May be moving to So.Cali

C

Cris_XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
New York
Hello everyone Im from NY/NJ and by the end of the year or early 06' I will be going to San Diego ,this is if the San Diego Medical Center will take my application ,so I wanted to ask how is So. Cali for wheeling , Im into anything fun ,I do go kart racing and some autocrossing as well ,keep in mine I never been in Cali ,up here there are plenty of woods but all protected so everytime we want to wheel we need to go 2 1/2 hs to Pennsylvania in a private own wheeling park , let me know about So. Cali in general Im interested in knowing as much as I can about the San diego area not only wheeling ,Thanks .
 
well your kinda in for a bit of a culture shock, San Diego is one of the best places in my opinion to live in southern california. There are good places and bad places just like anywhere else inside of SD.

I dont know of any kart tracks that are down there, but i'm positive that there has to be some. If you want to travel about 60 miles north there is an excellent kart track and a halfway decent one. One is called Perris speedway in perris, ca. And the other (if still open) is called Adams raceway (i think) and is in Riverside, ca.

There is TONS of autocross events down here, its really really popular. There is something almost every weekend, and a lot of it seems to be down that way.

As for wheeling, its kind of a different world. We dont have ANY offroad parks anymore (that i know of). Everything is public use land, mainly desert in your area. I have not spent much time in SD wheeling, I seem to get distracted by the fine ladies and booze =)

If you head up north you'll find Big Bear, which is great for light wheeling in the summer and snow runs in the winter. The snow can add a bit of a challange and sometimes get you in trouble. But all in all there is not much challanging there unless you are semi-stock.

Calico is north east of Barstow and is one of my favorite places to wheel. Lots of sheer rock canyons and there is even some areas that can provide quite a challange at times for even the better equipped rigs.

Johnson Valley is about 30 miles north of big bear and is back into the desert. This is where all of the big boys go to play. There is more then a handful of excellent trails some easier then others that offer up all sorts of rig breaking fun. These trails are about as bad as it gets in the nation. You can search for some pics of some of the trails here.

I would recommend checking out www.socalxj.com and joing up with that group to get a feel for the people. All in all the SD guys are a great bunch of guys, but we (people from the north of SD) dont get to wheel with them all that much since it is a bit of a drive.

Good luck on getting the job!
 
Sintax thank you for all the info it seems that everyone from thr north east that I talk to that has been to So. Cali never want to come back they just love the place , so everyday that passes looks like Im making a good choice in moving over to San Diego .
Dessert wheeling will be a change for me ,as far as the snow we (north east guys) are used to wheeling in 2 feet of snow.I will check that web site you gave me ...once again thanks for all the info and look forward to meet you Cali guys
 
Cris_XJ said:
as far as the snow we (north east guys) are used to wheeling in 2 feet of snow.
Click to expand...

It's a lot more fun when the mountains are over 500' above sea level!! :D

Take a few pictures of the "green" before you leave. When you get out here the world is brown and the only running water you see will be in the sink.

TIM
 
theres a lot of very nice places to wheel out here. we get everything from sand and rocks to mud and trees just depends on where you go and what you wanna do. there are numerous active groups you can meet with not just socalxj (not a bad group of guys and a few girls)
 
Here's my $.02... I am an East Coast guy, from Northeast Georgia. I went off-roading soem there, mostly mud boggin'. I came to Cali in 1993 (thanks to the Navy). Met a girl from Manhattan Beach, married her, and she kept me here. Got into Jeep's and wheeling a couple of years ago. There are soem great people out here and fantastic wheelin'. I lived in San Diego for 4 years and loved it, of course I missed the country life, but SD is great! The terrain and weather will be a good change for you. You may have to re-learn how to drive your rig. The dirt and rocks out here are different. Within a 2 to 3 hour drive you have many choices of trails. There are scenic easy trails and hard-core trails, and everything in-between. There are several areas you can research. One if the close ones to SD is Octillio Wells. It's in the desert, but alot of people go there. It's a haven for buggies, quads, and bikes, but there are many trails for trucks/SUV's. I highly recommend searching the web for off-road clubs and trails in SOCAL. This forum is one of the best I have found. The people are great and we all help each other. You will find that most wheelers are "members" of more than one club or group. There is a great network of wheeler's here.

