Southbound

After a drive that I vaguely remember from Minneapolis to Madison, I woke up the next day in a shitty bed in a not so great neighborhood in Madison. But the well needed sleep had me refreshed to drive the remaining hour or so to Milwaukee for a 3pm game between the Brewers and Giants at Miller Park.

Knowing that Milwaukee is the beer capitol of the US I felt it time to re-open Joe's Traveling Tailgate Bar and for after a slow beginning, business picked up and I cleared about $100 while meeting some very friendly people including a couple who were having their bachelor/bachelorette party at the game. Also, even though it was one of two clean shirts that I had, I felt it right to wear a Coors Light shirt to Miller Park even though I hate Coors.

Miller Park is another stadium with a retractable roof and even though it was overcast, the roof was open for the game and the huge crowd that attended for a Monday afternoon game. Before entering I wandered the walk of fame which was not all that impressive and consisted of commemorative home plates with famous Brewers.

Inside the park was more impressive. I sat up the first base line about 15 rows up. The outfield had limited seats, mostly of small specialized sections like the Toyota Tundra Territory, Harley Davidson Deck and Airtran Landing Zone. Yet, all seats had great views. Also the Bernie's Dugout in left field features a slide that their mascot goes down every time the Brewers hit a home run. Unfortunately, Bernie never got to slide. The Brewers held a 1-0 lead into the 6th, but then gave up 6 runs over the next three innings in a 6-1 loss. On a positive note for the Brewers All Star OF Corey Hart extended his hitting streak to 20 games.

After the game I hit the road to head to Dallas. Since I had to make up this game in Milwaukee I decided to eliminate the stadium tour in Kansas City, giving myself a couple of days to get to Texas. Yet, if I hadn't pushed my physical and mental limits on this trip already I was about to push my body over the edge. I decided I would drive to Arlington in time for the game the following day. This way I could push my schedule a day up and get to Tallahassee on July 9th and surprise my buddy on his birthday instead of the day after. (I hope he is not reading this and I just ruined the surprise). So I had 23 1/2 hours to drive solo the 1175 miles to the ballpark. And so I left . . .

The entire ride is a blur. However I did make it in time and here are a few things I remember:

I went through 3 Monsters and one 20 oz gas station Cappuccino

The world's largest rocker is in in Cuba, MO

I had and awesome lead car for over two hours that didn't go less than 80

I slept at a rest area in Miami, MO

Oklahoma was more picturesque than I thought. I figured it would be more like Kansas with flat fields the entire time, but it had lakes and hills and no corn.

St. Louis is not in St. Louis County

I might be getting three ticket from the Texas DOT. My GPS took me on a toll road that did not allow cash, just prepaid passes. So after I ran the first on one the on ramp, I ran a second at the next exit. Then I followed a frontage rd that ran parallel to the highway. But then without warning that road merged onto the highway and I ran another one. If everything is bigger in Texas, hopefully not their tickets.

I did make it just in time for the game, but am too tired to go into it at the moment. However, I will leave you with this "cliffhanger": I watched a guy fall 40+ feet over the ledge of the second tier reaching for a foul ball.

Additional Randoms:

1371 miles since returning to Minneapolis on 7/4, 400+ songs

Songs that made my ride: The Toadies "Possum Kingdom", The Exit "Still Waiting", O.A.R. "The Wanderer", plus most of Jay Z's entire catalogue.

Three former Hurricanes played in the game Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell and Ryan Braun

Why is the St Louis Rams in the NFC West and the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC east if Dallas is farther west than St. Louis?

Wrapped Up Flying Portion

Happy fourth everyone!

Well the second series of unfortunate events took place a few days ago in LA, I have come to find out it is not as bad as once seemed.


My last day in LA I was going to meet up with a friend who happened to be in LA as well, before heading to the airport. When I was on my way down Topanga Caynon, he, whom I will choose to remain nameless, called me up and was gonna have to cancel because he was (cough, cough) not feeling well. So I set out to do what I originally planned and took a detour to the La Brea Tar Pits. It is a pretty cool spot to see especially since it is in the heart of the city. But as you would expect it smelled awful, so I took a few pictures before my camera died and had some time so I took to PCH down to the airport.




After returning my rental car and getting my ticket I went through security. My bottle of sunscreen which has been with me for three airport checks already is bigger than 3 oz and that raised a flag. The "wonderful" TSA lady could not find it in my bag so decided to completely empty my bag. After a very thorough search she found my tube a threw it away, repacked my bag and I was on my way to Phoenix.



Phoenix is hell on Earth. I can believe people actually go to retire there. It was 103 when I landed and that was at 8:15pm. Thankfully I scored an awesome hotel that had two pools with waterfalls to cool down in. If you ever for some ungodly reason find yourself in Phoenix and need to stay at a great place minutes from downtown and two blocks from the light rail, which cost me less than $50 a night, check out this Radisson, but I digress. My first priority was to charge my camera and transfer the pictures from Anaheim to my hard drive. However it seemed that my camera, with my memory card, did not make the trip to Phoenix, or had spontaneously combusted by the heat. So, my pictures from now on and going to be rather sparse because I bought a disposable camera to finish my last week.



And after three straight summers of digital camera mishaps, I think I am done with them for life. To fill you in, two summers ago I went to Chile for 2 weeks. One week of snowboarding and another week in Santiago. After the first week the contacts to the batteries lost their spring and the camera could not power on, so I only had digital pics of the snowboard part. Last summer I went to Europe for 6 weeks. My first four days were in Rome and I went everywhere and took pictures of everything. Somehow, on the fourth day my memory card erased itself and became nothing more that an inoperable piece of plastic. Everything that I had done in Rome, disappeared like their Empire.



Now you would assume I would learn from that experience and save my pictures immediately in case a freak accident like that happens again. Nope. Fortunately, I did have all my pictures from this trip saved (except for Anaheim). At the time I did not think I had the first two weeks from the east coast part, but there were other photos that I had not-specifically once in a lifetime opportunities like Super Bowl media day and Pro Bowl practice from this year. The Pro Bowl will never come back to South Florida.



So far my camera has turned up in lost and found.

Now back to Phoenix.


That night I walked the four blocks to the grocery store for some dinner and beer. A cold beer seemed like a great idea when its 102 and you just thought you lost half of your pictures. However, in the four blocks back the beer when from being cold to piss warm. I had to put it on ice for a little.



