SeeAll30.com – My Quest To See Them All!

2006 Road Trip Map - Final - 7143 Miles, 21 states, 18 days, 13 games.. 1 dream!

September 1st, 2006 | Category: 2006 Road Trip |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

I couldnt believe it when my alarm went off at 5:15am and I had to get up.  Just didnt seem like it could be that early already, but it was, so I was up and getting ready to roll.  By the time I was ready, had the car loaded and was pulling out of the driveway with the GPS on, it was 6:15am.

The drive from Bartlesville to the interstate is a long one on a winding road.  I did get to see the sun come up and that was beautiful.  By the time I finally got to the interstate, I had to get me a bite to eat and use the restroom, so I stopped at a McDonalds in Blackwell, OK, which is where my Mom and I stopped for breakfast 3 years ago when we drove home from Bartlesville.  My next stop was a ways up the road, at a Stuckey’s just west of Salina, KS to get gas.  After filling up, I wanted to go in and get something that says “Stuckey’s” on it and some pecan logs, that are oh so good.  I got to the door and the place was closed. I just filled my tank at the pump, and yet the place is closed, that sucked, but atleast I was able to get gas.

The rest of the drive to Denver was smooth, nothing exciting until I was about 30-45 minutes away from my hotel.  I started watching this huge wall cloud and at one end of it in a field, I swear I saw a funnel cloud that touched the ground.. aka… a tornado.  Now I must say that it wasnt that big at all and I honestly thought originally that it was a fire in that field and what I saw was the smoke coming up from it… until I saw that it was moving.  It didnt last long at all, and I was unable to get into a good position to pull over and get any pictures until after it had already disappeared. I could see lightning flashing in the distance that way and I knew this was gonna be a nice storm to drive through.   I kept on driving and as I got closer to the cloud formation, the temp was dropping and it was getting dark fast!  BLAM!  The thunder and lighning got loud and bright!  Before long I got to say, “We got hail!” The hail came down so hard that between it and the wipers, it cleaned my windshield nicely.  I could see planes flying through it on the way to airport and I was so glad I wasnt on one of those cause it had to be rockin and rollin!  The storm lasted a while and then I drove out of it just before I got to my hotel.

I checked in, took my luggage up and headed to Coors Field to get a bite to eat at Rounders and the Sandlot Brewery, which is down the first baseline there at the park.  When I got there, it was closed. They close it to outside traffic on game nights, so I was unable to go in. I decided to wait for the gates to open and head in that way.  I found out that there was already 2 gates open, A & D, so I headed around the side of the park to gate D to go in.

I went straight to the left field bleachers and took up a spot to watch BP.  I must say that while Coors Field is a beautiful park and the air is thinner there, this BP session SUCKED!  The entire time that I was there, almost an hour, there a grand total of 8 balls hit out!  Only 3 or 4 of them were in the LF bleachers, and none in the section I was in.  The last time I was at Coors, July 2003, balls were being peppered into the stands left and right.  Not tonight though.  I dunno if it was just that the Mets werent into it or what the deal was, but it was quite boring sitting there.

After BP I got me something to eat, nachos, and a beer and sat in left center watching the grounds crew get the field ready for play. The Rockies mascot, a big purple dinosaur (not Barney) had a group of kids playing kickball in leftfield, what an experience that must have been for those kids.  By the time they were announcing the starting lineups, I was ready to get some sleep!  I was so tired!  But I had a game to watch so when they announced the starters, I was there filling out my scorebook. When they announced who was playing for the Rockies, something strange hit me.  I knew who Todd Helton was, but as for the other 8 guys, I had no friggin clue who any of them were!  8 out of the starting 9, I didnt know!  I dont believe I have ever been to a game where that has happened before… not even close!

After the first inning, it was 3-2 Rockies and almost 35 minutes had already gone by and I was getting more and more tired by the second. I decided I would stay until it became an official game, bottom or middle of the 5th, depending on who is winning at that point, and then I would call it a night.  I knew I had a huge drive in front of me the next day, almsot 900 miles, so I needed some sleep!  Truth be known, by the 3rd inning I was packing up and heading towards the Sandlot to have a beer or two, maybe something to eat and then go ahead and go.

The Sandlot is very cool, now this is a Sports Bar.  They didnt have a big screen, that I saw, but they had a bunch of TVs all over the place playing different things from that nights Rockies game, to the US Open (Aggasi’s match) and even preseason football.  I bellied up to the bar, ordered a Blue Moon Belgian White and drank it down.  It wasnt that bad, but for my next beer I asked the bartender to bring me something different, whatever their best seller was.  It turned out to be “Right Field Red”. Knowing it was a red, it was gonna be strong, but this baby was STTTRRROOOONNNG!  I was glad I tried it, but it wasnt something I would want to get often.

