driving down Interstate 70 you see signs that warn you when the highway is closed for missile tests.   For example if we had been 2 days earlier we would have had a 3 hour wait while the interstate was closed down for a set of tests.  Seriously they close the interstate to run these tests.

Another interesting situation happened earlier today.  As we were cruising down Highway 8 we came across a Border Patrol Checkpoint.   Now granted we were only a few miles away from the Mexican border, but we were not planning on going across the border and the highway we were on didn't go in that direction.  But nevertheless they stopped all the traffic on the highway and checked for illegal aliens (not the Roswell kind).  A third stop was as we came into California.  There they were checking to make sure that you didn't bring fruit into California.  

I am fairly sure that if they just decided to close I-80 and ask each car some questions there would be more than a couple of complaints.   But down here in the wild west apparently this is normal.   

By the way - if anyone wants to move down here.  Desert land in Arizona apparently goes for between $25 - $50 an acre in 1000 acre lots.   So you can have your own 10,000 acres of scrub covered, tumbleweed rich land for as little as $250,000.   My guess is they will offer you a discount on larger purchases.

The next few days we will explore some of what San Diego has to offer, we will check out the stadium (as we always do before the game day), we will let you know what the San Diego fans think of the game and we will try San Diego's signature dish (the fish taco).    Stay tuned for more in the next couple of days. 

Westword Ho - on the way to San Diego - Charge(rs)

It was a dark and moonless night.  They bounced down a rutted dirt road searching the night.  The glimmer of sunset in far horizon had faded away miles ago.   UFOs had been known in these fields and Area 51 was not far away.  Suddenly two green glowing lights appear in the road in front of them.  The dust drifting forward from the abrupt braking obscured everything ahead.  As the dust cleared a second set of glowing lights joined the first set.  Should they continue or was retreat the more prudent option.  Slowly they crept forward.  The car barely moving until everything became clear.  The outline of a shape, darker black against the black of night.  A small black cow and her even blacker girlfriend standing in the middle of the road. 

This was the scene a few hours ago as we were searching for the marker where UFOs crash landed near Roswell, NM oh those many years ago.   Most of the town seems to have put their notoriety behind them, but there are still many stores with little green men inviting you to come inside.  The worlds only UFO decorated McDonald is here as is the International UFO museum and research center.  But you can't find a UFO themed restaurant and there are only a couple of UFO shops in town.  Mostly Roswell is just another boring mid-America town as they have abandoned all that made them unique.  I don't know if I am more disappointed that my illusion of what I pictured Roswell as being from TV shows and movies is lost, or if it is the loss of the wonder and imagination that Roswell itself had given up.

We are on our way to San Diego to watch the Bears take on the Chargers and Roswell was a short side trip.  What fun is there in traveling around the country in an RV if you don't take advantage of being able to stop here and there on the way?    Anyway,  I think the Bears have a good shot at winning this one and I hope they do.  While I don't believe there is a prayer of them making the playoffs and if some miracle occurred and they did, I don't see them getting past the first round, I do enjoy watching a good game and if they lose at the last minute like they did the past two games, well that just helps keep the draft position high.  All that being said I really don't like being in an opponents stadium when they lose.  So as far as I am concerned they just need to win two more games this year.  They have to be competitive in all of them, but they need to win two.  This Monday against the Chargers and Thanksgiving against the Packers.   If they did that, finished 4 and 12, were competitive in the remaining games and got a top 4 draft position, I think they would have had about the best season we could have hoped for given all the changes.   With a solid offense, and a few good core defensive players, they can draft a difference maker or two and a few solid players and be very competitive next year. 

Ok, so I have been accused of being overly optimistic at times, but I really think they can turn it around in a year or two with some really good drafting.

Part of the trip down we paralleled the old Route 66.  So we got to see giant Paul Bunyan statues, Indian TPs, a pink elephant, long horn cow statues, a rusty metal sculpture garden, a giant cowboy statue, the quarter horse hall of fame and more garishly painted motels than you can shake a stick at.   We also saw a lot of abandoned motels,  empty restaurants, and building after building of empty stores.   In some ways it was a look back at a simpler time, in others a reminder of how those times are gone and so many towns are going away with them.  We also saw a row of lit up Christmas displays and as I was recently reminded every time a Christmas display is lit up before Thanksgiving an elf drowns a poor baby reindeer.   So save those cute reindeer and wait until after Thanksgiving to light up.

A more football post along with a stadium review will be coming in a couple of days, but you have to put up with the trips there and back and our observations about the cities we visit along the way first.   I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy providing them for you.