The next day it was even hotter with a high of 114 degrees. It was explained to me that it was better to be their in July than August because it is just at hot but with humidity from monsoon season. I can't even imagine that because the sun was so intense I felt like the hair was being singed off my body. With that in mind I decided that I would check out the pool. But it was even too hot for that. You had to be completely immerse in the water at all times to stay cool. Even if your head was out it was too hot for me. By this time it was 2 and I was hungry so I drove the four blocks to the grocery store and grabbed a bite. A few hours later I was on the light rail for the ten minute ride that drops you off right in front of Chase Field for a 6:40 start.






The entire ride down there I was dreading the heat and seeing there was not a cloud to be found had the feeling that the retractable roof would be wide open for the evening game against the Dodgers. After scoring an $8 ticket I walked into the park and was hit by a cool blast of AC. They had the roof closed! I was soooo happy because I would not be able to sit through and entire game in that heat. It's so dry that you don't even sweat. It just evaporates before the sweat has a chance to cool you down.



The place is a real homey venue to catch a game. There are a lot of activities for kids around the grounds and several restaurants with views of the field. Every seat had a nice view of the entire field and there a sections with picnic tables. Also, there is a pool in centerfield which I would imagine people fight for that spot during the season.
The game was Kirk Gibson's managerial debut, as the Diamondbacks fired their manager and GM the previous day, and he immediately changed their style of play. The D-Backs were more aggressive at the plate and on the bases (5 SB attempts). They scored 3 runs in each of the first 3 innings and lead 9-3. It was cut to 9-5 in the 6th but then Chris Young blasted a 420' 3 run HR (5 RBI for the game) to ice it and give Gibson, a World Series Champ and NL MVP (both in 88) as a Dodger, a 12-5 win in his debut.



After the game, I gave the Phoenix nightlife a shot and went to bar called Hidden House just a few blocks from the hotel. Bedsides the $4 pitchers and 25 cent pool I was very disappointed and went home relatively early for a much anticipated morning flight to Denver.



Denver



It had been over three years and I was tremendously exciting to be going back to Colorado, even if it was for just 18 hours. My uneventful flight arrived at 12:30pm and I was intending on catching a bus downtown and my college buddy, Kent Dallow, was going to pick me up and take me to his place where I was utilizing his couch for the "night" (I didn't have much time for sleep due to catching the SuperShuttle at 4am for a 6:20 flight). Anywho, after waiting over an hour for the one bus that goes downtown from DIA I was out of patience and took a shuttle to his home. The bus did eventually arrive as I saw it pulling away as I was boarding the shuttle. It was already after 3 when I did get to Kent's place so I put my stuff down and we took off for the light rail to transport us to Coors Field.



I had three priorities in no specific order for the next 3 hours- get food since I hadn't eaten all day, get some drinks before the game, and get tickets. The first two were easy. We grabbed a sandwich and a beer at one place and then ventured down to another bar selling 20 oz Bud Lights for $3. Tickets were more of a challenge. Not only was it a prime matchup against a rival, but Ubaldo Jimenez was pitching for the Rockies and Barry Zito for the Giants. Add on to that, the fireworks show after the game for their July 4th celebration, since Sunday's game was an afternoon one, and tickets were sold out and not going cheap. Before the game started the cheapest I was able to find was $40. So Kent and I got another beer and once the game had started we were able to score Rock Pile tickets (some sell for $1) for $20 apiece. For the matchup and the fireworks show after I thought it was a decent deal. But neither one of us made it to our seats.



By the time we got inside it was already the top of the second and we had to go to the complete other side of the stadium to get to the Rock Pile. On our journey there Kent was approached by a cute girl doing some work for the Rockies. It turns out she does the stadium promotion events during the half innings and asked him if wanted to do one and of course he obliged. I mentioned to the girl that I was on a stadium tour and if there was anything I could do. She flagged down a colleague and they let me do a different event. Kent's was up first during the end of the 3rd. He had to run from left field to second base, put the base in the ground and then continue to the dugout. Dude almost ran over the actual grounds crew. Check out the video I shot-with Kent's camera- below. He did it in the allotted time and won the Rockies jersey he's wearing in the pic (for some reason he looks much larger than I in the picture).

My event was the following inning and I had the trivia question. When the girl found out I was in the Rock Pile seats, she didn't want to walk that far so we just sat in the lower level along the 3rd base line until it was time for my question. Not only was it a joke of a question, she was telling me the answer behind my back and had already informed my that I was going to get the $50 prize regardless. After my promo, she left and I stayed in the lower section and had Kent meet me down there. We watched most of the game from down in the lower level.





It wasn't quite the pitching matchup I expected. Jimenez got rocked for 7 runs in the 3rd including a Grand Slam to Travis Ishikawa. The Rockies did fight back and take a 8-7 lead in the 6th, keeping Jimenez in line for his 15th win, but the bullpen could not hold the lead. The Giants went on to win 11-8 ending a 7 game losing streak.





Since our tickets were in a section where our backs would face the fireworks, they allowed, in a very orderly manner, those sections to watch from the field. So down we went onto the field for an amazing fireworks display. They killed all the lights in the stadium except for the Rockies logo on the scoreboard and went all out for a good 20-25 minutes. There were definitely some fireworks that I hadn't seen before.





I had been to Coors field many times before, but the place is still one of my favorite parks. Every seat is a great one, even the Rock Pile. My favorite part about the stadium is the bullpens behind the right field wall. They have a mini forest surround it and next to the pens is the pond with the water fountain with a rock garden and mini patch of grass that Kent has named the "putting green".





After the game we attempted another beer but were beered out. This was probably a good thing seeing that I had to be awake in less than four hours to catch a flight back to Minneapolis and finally back to my car.





Minneapolis





My third state three days and what would eventually be my third of four in 32 hours. I'm not even going to pretend that I was not exhausted getting of that plane and eventually back to my car. But by 9:30am I was looking for something to do before making my way to Target Field for their inaugural 4th of July game. It was raining when I arrived and it did not look like it was easing up anytime soon. I was really hoping I wouldn't have my first rainout, not in Minneapolis of all places, now that they are finally out of the dome. I passed a sign for the Mall of America and stopped in. It is still the largest in America in terms of retail space but second in total floor area. Since most of the mall doesn't open until 10 it was a quiet time to visit. I didn't care since I just needed to kill some time and wasn't looking to shop. The amusement park in the center is pretty cool. No pictures though, they are all on the disposable.

