You can see the sunset from the Sunset Seat (uh, der)

When Douglas Manchester bought the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2011, he turned it into a political and family newspaper, but only his politics and his family. I had subscribed to the paper for 17 years, but one day when the paper arrived, the whole first section, including the front page, was about his family, their high society doings, a relative’s wedding…….on and on. I canceled my subscription that day. While newspapers everywhere are hurting, I noticed this morning that subscriptions have fallen to 250,000 in a city of 1.4 million.

Even though Manchester sold the paper in 2015, I have not returned. He forever soured me on the Union-Tribune. Sometimes I miss it because I rarely am ahead of current events, which means I don’t know about what is going to happen in the near future. It has to happen and make Facebook so I can find out about it, or I have to accidentally stumble upon it. Such was the case with the Sunset Seat in Del Mar, which had a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 28, 2015:

The Sunset Seat was carved out of a dead Torrey Pine. Bark beetles are playing havoc with the Torrey Pines in Del Mar and in the Torrey Pine Reserve. Torrey Pines grow in only two areas of the world, here along the coast and over on one of the Channel Islands. From where the Sunset Seat is, there are beautiful views of the canyons, Torrey Pines Beach, and trains.

The Torrey Pine that became Sunset Seat was in the process of being cut down when a Del Mar resident asked the tree choppers to take a break while she made phones calls to try to save the tree. The result of her phone calls is the Sunset Seat, where one can sit and just enjoy the views. The bird watching over the Sunset Seat is a red-tailed hawk, the official bird of Torrey Pines Reserve.

In March 2016, the City of Del Mar a cluster of bark beetle traps to try to abate the damage being caused by the bark beetles. The funnel traps release a specific pheromone to lure the bark beetles. When I was there it was obvious that the traps were doing their job.

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Out & About—How come Santa didn’t bring me a drone?

Brick is not widely used in Southern California but the Del Mar depot, built in 1910 by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, is a beautiful brick depot located on Coast Boulevard between 15th and 17th streets.

That depot had been in continuous use from 1910 to 1995. For many of those years it was the only passenger stop between Oceanside and San Diego, a distance of 39 miles. At the time of its closing, it was one of Amtrak’s busiest stations, mainly due to the Del Mar Fairgrounds being nearby. The Fairgrounds host hundreds of events throughout the year, including the San Diego County Fair, the 5th largest fair in the United States.

In the late 1980s, the city of Solana Beach, located two miles north of Del Mar, set about to build a regional transit center. The San Diego Association of Governments voted to close the Del Mar depot due to limited parking, the lack of handicapped access, and the poor logistics of providing for trains, buses, cars, and people. The Del Mar City Council rejected expanding the depot but hoped to keep it in operation as an Amtrak-only station; Amtrak nixed that idea and moved its Del Mar operations to Solana Beach.

Across from the Del Mar depot is one of Southern California’s prime surfing spots, so this area area is highly congested as surfers arrive by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, car, bus, and taxi. No longer do they arrive by train.

The depot now is private property so there is no access to it. I did find a walkway going above it where I got seven pictures to create the panorama show above. The picture below is looking down the tracks where you can see the depot on the right. That’s as close as you’re going to get to a trackside picture without a drone. Hmmmmmmmm. Drone. How come Santa didn’t bring me a drone?

Suspension bridges right here in San Diego!

Ever since staycations became fashionable about eight years ago, I have been endeavoring to explore San Diego County—cities, rural areas, monuments, beaches, forests, parks, tourist attractions. Anything and everything is subject to Russel Ray’s Exploration Team, defined as Russel and his Canon camera.

Recently the Exploration Team stopped by San Dieguito County Park, a 125-acre park located on the border between the cities of Del Mar and Solana Beach.

Interestingly, the park doesn’t open until 9:30 in the morning. I feel sorry for the early morning joggers.

The park is home to the Miracle Field, a fully accessible baseball field that accommodates children and adults with special needs.

There is a wide variety of recreational activities, including playgrounds, exercise stations, a basketball court, pavilions, a wedding gazebo, large open lawn areas, picnic areas, barbecue facilities, restrooms, drinking fountains, plenty of parking………

…….and trails! Lots of trails! With two suspension bridges at the top of Activity Hill!

The main trail:

Where I wanted to go:

Short suspension bridge:

Long suspension bridge:

The view from the top of a purple mountain majesty:

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San Diego County Fair

I left at 5:00 this morning to go up north (defined as anything north of Interstate 8) and meet with the Pacific Photographic Society to take a 2-hour tour of the Encina Wastewater Treatment Facility.

Wow!

The art of treating poop has certainly come a long way since I first toured such a facility in Kingsville, Texas, in 1967 when I was 12 years old.

Whenever I have to go north, I try to make good use of my time and the car (i.e., gasoline!) and visit other things on the way to and from.

And that I did!

It was a cloudy, gray, overcast morning, but that didn’t prevent me from train watching. San Diego County is one of the best places in the world to watch trains because we have a great selection of commuter trains: San Diego Trolley, Amtrak, Coaster, Sprinter, and Metrolink.

I stopped at the tracks going over the San Dieguito River and past the Del Mar Thoroughbred Racetrack where the San Diego County Fair currently is in full swing. Ranked by attendance, the San Diego County Fair is the sixth largest in the United States, and I have been to four of the top six.

Following is a panorama of the San Diego County Fair created from sixteen individual pictures. Click on the picture for a bigger version.

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The Fair ends on Sunday, July 5, so there’s plenty of time to get out there, spend the day, and have some fun.

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