So I had my 2 beers, talked to my wife on the phone a while and started my walk around the park back to the car.  On the way I got dinner, a footlong brat with grilled onions, peppers and kraut.  I ate it on my drive back to my hotel on the east side of Denver where I was in bed asleep by just after 10pm.

Miles Today: 682
Total Miles: 5806
New States Today: 1 – Colorado
Total Countries: 2 – USA & Canada
Total States: 18
License Plate Game: 0
Total Plates: 41
Games: 1 (Rockies won 8-4)
Total Games: 13
Beers: 3
Total Beers: 36
Hot Dogs: 1
Total Hot Dogs: 14

Boxscore

August 31st, 2006 | Category: 2006 Road Trip, Coors Field |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

For the first time on my entire trip,  today I had someone traveling with me.  My brother Judd was going to go with me to Dallas to see the town and catch a Rangers game in Arlington.

Judd took the keys and we hit the road right at 6am.  The drive down to Dallas wasnt that bad, though we did take a wrong turn at one point that put us about 30 miles out of our way.  We were ok though, cause I fired up the GPS and it showed us where we had to go to get back on track.  Other than that, it was a smooth drive.

We got to the Big D just before noon and had to findd a restroom before we could go on.  Once the important stuff was taken care of, we headed over to the Cotton Bowl to check it out.  We walked around a while, it was kinda toasty out today.  We got our pictures and then headed off to downtown to the Texas Book Depository.

For those of you who dont know what the Book Depository is, its the building in which Lee Harvey Oswald shot  President John F. Kennedy.  It is now a museum called “The 6th Floor” named after the floor where the shots rang out.  When you go on the tour, you have 2 options: 1) With audio or 2) without.  The last time I was there, in July 2000, I did the audio tour so we did it today as well.  With the audio tour you put on a set of headphones and walk around the exhibit and it tells you all sorts of things about JFK, the conspiracy, actual facts about the area and so on.  Its very interesting and something I suggest to anyone if your in the Dallas area.

After the tour we went to check into our hotel, it was very nice.  Then we headed for lunch.  I was going to suprise my brother and take him to a place he has been wanting to go for years, Joes Crab Shack.  We both had the Dungeness Crab and shrip and it was incredible!  Was very glad that we went to do that cause Judd loved it!   After lunch we headed to the ball park.

Having been to 2 games in Arlington, I was looking forward to seeing it again.  Its a very beautiful park, made of red brick and green steel.  This is where I started being freaked to right on escalators, having been on one there that never seemed to end and just as we entered the park, there it was starring at me taunting me to ride it… NO WAY!  No, seriously, I didnt need to cause our seats were in the right/center bleachers. We walked around a while looking at the field taking pictures before heading towards our seats. We stood there watching some of the Baltimore Orioles pepper the seats with balls and I said to Judd, “We should have got here earlier and seen if we could have got on, since there isnt that many people.”  We stood there a while watching BP and finally took our seats to watch the rest.  Our seats were right behind the Rangers bullpen, and since we were at the catcher end of the pen, there was a screen up in front of us.. just incase there was an bad throw so it wouldnt hit us.
Well, we sat there watching BP and then this ball was hit right at us, but as I said, “Its gonna drop in the pen” so I thought nothing of it, grabbed my phone to make a call and as it was dialing the ball bounced in the pen on the astroturf and I watched it come up over the screen and I jumped up to try and get it.  I was reaching as far as I could to get it but I missed it and it hit right behind me.  I laid out over the bleacher, reached as far as I could, and it was just out of my reach!  I moved a slight bit and was able to bring in it, barely.  I JUST GOT MY SECOND BP BALL EVER!!  I was so excited!  It was as if I was 12 again.  Its silly cause you can buy these balls at any sporting goods place for $11.99, but its different.  These were touched and hit by real major leaguers!  I forgot I was on the phone, so I told Thacker “I know you need to call me back, I dont care, I just got a ball!!”  I then sat back down and called my mom to tell her and as I was talking to her, I saw another headed our way so I told Judd.  He finally saw it as it landed in the bullpen and bounced over the screen and he trapped it against the screen… JUDD GOT A BALL!  Can you believe that we both got a ball, the same night, about 3 minutes and 4 feet apart!  What are the odds!

The game was good, we got to see Kevin Millwood warming up in the bullpen and then pitch a complete game, 9-4, win.  Mark Texeira hit a HR and nearly got another later.  Was really fun to be there with my brother and see him enjoying the game and the park as well.

After the game we headed back to the hotel and it didnt take long before we were down for some much needed sleep, cause it was a long day.