Then it was off to Target Field. I wanted to get in somewhere early because it was bobblehead day for the first 10,000. The weather had cleared up and it was rather humid. I scalped a $10 standing room ticket expecting a large crowd, and made my way. Unfortunately I was not in time for the the bobble head and had about an hour and a half until game time. So found and empty row in the outfield and tried to take a well needed nap. But people kept waking me up to pass by and it became clear a nap was not going to happen. So I explored the grounds to keep myself awake (six hours total sleep and two flights in two days had taken its toll). They did a really nice job with Target Field. It's really open and the lower level holds a lot of people. The one thing I did not like was the extra level in the outfield. I'm still a firm believer of just one level in the outfield so the entire field can be seen by any seat, as is not the case at Target. As the game started I noticed a few empty rows in the lower level right behind home plate, so I made my move.

I settled into a spot directly behind home plate about 20 rows up. However, as soon as I stopped moving, fatigue took over and I faded in and out of consciousness for the first two innings. I was awake in time to see the Rays take a 2-1 lead in the third inning off of a Sean Rodriguez solo HR. That is how the game would stay until the 7th when the Rays tacked on 5 more runs. The Twins responded in the bottom half of the inning with 3 of their own but the game would end in a 7-4 Rays win.

After the game, as tired as I still was I took off for Madison, WI. It's only an hour from Milwaukee where I will catch a game tomorrow but I wanted to get somewhere before sundown to maybe catch a firework show. Didn't happen, but I did see some from the road.


Just one week left.

Randoms:

The Diamond Backs mascot is a bobcat

In between the 5th inning in Arizona they have the Legends Race which features Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson, Matt Williams, and Mark Grace. I know the D Backs are a fairly new franchise and in my opnion do not have a true "legend" of their own but Grace only played for them for 3 seasons, though he does TV work for them now-Johnson 8 in two stints, Williams 6, Gonzalez 8.

Wisconsin must have a huge surplus in their budget, because the have cops posted every 15 miles in speed traps across the entire state.

D Backs 1B Adam LaRoche came out to Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight" which I thought was a little gay.

Not to sound like a chick, but I caught a glimpse of my gut today and I looking really out of shape. Sitting in the car and being immobile for hours isn't really helping.

It seemed that Phoenix has far more women than men even at the baseball game.

That Arizona cops are going to be super busy if that law does actually go into affect soon.

Shoutouts:


Kent Dallow for the hospitality and the photos from the Rockies game. Had a great time bro


Rockies girls for hooking us up with the promos.

Dude at the Rockies game was sporting a Bob Apodaca jersey. Apodaca is the Rockies pitching coach and this is clearly the most random jersey I have seen at a game so far.

Joey Chestnut for his fourth straight hot dog eating championship. . .

And Kobayashi for not competing but still getting on stage and ARRESTED.

Cali (minus Oakland)

I have seemed to misplace my notes that I have been keeping so, my memory being what it is, the recollection of the last few days are not very detailed.



San Francisco



I had chosen a great matchup to see my first game at AT&T Park- the Giants hosting the Red Sox. However, because of the draw of the game ,ticket prices more than tripled. A normal bleacher ticket that goes for $17 was now available for a minimum of $58 at the window. Plus parking cost an astronomical $30. But I did bring some beers with me in hopes of at least covering parking, but that did not pan out and I only sold 1. Next task at hand was finding a ticket at a reasonable price. So, as game time approached, I went wandering for scalpers. Since the game had not sold out yet, but did go on to, I knew they would have tickets that they needed to get rid of. However, they would not budge on their prices and I knew I would have to wait until the game started to truly gain the upperhand. In the bottom of the first I found a guy who had a club level seat face value of $72 trying to get $40. I offered $20 and after a little ball busting I got the ticket for $27.

Once inside I went up to the club level which was like a hotel in the concourse area. It had plush couches, carving stations, super clean restrooms among other ritzy perks. My seat, however, was not the greatest for the club section almost all the way down the right field line. They were in the shade but, I would not pay face value for them. Hearing that I must try the garlic fries, the original stadium to serve this treat, I had to get an order and was not disappointed. I was very happy to have a pack of gum on me though.




The views from the stadium are phenomenal. Over the left field fence was a Navy tanker docked at the port and the left field bleachers hosted the iconic giant glove and Coca Cola bottle. Inside the stadium corridors are a host of areas with team memorabilia. They have autographed balls from most of the players throughout their history. Also, gear from historic events such as Barry Bonds' bat from his historic slugging year in 2001.




The game was little less intriguing. The Giants pitcher, Madison Bumgarner, gave up two HRs early and fell behind 4-0 through 2 innings. In the bottom half of the 2nd Red Sox starter, Clay Buchholtz, had to leave the game due to a knee injury. Bumgarner, making his first start in 2010 and only second of his career, settled down and the Giants did get a couple of runs on the board (thanks to baseball's most exciting plays-a fielders choice and a sacrifice fly) but the early damage was too much and the Red Sox hung on 4-2.




Los Angeles



I got into LA at 1:30pm with plenty of time to get to Dodgers Stadium for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball matchup with the Yankees. Knowing LA traffic can be brutal and the luck I have had with traffic so far, I decided to head to vicinity of the ballpark and then find some food. I did not know that Dodgers Stadium was in a mostly residential area but after I while I found some food. I decided to get Little Caesars where for $6.50 I got a large pepperoni pizza and 8 breadstix. There was a city park down about a third of a mile from the stadium and I parked there and ate my lunch. By the time I finished my delicious lunch it was an hour before game time so I decided to keep my car at this park, grabbed my sign and walked to Dodgers Stadium.

The stadium is located at the top of a hill surrounded by mountains, which made it non-visible from the base of the hill. Never being there before I had no clue how far I was or where it was. But you come over a hill and there it is and built into the side of one of the surrounding mountains is large block letters that state "Think Blue". As I walked through the parking lot I thought about how happy I was to park for free away from the stadium. Seeing that everyone in LA drives there were entirely cars in the lot. Plus, they do not allow tailgating or alcohol on the premises and it is strictly enforced. I wound up buying a ticket off a guy from Hawaii, Will, in a Grateful Dead tee that had an extra because his buddy bailed on him, which was convenient for me since the game was a sellout. Apparently one other thing they do not allow in the stadium is signs and they would not let me bring mine in. Thankfully, they have a locker you can check things into and get as you exit the stadium so I did not have to walk back to the car.



Its a good thing that the Dodgers have been good for a while now, because there isn't much to do inside the stadium besides get drunk and/or watch a game. I chose the latter and it was an excellent game (except the final result) to watch. The Dodgers would lead 5-0 though the first five innings until A-Rod hit a 2 run HR off Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers would hold a 6-2 lead into the ninth when the brought their closer, Jonathan Broxton in. And dude got rocked. He gave up four runs and for the second time in a week I got to see an extra innings game. In the next inning Robinson Cano hit a 410' shot to give the Evil Empire a 8-6 lead and eventually the win by the same score. After the game it was off to my buddy Lon's place in Topanga Canyon, which was my home base for my time in Southern Cali.

