Road Trip: 搜索ing for Stars

On the first-ever road trip edition of the 加州ornia Now 播客, host Soterios Johnson gets out of the studio and explores Southern 加州ornia’s awe-inspiring night sky. His stargazing adventure begins in sunny 圣地亚哥: After selecting the perfect set of wheels, Johnson jets to the Fleet Science Center to get a sense of our solar system and learn the best practices for star sighting. Then it’s time to dig into some earthly delights (hold the hot sauce) at Roberto’s Taco Shop before heading east toward the desert.

A stop in the mountain town of 朱利安 provides the opportunity to visit a bed-and-breakfast, that caters to amateur astronomers. Just before sunset, Johnson arrives in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the only International Dark Sky Community in the state of 加州ornia, to enjoy a guided tour through the universe. After a luxurious night at La Casa Del Zorro, Johnson drives through Joshua Tree National Park—he takes the less-traveled Southern Entrance and as a result enjoys relative solitude—as he continues on to learn about a star party in Twentynine Palms.

Order a copy of 加州ornia 公路之旅: 50 Life-Changing Adventures, a high-end publication that includes more about this itinerary (and 49 others).

客人

• Annahita Haghighi, Branch Manager at Enterprise Rent-a-Car 圣地亚哥 Airport
• Steven Snyder, President and CEO of the Fleet Science Center
• 乔弗朗哥, Co-Founder of 闭嘴 & Go
• Mike Leigh，业主 Observer’s Inn
• Dennis Mammana，业主 Borrego Night Sky Tours
• Ann Congdon and Darrell Shade of Sky’s the Limit Observatory & Nature Center

资源

Our road trip starts in 圣地亚哥 where cloudless skies produce many clear nights.

• 圣地亚哥
• 圣地亚哥 International Airport
• Enterprise Rent-a-Car 圣地亚哥 Airport
• Enterprise Exotic Car Rentals
• Fleet Science Center
• 重力井
• 巴波亚公园
• Roberto’s Taco Shop

A trip to the town of 朱利安 means a stop at the Observer’s Inn, a bed-and-breakfast and observatory with 11 professional-grade telescopes.

• 加州ornia State Route 79
• Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
• Observer’s Inn
• 朱利安
• 朱利安 beer and cider

In the Anza-Borrego Desert, astronomer Dennis Mammana provides a tour of celestial beings.

• La Casa Del Zorro
• Borrego Springs
• Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
• International Dark Sky Community
• Borrego Night Sky Tours

A drive north to the Sky’s the Limit Observatory is punctuated by stops at an imaginative sculpture garden and an endangered animal sighting.

• Salton Sea State Recreation Area
• Galleta Meadows Estate
• 加州ornia Dreamers: Ricardo Breceda’s Metal & 魔法
• Joshua Tree National Park
• Desert Tortoise
• Twentynine Palms
• Sky’s the Limit Observatory & Nature Center
• Public star parties
• Keys视图
• Greater Palm Springs
• Mount San Jacinto State Park

关于 the Host

Soterios Johnson, formerly the local host of National Public Radio’s Morning Edition on radio station WNYC, moved from New York City to Davis, 加州., in 2016 and is just getting to know his surroundings. By combining his journalistic instincts with his personal curiosity, Johnson will use the 加州ornia Now platform to develop a deeper understanding of his adopted home.