MLB Ballparks, Traffic, Mountain Views, more Traffic!
We stayed near San Dimas, ~40 miles north of Anaheim, ~30 miles east of Los Angeles. It was an “interesting” stay. Beautiful, huge, RV Resort, with No Wifi except in the office (and only occaisonal cell service). A transformer blew on our 3rd day and there was No Electricity for almost 2 full days. Thank Goodness (by previous plan), Mark had spent a good deal of our 2nd day replacing Lizzy’s 7+ year old, failing Batteries! With them installed, all the sunshine, and our solar panels, we had no need to add to the cacophony of generators.
Views around Bonelli Bluffs RV Resort and adjacent Bonelli Bluff State Park
Attended games at 2 new MLB Ballparks
We actually stayed in the Greater LA area for a whole week, to catch an Angels Home Game on our first day and a Dodger Home Game on our last day.
- Cleveland Guardians @ Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium (#17)
Gorgeous afternoon on our first day. Great seats on the 1st base side. Good Game, although nothing as exciting as our last 2, although it was nice to see Mike Trout. But we kept up our streak of Home Team Wins. Final Score: 6-2 Angels
It was also our first experience of LA Traffic, making us consider how often we’d “go into town”, vs. hang out at around camp. - Chicago Cubs @ Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium (#18)
Lovely evening on our last day, it was Freddie Freeman Bobblehead Night at the largest (now that the Oakland Colesium is closed) and 3rd oldest (after Fenway & Wrigley) MLB Ballpark. We saw Freddie get beaned (and then score when Edmon hit a 3-run Homer). We saw Shohei Ohtani at bat (current highest paid MLB player) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitch six scoreless innings (103 pitches), striking out nine batters, allowing only two hits, walking one batter. It was definitely a pitchers duel. Final Score: 3-0 Dodgers
With the insane traffic & parking, tight spaces (e.g. in the stairwells, at our seats), and prices, we decided this is Our Least Favorite Ballpark, so far! One big redeeming feature is the view of the mountains in the outfield. Due to prices (we paid 50-100% more $, for way less desirable seats) we were 7 rows from the top and had a better view of the mountains.
An afternoon/evening in San Pedro
We visited San Pedro to visit the Battleship USS Iowa (BB-61), which had 3 lives, serving our country proudly in WWII, Korea, and the Cold War. It was one of four Iowa-class ships, the last battleships commissioned in the U.S. Navy. The USS Iowa was the last of the 4 to be rescued, opening as a Museum at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California, July 4, 2012. The others are also preserved as museums: the USS New Jersey in Camden, NJ, the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor, HI (we visited in 2003), and the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, VA.
It had taken a bit over an hour to go the 51 miles to San Pedro, so when we finished visiting the battleship, and the projected time to return to camp was 2 hours 15 minutes, we decided to hang out. We walked along the San Pedro waterfront, had dinner at San Pedro Fish Market, and visited Point Fermin Lighthouse Park.
Moved to Bakersfield today
Just for 2 nights and 1 new National Park. Then we head farther north, to Visalia, for 5 nights and our last 2 new National Parks before we hit Alaska in July.
For more pictures, see (in-work) Adventure Album: California MLB Home
4 Comments
Tom Keating · April 12, 2025 at 8:13 pm
I think you meant you went to Chavez Ravine (the third oldest remaining baseball stadium) in your mention of going to a Dodgers game. PETCO Park is in San Diego. Otherwise, everything sounds great.
Gail · April 12, 2025 at 8:21 pm
Good Catch, which my editor missed. I had copied my format from the San Diego
post a week ago, and failed to properly edit the ballpark name. It is
Dodger Stadium, in Chavez Ravine, now edited, and was properly captioned
in its pictures.
Gretta · April 13, 2025 at 4:51 am
Wonderful, are you going to write a picture book?
Gail · April 13, 2025 at 10:55 am
Not currently in the plans.