A couple of interesting notes during the game. In true LA style there were four "first pitches" before the game and between one of the innings they played Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and as they panned through the crowd they came across this dude in his twenties that looked like he was about to fall asleep. Then right as the lyrics to the song were about to start, he snapped out of it and put on this intense dramatic lip sync/air guitar performance. It was absolutely awesome. The camera did not go to anyone else the entire song. I do not know if it was preplanned, nor did anyone else around me, but it was one of the most entertaining things I had ever seen at a baseball game.



San Diego



From the moment I arrived in San Diego I added it to my places that I would just pick up and move to without and plans ( joining Charlotte and Denver). And it wasn't even nice weather. In fact, it was probably the worst weather I have had besides Pittsburgh. It was cold and damp, not raining but threatening all day. I got around PETCO Park around 4pm for a 7pm game and parked at a garage a block away from the park and went to explore the Gaslamp district of downtown. But first I wanted to see if I could score Park Pass tickets for the game. I was made aware of these tickets from Will, the guy I had bought my Dodgers ticket off of the night before. They are $5 tickets that get you general admission to this area behind the centerfield wall. But it is inside the stadium grounds and you are allowed to walk around the rest of the grounds and tickets go fast. Since it was a Monday night game and I was early enough I was able to get a ticket no problem.



I had not eaten all day I was looking for a cheap place to get some grub and drinks before the game. I stumbled across an establishment called "Dick's Last Resort" on fifth, just a few blocks away from the park. If you are ever in San Diego please go to this place because it is an experience and it is hard to put into words. The character of the place is excellent and the employees get paid to give attitude to the customers. It's just a truly unique place that added to my experience .



After pissing away a couple of hours at Dicks it was time to see the Padres host the Rockies and off to the park beyond the outfield fence I went. It was a really area and great for families. There was a beach right behind the outfield fence, a mini baseball field to play wiffleball or kickball, a hill for people to lounge on and see the game live, and a giant big screen to watch the game on TV. It also had vending like the rest of the ballpark. I only lasted one inning back there because I saw the sparse crowd and new I could make my way into the lower level seats. Moments later I was just behind first base with the Western Metal Supply Co. building, that is incorporated in the design of the structure and actually used as suites, in my direct line of site. Every move they made in building this venue was the right one and it couldn't be more spectacular. I was even impressed to find live plants growing from the support beams around the concourse and extremely clean restrooms.

The game wasn't as pleasant for the host Padres. Ubaldo Jimenez had a no-hitter going through into the 6th until he finally gave up his first hit to David Eckstein and then 4 runs in the same inning. But that merely cut the lead in half to 8-4. The Rockies hit four HRs on their way to an 10-6 win (Padres did pull within 2 late in the game).



After the game I was planning on returning to my car, move it to a 24 parking garage, and hit up the Gaslamp district at night. I was ecstatic to find that the gate at the garage was up and everyone was allowed out, so I was able to avoid paying the $10 rate parking (which went to drinks). I given several recommendations on where to go out and the Yard House was a place for a beer and a bite ( have come to find out that there is also 2 in FL including Coral Gables). In fact, they boast the world's largest selection of draft beers. This may sound awesome, especially to a self-described beer snob as myself, but I am also incredibly indecisive. Put 100+ beers in my face and have me choose one is almost torturous. I did settle on the Dechutes Black Butte Porter and Moo Shu Eggrolls-both where delicious. Next I was told I had to go by Whiskey Girl for a great time. Without getting into further details, I slept in my car which was intended before the night began and woke up with a killer hangover the next day, which was not intended.



Anaheim



My time in San Diego was short lived because I had to make my way to Anaheim for a Angels/Rangers game the following day. I decided to drive up the PCH from San Diego to Anaheim because I had the time to kill and wanted to enjoy the scenery. The weather had not gotten much better and it was still overcast and chilly but and enjoyable ride nonetheless. Arriving in Anaheim around noon I had a few hours to kill but did not want to do anything in particular. About mile from Angels Stadium was a hugs mall called the block that had a movie theatre. And like the only other time I had been hungover on this trip, I decided to go catch a couple of movies. Grown Ups was hilarious and Knight and Day was alright. It had plenty of action and Cameron Diaz so it kept my interest. After the movie I grabbed some food, left my car at the mall and took to the stadium.




Angel Stadium is still one of the older remaining stadiums, but they have done so much remolding and work (a Southern Cal theme) that it looks more modern than it is. The entrances are very elaborate with huge batting helmets and bats at the gates. Even Mickey Mouse himself, or at least an inanimate statue, was there to greet you. The watefall in the outfield is there signature and I did not realize until I saw It up close that it has a built in "A" on the top.



The game was one of the best that I have seen so far. It was back and forth and competitive until the last out in a game which including a play at the plate and Vladimir Guerrero's return to LA. Vlad hit a 2 run HR in the 7th to help the Rangers claw back but the Angels held to a one run win 6-5. Speaking of clawing there was an awesome cat fight which evolved into the dude's getting involved in the 9th inning. I have a picture but it didn't come out so well.

Heading back Eastbound tomorrow. Arizona on the 1st and 2nd and Denver on the 3rd.



Shoutouts:


Lon Haber for his wonderful casa in the canyon and the hospitality


Will for the ticket in LA and tip about the Park Pass in SD


The cop whom I asked to point me in the general direction of the mall where my car was parked in Anaheim after I came out a different exit than I entered. He pointed me in the complete opposite direction resulting in and extra 35 minutes of walking. Thanks again boys in blue.


The city of San Diego for being awesome and providing me with a baseball game and parking for a total of $5.



Randoms:



Why do they bother painting boxes designated for the base coaches to stand in when I have not seen one stand anywhere near them yet.


I must be technology deficient because I am using a an ipod auxillary in the rental cars and everytime I turn the car on it always starts at the same song. I learned how to change, but I cannot control what songs it plays.


Twisted how Seattle had clear skies and beautiful weather, while San Diego required a sweatshirt all day and threatened rain.

Chicago/Seattle/Oakland

Chicago part two

I spent the last three days I had in Chicago in a hostel in the Greektown district, just two blocks away from the blue line. Since I already had my fair share of Chicago traffic and found a great free spot on the street just a block away from the hostel, I gave my car a break for the remainder of my time in Chicago.