I could go on with more, but I am sure I have hasta .

Good Luck!

Robert
 
Rober thanks for the input , as someone that live in SD for 4 yrs can you give me the heads up on the areas to avoid for rental purpose and do you know the area where the San Diego medical center is ??? is it a good area ,Im looking at rentals but the sub-zones withing the city throw me off ...Thanks
 
Cris_XJ said:
Rober thanks for the input , as someone that live in SD for 4 yrs can you give me the heads up on the areas to avoid for rental purpose and do you know the area where the San Diego medical center is ??? is it a good area ,Im looking at rentals but the sub-zones withing the city throw me off ...Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi Cris,

I have lived in Orange County for the past 7 years. I am a little north of SD. I lived in El Cajon when I was down there. It's away from the "city" enough. You can look at San Diego 4 wheelers site (http://www.sd4wheel.com) and post to one of those guys. You can also look at www.justruns.com. These guys are almost all in San Diego. SD is a military town. You have all types of people from all walks of life. Some of the areas that I would stay away from are: most cities south of downtown (National City, Imperial Beach, I don't remember all of them), You will also want to stay clear from the East SD city area before SDSU (San Diego State Univ). There are more nice areas in SD than there are bad. I am not sure where the medical center is located. Some of the areas you can look into are La Mesa, Bonita, Rancho Penesquitos (a little north, but nice area). I hope this helps a little.

Good Luck!

Robert
 
rpraterxj said:
Hi Cris,

Some of the areas you can look into are La Mesa, Bonita, Rancho Penesquitos (a little north, but nice area). I hope this helps a little.

Good Luck!

Robert
Click to expand...

Will do thanks , the Medical center is in Hillcrest stone throw away north of the Marine base and just east of the airport.
will check the other web sites as well thanks again
 
David Taylor said:
Hillcrest ? You do know that is the lastara capital of San Diego right.
Not there is anything wrong with that.
Click to expand...

There's a he!! of a lot wrong with that.
 
Cris_XJ said:
Hello everyone Im from NY/NJ and by the end of the year or early 06' I will be going to San Diego ,this is if the San Diego Medical Center will take my application ,so I wanted to ask how is So. Cali for wheeling , Im into anything fun ,I do go kart racing and some autocrossing as well ,keep in mine I never been in Cali ,up here there are plenty of woods but all protected so everytime we want to wheel we need to go 2 1/2 hs to Pennsylvania in a private own wheeling park , let me know about So. Cali in general Im interested in knowing as much as I can about the San diego area not only wheeling ,Thanks .
Click to expand...
Do you like to fish?
I grew up in San Diego, LOTS of good places to fish.
Lower Otay, Miramar, El Capitan, Cuyamaca lake (trout), Morena lake.... the list goes on.
 
Bent said:
There's a he!! of a lot wrong with that.
Click to expand...

I second that..... :thumbdn:
 
drifto77 said:
Do you like to fish?
I grew up in San Diego, LOTS of good places to fish.
Lower Otay, Miramar, El Capitan, Cuyamaca lake (trout), Morena lake.... the list goes on.
Click to expand...

Also great saltwater sportfishing as well..... Yellowtail, yellowfin, Dorado, half day trips, long range trips into mexican waters........ Corvina fishing at the salton sea. the list goes on & on & on.......
 
Cris_XJ said:
Will do thanks , the Medical center is in Hillcrest stone throw away north of the Marine base and just east of the airport.
will check the other web sites as well thanks again
Click to expand...


Cris_XJ,

Rent and houses are expensive out here. If your work schedule permits you can live farther way and get a better selection of housing. Get a hold of Joe Torres the Pres of the sd4wheelers or Dorys and Dave Prentice they live in Hillcrest, they have an email link from www.sd4wheel.com contacts page.

If you're in the military this club has members in the Navy and Marines.

People live as far away as San Marcos (N) and Chula Vista (S) and still work near down town. It helps is you can come in early (6am) and leave early.

Be warned most rental places dont have garages. No one has basements.

some one posted about socalxj.com. Steer away from those webwheelers. The only wheeling they do is to the Monthly meeting at lamppost for beer and pizza. Some even drive toyoters.
 
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