I met some very interesting people at that hostel including an active military bomb diffuser (don't remember his actual title) who I believe to be a pathological lier, a couple of kids that just graduated high school that don't quite understand the repercussions of alcohol and a traveling nomad like myself named Bryan. Bryan and I had similar journeys and he came with me to the White Sox game.

The city was nice, but huge and sprawled out. I think the thing I enjoyed most in the Second City was the food. Everywhere I ate it was delicious, huge portions, and relatively inexpensive. I few highlights were the stuffed crust pizza from Giordano's, the Italian beef sandwich from Al's Beef and chicken parm from the White Palace Grill. I also had a gyro from a place that claimed it was Chicago's best and it was pretty good.

But back to what I really came to Chicago for. It had rained most of my time there and when it was time for the White Sox game the weather forecasted for isolated showers, like it had for the last three days. But it turned out it was a beautiful night for baseball with not a cloud in the sky and a crispness to the air. Bryan and I took in the sites around the stadium while trying to score tickets. Just outside the gates is still the home plate from Comiskey Park and a monument in honor of the 2005 White Sox who ended a 78 year championship drought. After some patience, we got two lower box seats for $15 a piece. Then off inside.

It turns out patience payed off. These tickets were great, right behind first base about 40 feet up. I was impressed with US Cellular Field, especially being one of the older, newer parks(about 20 years old). It held a lot of people without looking big or too tall. We watched as the Braves jumped out to an early 3-0 lead then the Sox answered with 9 runs in the first four innings thanks to a Carlos Quentin 3 run HR, eventually taking the game 9-6. The White Sox piled on a season high 16 hits including an Alex Rios hit in which Braves 3B Brooks Conrad lost the ball in his jersey. If you haven't seen it yet check out this crude video on youtube.

After the game Bryan and I explored the park while we let the trains clear out a little before going home. They had statues in the outfield plaza, but more lifesize than other stadiums have had. Harold Baines looked as if he was 160 pounds soaking wet. But on of the most unique things I have seen in any park so far was the "Outfield Shower". It was originally installed in the outfield at Comiskey in 1976 for fans to cool off in on a hot summer day. It was moved when they built this new park.

That night, since it was my last in Chicago, I was determined to go down to Rush St. I would have been foolish if I spent four days and did not head down there once to check it out-even if it was on a Tuesday night. So around midnight I got on the train and headed towards the nightlife area. 45 minutes and one transfer later I had arrived and was thoroughly disappointed. I guess I am spoiled by the offerings in South Florida like South Beach, Las Olas and Coconut Grove, but this area did not compare and was expensive. I could not get a beer for less than $7. After three beers and more than $25 later, I was bored and took the 45 minute trip (one that is only 3 miles) back to Greektown and went to sleep.

That previous night was the most I had explored of Chicago due to the weather and my great parking spot. So since I was leaving I decided to drive around a little before I hit the road to Minneapolis. I drove up Lake Shore Drive and checked out Grant Park, saw the Navy Pier and also Wacker Dr, which features the corncob buildings. I also stumbled accross the United Center where the Bulls play and saw the Jordan statue. From the hostel I was able to see the Sears tower and it's just a tall building-nothing architecturally spectacular about it. By 1:30pm I was on the road to Minneapolis geared up for the 423 miles ahead of me.

Note: for those who have kept up with the game schedule, I decided to skip Milwaukee on the 23rd to ensure I could catch my flight from Minneapolis to Seattle at 6:25am on the 24th. I will be in Milwaukee on 7/5 after I return to Minneapolis.

The drive through Wisconsin was a pretty mundane one. However, I wish I had time to stop for a few hours. The whole state,especially Wis Dells, is just water parks and amusement parks many of which were indoors. But I had to keep plugging away to get to Minneapolis.

After several stops to keep myself awake and some construction I arrived in Minneapolis at 10:30. I intended on just leaving my car in the airport parking and sleeping at the airport but things changed. Turns out airport parking was $16-$20 a day. I found a Ramada 3 miles from the airport that provides a free shuttle to and from plus lets you park for up to 14 days included with you stay. All that ran $110 compared to $160-$200 I would pay just for parking. Gladly I shelled out the money to have a bed, bathroom and shower in the morning because the next day I was off to Seattle with no other plans but seeing a 12:40 game.

Seattle

I arrived in Seattle at 8:00am with plenty of time to get to the game. I intended on getting a rental car for the 20 hours I would be in the city before flew down to San Francisco. The previous day I looked and cars were available for $25 so i figured walking up and getting one would be no problem on a Thursday. Wrong again. They had cars, but the cheapest one wanted to charge $179 for the day. After I literally laughed in their face, I was stuck having to find other arrangements. I got on my computer and looked at my options. Seeing that the game was so early, I figured I would be nice to have a room to come back to and get a good night sleep before my 11:30 am flight Friday. I got a place 5 miles from the airport for $35, but could not check in until 3pm. The light rail runs from the airport to Safeco field round trip for $5, but I could not bring my carry on into the game. For another $5 I checked my bag into storage at the airport and was off to Safeco Field.

I was down by the stadium by 10:30 and needed to eat. There was a small sports bar named Sluggers near by so I went there and found, to my liking, people already drinking for the game. The food was not that great but I was hungry and then it was off to Safeco for an interleague matchup against the Cubs.

I had been to the old Kingdome but not to Safeco so I was interested in the grounds to see a comparison. There was no comparison- the open roof, the great views of downtown and the Space Needle from the first base line, and the spacious aisles blew the Kingdome out of the water. I was confused at the large black screen in center and did not know what it was covering or its purpose. And the one thing I did not like was the amount of foul territory along the bases. But once I got settled in to my excellent seats 20 rows behind home plate I was engulfed in the game, and what a game it was. There was as many Cubs fans as Mariners fans and they all 41,329 hated former Cub, current Mariner Milton Bradley (who only pinch hit in the game). This would be my first extra inning game as Marlon Byrd would hit a go ahead single in the 13th giving the Cubs a 3-2 win. By the time the game ended and I reached my hotel it was already 7pm and I was done for the day.

Oakland

Yesterday I flew into Oakland and arrived at 3pm- an hour and half late because of low clouds in the area. I had already had reservations for a rental car and by the time I had gotten to the car it was time to head to the Coliseum while fighting traffic. Cool enough, as I was sitting in traffic, the following music was played: Jimi Hendrix "Crosstown Traffic", Sublime w/Pharcyde "Summertime", and a couple of Grateful Dead tunes. I arrived to the Coliseum at 6 for a 7 game and was not too surprised a relatively empty parking lot for a A's matchup against the Pirates.

I bought a $12 ticket which included a $6 concession voucher and went inside to a vast and empty Oakland Coliseum. However, with the lack of fans, I was able to sit anywhere and was about 30 rows up between home plate and first base. The best $12 seats in the house and it was definitely the right section. I met a couple in the section that had brought in a some Jack Daniels and a few beers and they were hell-bent on me drinking with them and of course it would be rude for me to refuse. She would pour a shot every time the A's would score a run. Under normal circumstances this would not result in much drinking, but since the A's were playing the Pirates, this was not a normal night. The A's piled up 17 hits on there way to 14 runs in a 14-4 beat down of the Pirates. Luckily we ran out of Jack during the 7 run 7th and did not have all 14 shots.

The stadium itself is antiquated but still not a bad place to see a game. They have dual scoreboards over left and right field instead of one giant board and instead of activities and flair, they substitute good, cheap food. The garlic fries are good, but I heard SF is better, and beers were only $5. It was definitely the coldest game I have been to so far, mid 50's I think.

After the game I found a place in Berkley where a Dead cover band was playing and found it to be the appropriate activity of the night. They weren't half band and the drummer went on a ridiculous seven minute drum solo, which was pretty intense. After that I retired to my home for the next two days, a cherry red Hyundai Elantra, which is surprisingly spacious.

Off to the Giants/Red Sox game tonight.

Shoutouts:

Bryan for going to game with me in Chicago

The crazy military guy in Chicago that apparently had too much money to burn and bought several meals

Tim Hevly and Mariners organization for the tickets for my first retractable roof and extra innings game.

My mother on her birthday today. Hope it's a good one.

Neil Walker, Pirates 2B who I mentioned the last time I saw the Pirates play, for hitting a HR and making me look good. However I hope he's feeling better after leaving the game when he collided with Ryan Church in the 7th.

Randoms:

They sing "Louie, Louie" after "Take me out to the Ballgame" in Seattle during the seventh inning stretch.

Chicago has way too many homeless people and after awhile of being nice and generous they tapped me out and got on my nerves.

Al's Beef has a great water sign in their place

Westward Ho!

It's been an whirlwind week so lets get right to it.

Sunday the 13th
First let me fill you in on a dream I had the previous night. I was on my trip and out of nowhere my sister showed up with her daughter, Kylie. My sister was adamant to not let me proceed with the rest of the road trip for some reason that was not remembered. So, she took my car and backed it into a canal. I ran into the canal and drove my flooded car out and was furious. We had a huge fight in which Kylie took my side and so Kylie and I decided to runaway from my sister before she could cause any more problems. The rest of the dream is irrelevant. I told my sister about the dream. End of Part One of the dream.

Drove to the Phish show and got to the lot at 2:30pm for a 7pm show. I did not have a ticket but was determined not to pay full price for a show that was not sold out. When I arrived at the venue I was the only car in the lot and something seemed wrong. After about a half hour of no cars I found out I was at the wrong venue at Hershey Park and had to continue a half mile down the road. To my delight I was not the only early arriver and the parking lot scene was jumping. At first I was skeptical about selling booze because there was a lot of police and it was a different venue than I was used to, but as the lot filled it made things easier. In fact, throughout the night I went through a handle of Jack, a half liter of vodka and the two cases of beer that I had brought.

I met a lot a very nice folks in the lot as you tend to do at these shows. In the row over was a group from New York that set up four square and I dominated. I was having a blast in the parking lot, so still without a ticket, I caught the first set from the lot. In this particular venue you can see and hear just fine from the lot. So after the first set I walked towards the entrance to buy a ticket and was informed by the staff at the venue that they were not letting anyone in anymore. First, I'm glad I had not already purchased a ticket. Second, I was floored by the fact that even if you did have a ticket, they were stopping you from entering the show. So, I watched the rest of the ridiculous set from the lot and I wasn't all that disappointed.

Monday the 14th

Monday was mostly a travel day. I hit the road for Cleveland at 10am in hopes of getting there by 3pm. My only plans for the day was to hit the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. The drive to Cleveland was fairly uneventful, but I noticed a lot of towns in Ohio are named after cities in Europe- Toledo, Belfast, Moscow, Malta. I passed a town named Ravenna, which was cool to me because I was almost a year to the day that I was in the former capital of Italy by the same name.

As I was driving I got a call for my sister. She told me about a dream she had the previous night. We were with a group of family friends on a frozen lake in the winter. We were all walking on the lake when I fell through. She said that they dove in to get me and I had hypothermia and almost died. So, I figured after both of our dreams, I needed to avoid water or proceed with caution. But, ironically the hotel I was staying in Cleveland was one block off of Lake Erie. End of Part Two.

I had arrived in Cleveland on time-by 3pm- only to find the hours for the Hall of Fame are from 10am-5:30pm. So I went and got a necessary oil change at a shop the next property over from the hotel I was staying in and decided I would go to the Hall the next day when it opened before picking up my father from the airport at 1:30. Oh yeah, this part of the trip my father came and joined me on.

That night I explored Lakewood, OH- suburb in which I was staying and was pleasantly surprised. The area was middle-class, clean and CHEAP. I went out to get some food and found a sports bar called Pacers doing 35 cent wings and 24oz domestic drafts for $3. I had a solid night for $27. Also a really good local beer there was Crooked River's Black Forest Lager.

Tuesday the 15th

As planned I woke up and plugged the address for the Hall into my GPS. When I looked down for the directions, I noticed that it had my current position in the middle of the lake similar to my sister's dream(seriously, I can't make this stuff up). Being that I wasn't sinking I knew it was wrong and took off for the Hall and arrived before the doors opened to maximize my time. Twice during the drive my route had me driving through the water. I would later discover that this was the beginning of the end for this particular GPS.

However, I arrived safe and dry. For those who have never been there before, it is a all glass pyramid right on the docks of the Port of Cleveland. It is not all that big and the three and half hours I spent was enough to get a good overview while also exploring a few displays in detail. They had a very cool exhibit highlighting Bruce Springstein all the way back from his days playing in a band in high school to today. Some other highlights were the exhibit on Austin City Limits 35th Anniversary, and the early founders of American "rock and roll". I put it in quotes because a many of these founders were Blues and Gospel guitars and songwriters. Which leads me to my next point that it should not be called the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame but rather the Music Hall of Fame. Many of the artifacts and inductees fall under other categories such as R&B, Country, Hip Hop, Motown and Pop. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely and then it was off to the airport. And for the second time in the same day the GPS acted up again, this time re-routing me, while sitting at red lights, three times.

A few hours later, my father and I, were parking for free at and abandoned gas station across the street from Progressive Field where the Indians were to host the the Mets. When we went to get tickets, I asked the guy what was the best value we could get for tickets. We settled on second level, behind home plate for $24. After we got in I looked at the free program and noticed today they had a Budweiser 2 for Tuesday special. It was two bleacher seats and a $20 concession voucher for $32. I was a little pissed at the time and it was mere moments later that I got poopied on by a freaking seagull. Got me right on the head and on the shirt. However, I did not let these events ruin my experience. Progressive Field is beautiful. The outside has statues of franchise greats like so many have now as well as a monument garden inside with Cleveland greats like Cy Young who played for two different Cleveland franchises- Spiders 1890-98 and Naps 1909-11). The inside had a classic feel to it. It has a cozy and friendly feel to the small confines and great vantage points from all angles and levels. The seats were rather comfortable and the aisles were noticeably wider offering added leg room-not that you had to worry about the person next to you seeing that just short of 13,000 showed up for the game. As for the game, it was the second time in as many starts I saw Johan Santana. He got rattled early including a Travis Hafner 374' laser to right, but settled down and with the help of a monster go ahead two run shot (405') by rookie Ike Davis, the Mets overcame a 4-1 deficit to beat the Tribe 7-6 on an overcast day. I was excited to see Indians catcher Carlos Santana in just his fourth game, but he went 0-3.

Wednesday the 16th

Next stop Detroit. I was a leisurely 2 and a half hour drive around the lake to get to Detroit. My father and I had never been to the city so on the way in we went to the visitor center for tips on killing a few hours before the 7pm game. We settled on Greektown, a small section in downtown that is of, yep you guessed it Greek influence and they have a casino. Parking at the casino is free and it is only about 6-8 blocks from Comerica Park, so it definitely made good sense to park there. We had a huge and delicious lunch at a restaurant called Pegasus Taverna just next to the casino. As we ate my father commented that my eyes lit up as we walked by the craps tables. So far I have done a good job avoiding the casinos during my travels to try to keep on budget, but I have had the itch to roll some dice. He said he would spot me $100 if I wanted to go play, one of the many perks of having my father travel with me. An hour and a half later I walked away up $135, better than most days selling beers in the lots. Then it was off to Comerica.

From the outside I was impressed with Comerica. Like many stadiums in the downtown area it was right off the street surrounded by bars. I had a quick beer at Cheli's, named and owned after the Red Wing's fan favorite Chris Chelios. After buying our tickets we made our way inside to check out some attractions inside the gates. The have some cool, unique things like the the Big Cat Court, which is a food court surrounding a carousel that has tigers instead of horses. There is also a baseball themed ferris wheel, a Monument Garden in the outfield, and structures throughout the concourse highlighting each decade of Tiger's baseball.

The ballpark was a simplistic two tiered structure that had the retro feel to it with a fountain in the outfield that would spray after homeruns. However for a newer stadium I was let down by several features. The seats were narrow, uncomfortable and not angled properly to watch a game from most sections. The scoreboard already needs to be upgraded to have better visual appeal and crisper picture.

The starting pitchers were Livan Hernandez for the visiting Nationals and Justin Verlander for the home team so I was expecting somewhat of a pitchers duel. Verlander struggled early giving up two solo HR's. Adam Dunn's in the first was an upper deck tape measure shot (436'). But then he settled down striking out a season high 11 in 8 inning giving up just one more run. Hernandez got shelled, giving up 8 runs (his previous season high was 4) including a bomb to Tiger's rookie slugger Brennan Boesch. Verlander moved to 11-1 in interleague play and the Tigers won 8-3.

After the game we took to the road to head to Cincinnati for a 12:30 game the next day. About 1am I almost hit a deer that was standing in the middle of the lane of the highway. But I felt cheated because the deer never looked up and I was robbed of a true "deer in highlights" experience. We got about 40 miles outside of Cincy before it was 2am and stopped for the night. 450 miles throughout the course of one day was enough for me.

Thursday the 17th

The next morning I putting the address to my college buddy's address into the GPS as it finally gave up on me. The GPS froze and would not work any longer. Eventually we got to Lee's place and then off to Great American Ball Park for a 12:35 game against the Dodgers-the only non interleague matchup. Like many of the Midwest ballparks it was a smaller park with limited, but good, outfield seats. There is a Steamboat party deck in the outfield which is unique. We sat down the first baseline, the shade thankfully, and watched as Bronson Arroyo would shut down the Dodgers, limiting them to 5 hits in 7 innings and also hit a 3 run HR (5th career) in the second inning. Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips added HRs as well in a 7-1 Reds win- we left after the seventh to drop my father off at the airport. But before we left I was told I had to try a Skyline Chili Dog and I was not dissapointed. It was really good and the chili had a hint of cinnamon to it. Also I got on the Jumbo-tron with my sign for the first time.

After the game Lee and I put together a grill, an adventure that took a little longer than it should have since two college degrees couldn't tell the diffence between left and right. That night he took me to a bar down the street from his place, a cool little suburb just NE of downtown. For the record, I kicked his ass in pool just like I used to do in college.

Friday the 18th

The next morning I woke up on Lee's incredibly comfy couch and took off to St. Louis at 9am. It was a good 6-7 hour drive and I did not want to sit in traffic. But first I needed to buy a new GPS so I went to Target and got a TomTom 330. I also decided to take the southern route through Louisville as opposed through Indianapolis because I had done that drive before and had never been to Kentucky. The drive was boring for the first few hours. The only excitement was seeing where Santa Claus spends his off-season in Santa Claus, IN which happens to have a Holiday World. There weren't many people on the road and eventually there was a stretch where it was just me and a Indiana State Trooper for a few miles. I followed behind the trooper for several miles as he was going 65 in a 70 in the left lane. Seeing that I still had a few hours to go I got over in the right lane and put in on cruise control and 70mph. The second I passed the cop, he got behind me and turned on his lights. He approached my car and this is how the conversation went:

Trooper: "License and registration son. What the hell were you thinking?"

Me: "Excuse me, sir?"

Trooper: "I don't know how you drive in Florida, but here in Indiana we do not pass State Troopers".

Me: "I'm sorry sir, but I am on a road trip heading to St. Louis, so I put the cruise control on the speed limit."

Trooper: "Well I'm not going to right you a ticket, but in the future you should never pass a policeman".

NOT GOING TO WRITE ME A TICKET! For what. I wasn't speeding or doing anything illegal, nor possesed anything illegal. In fact, the cop had no right to pull me over in the first place and was just on a power trip. For those of you who know my views on our civil servants in blue, this just futher justifies my views.

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful and I got to the lots at Busch Stadium at 4pm, or so I thought. I totally forgot about the time change and it was only 3pm. This would have been fine if this was a tailgating scene, but it wasn't, so I took and nice hour and half nap.

Busch Stadium is only a few years old and I had high expectations for it. However, they fell short. Among the things that bothered my most was that you could not see the field as you walk through the promenade and the PA system was low and muffled. However I was able to hear that Ryan Ludwick's batting song was "Brass Monkey", which I thought was an excellent choice.

The game featured 2009 Comeback Player of the Year and 05 Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter facing the Oakland A's. Matt Holliday started things off with a 2 run HR in the first, but Oakland would answer and lead 4-2 in the second. St Louis would claw back and escape with a 6-4 win with Lou Brock in attendance on his 71st birthday. And for the second straight day I made an appearance on the big screen.

After the game I got in the car and started a five hour drive towards Chicago where I was to catch a Cubs game at noon the next day. And, just like everytime I have driven at night, it poured about 150 miles away from Chicago. So I spent the night in Pontiac, IL about 100 miles south of Chicago.

Saturday the 19th

I was up and out by 9am figuring I had plenty of time to get to Wrigley. However, I did not account for the absurd amount of traffic in Chicago. There was stand still bumper to bumper traffic at 10am on Saturday morning. And like in Toronto I was not only baffled by furios as well. To make things worse, as soon as I got into city limits the GPS could not find a signal and was useless. So, I was stuck in traffic and clueless as to where I was and how far from Wrigley Field. I got off the highway, since it was going anywhere anyway, and asked for directions at a gas station. I was only about twenty minutes away, but the side streets had just as much traffic and it took me about an hour and a half.

I arrived at Wrigley right around noon, parked in someone's alley for $20 and scalped a GA bleacher seat for $20. When I got through the gates the Cubs were already down 1-0 and there day only got worse. They gave up 4 in the first and finished the day with as many errors as hits (2) in a terrible 12-0 loss to the Angels. The loss was the worst the Cubs have suffered since being shutout 12-0 by the Montreal Expos in 1992 and Chicago's worst loss at Wrigley since a 17-0 loss to the Reds in 1988. The game really seemed to drag on and knowing my car would be blocked in I still stayed the entire game. It was also the hottest day I have had so far and there way no shade in the bleachers.

Wrigley is the second oldest park to Fenway so I was excited to see how it stacked up. It definity had a small, old time feel with and does not house a video board-which stopped my consecutive appearance streak on the big screen at 2. The ivy was just as green as the field and the beers were the cheapest I have seen so far-$6.75. One very unique thing about Wrigley is there ability to capitalize on the nearby buildings. Over the years more and more of the surrounding buildings have added bleachers to their rooftops. Definitly a cool way to see a game and I might have to try that the next time I catch a Cubs game. The view from the bleachers was great and I was right by "Bartman Corner" in which I had to take a picture.

After the game my car was indeed still blocked in and the GPS was still useless and frozen so called the Super 8 I was staying at to get directions. It was in a north suburb called Prospect Heights about 20 miles away. On the way I passed a Target and went to exchange my GPS. Freaky thing though, I pulled into the parking lot and and the GPS unfroze and received a signal. Still determined to get a functioning piece of technology, I went in to find out that they were out of this particular model. Seeing that the GPS was working again, I decided to give it another try and got back on the traffic infested roads. After an hour and half my GPS informed me I had reached my destination only to discover it was taken me to a graveyard. After called the place again, I was on the right road about 5 miles away.

The rest of the night was pretty mellow including a load of laundry and Prospect Heights "best bar" only two blocks away from the hotel. It waspretty cool but did not pick up until well after midnight, but last call was at 4am.

Sunday the 20th

This was the first day in almost three weeks I did not have a game or traveling to do to get to a game. I decided to make the most of a relaxing fathers day. It has been over a year since I saw a movie in the theaters and decided to end that streak. I went and saw Iron Man 2 followed by Karate Kid. Both were pretty good but I think I was more impressed with The Karate Kid because I did not think a good remake could be done. Also Jayden Smith is a pretty good actor, but he needs tokeep those cornrows because if he ever shaves his head it will become painfully appearant he has his father's big ears.

After the movie I went to find a Target beacuse at this point the GPS, when recieving a signal and not frozen, would literally take me in circles to the starting point. So I decided to splurge and get a more expensive GPS and definitly a different brand. So far this on works much better.

For the next few nights I am staying at a Hostel in Chicago about 2 blocks from UIC. Its a pretty cool place with a great location in Greektown. My next game isn't until Tuesday so I have a couple of relaxing days ahead of me to explore Chicago. I will be taking the train to avoid traffic since I also found a great free spot on the street a block away from the hostel.

That was a lot of catching up and now my eyes hurt. So until next time. . .

Shoutouts:

My father for joining me on this part of the trip and all the assistance he provided. I hope you had a good Father's Day.

All the other fathers out there including Mike Elbert on his first Father's Day.

Lee Skierkiewicz (hope I spelled that right) for the couch to crash on in Cincy and providing a good time and steak.

Ed Mitchell and Duke Realty for the tickets to the Reds game.

Cliff Jenkins, photog at Reds game, for getting me on the Big screen

Stacey for being my drinking partner on Saturday night

Manute Bol, who died this week, for being such a good humanitarian

Florida and Florida State for putting up piss poor performances in the CWS.

Randoms:

Everything that happened this week oculd fall under this section so I will not elaborate more.

1523 miles, 400+ songs

Songs of the week: Social Distortion "Story of My Life", The Redwalls "Build a Bridge", David Bowie "Changes", A Garcia and Saunders tune I do not know the name, John Cougar Mellencamp "Ain't that America", Xavier Rudd "Native Eye", Sister Hazel "Just Remember", Pearl Jam "Wishlist", Jay-Z "Lucifer", Cage the Elephant "In One Ear".

Computers should have a function that you can highlight sentences that you accidentaly capitalized and automatically lowercase them, so you do not have to retype them.

People in St. Louis were not very friendly and looked at me like I had three heads and a monkey growing out of my chest.

Cleveland had a hot dog race-like so many parks do now- with three competitors. Ketchup won by a squirt.

Dude in weinie suit outside Wrigley advertising for a place said "eat me" on the back.