Miles Today: 397
Total Miles: 4727
New States Today: 1 – Texas
Total Countries: 2 – USA & Canada
Total States: 17
License Plate Game: 1 – North Carolina
Total Plates: 41
Games: 1 (Rangers Win 9-5)
Total Games: 12
Beers: 1
Total Beers: 33
Hot Dogs: 0
Total Hot Dogs: 13

Boxscore

August 29th, 2006 | Category: 2006 Road Trip, Rangers Ballpark |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Having a game at 12:20pm, I decided to sleep in a bit and then just head straight to the park.  I love the fact that my hotel is so close to the stadium and that I dont have an hour drive or so like I do at home with Safeco.  If I lived this close to The Safe, I would have season tickets!

I finally left my hotel about 11:30am and from the door of my room to the gate at Busch Stadium, it took me 5 minutes to walk.  Thats just insanity I tell you!  Today I took the chance to walk around the side of Busch and look at a couple different entrances, like the 3rd base side and left field entry.  The 3rd base side is really cool with its arched steel and statue of Stan “The Man” Musial. I just love the brick work of the new park, its so cool!

I entered at the 3rd base entry and promptly went up to look at the fiedl from that side, took a few pictures, then got out of everyones way so they could find their seats and I headedu p to section 358 to find mine right in front of the Hardees sign.  You cant miss that sign, especially at night, it sticks out like a sore thumb.  The seats were great though, with a beautiful view of the field, all of the action, as well as the St. Louis skyline, the Arch and my hotel, the Millenium.

The game was a good one, the Cardinal’s Chris Carpenter had a No-No until 1 out in the 5th.  The guy sitting 3 seats down from me (though the 2 inbetween us were empty) goes and mentioned “I smell a no-no!!”  I shot him a look and said “SSHHHHHH!!” lol   Come to find out, that guy is from Seattle.
He is in ST. Louis visiting family.  Small world.  Between him and the guy in Detroit that usedto live in Puyallup, weird. Carpenter had a shutout until Phil Nevil tied the game with a solo shot, only the 2nd hit of the day for the Cubs.  I had been starring my 4th shutout of this trip in the face, and 3rd in 4 nights, but Nevin made sure that didnt happen.  Now it looked as if we were headed to extras, which in 11 games so far I had only done once before, and that was the first game of Cards vs Cubs at Wrigley last week.  However, with a couple hits and a walk, the Cardinals won the game in the bottom of the 9th and sent the 40,000+ Redbird fans home happy.

After the game I walked back to the hotel, got in my car and headed south to go tour the Anheiser Busch Brewery… also known as BUDWEISER!  Having toured the Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee earlier in the trip, I was curious to see the difference between the two.  As it turns out, there is a reason why they call Budweiser “The King Of Beers”.  It really shows from the moment you walk into the information area where you await your tour. For starters, they run tours every 15 minutes, and they consist of about 50 people, where Miller runs them every 30 minutes for about 40-50 people.  You can also tell that the guides are much more knowledgeable here than at Miller, it really shows.  The whole tour was really cool, from seeing some of the World Famous Clydesdales up close to touring the brew house.  I really thought th ecoolest part of the tour wasnt only the coolest, but the “Coolest”.  Its a storage area where they do their famous beechwood ageing.  This room has to stay a constant 50 degrees, and since it was over 90 outside, we all loved being in that room!  Plus,  each of these tanks can hold something like 200,000+ 6packs of beer… and there was like a dozen or so of these tanks!  The lady told us that if you drank 1 case a day from these tanks, it would take you over 200 years to empty!  Now thats ALOT of beer!  But of course there were guys on the tour that said they were ready for the challenge!  These building we were going through were very old, most of them from the 1800′s and several of them were National Historic sites.

The tour ends with a stop by the hospitality house where we can have 2 samples of beer if we like, so I tried the Michelob Amber Bock and the Surf Bum Blonde.  Both were actually quite good and you ccould taste the freshness, I’m not kidding!  We were later told that the beer we were  tasting was about 5 days old, where its usually about 30 days old by the time it gets to the stores to be sold… thats quite the difference.

The game and the tour were the only things I had scheduled for the day so I headed back to the hotel to relax for a while and I asked one of the doormen where I could find a good, causal, place for dinner.  He suggest a “sports bar” up the street called Caleco’s.  So after I relaxed a bit, I grabbed the car and away I went.  Now, to me, this was a bar & grill that just happened to have TV’s playing sports on them, as compared to a “Sports Bar” where they have big screens playing games and is dedicated to sports.  Either way, the food was good.  I had a club salad and some blue cheese chips, which were freshly sliced potatoes, seasoned, with a blue cheese sauce drizzled over them and more in a bowl in the middle to dunk in.  They were VERY good!

For the first time on this trip I found myself in bed and asleep by 10:3opm, it was much needed!
: 20
Total Miles: 3925
New States Today: 0
Total Countries: 2 (USA and Canada)
Total States: 14
License Plate Game: 0
Total Plates: 40
Games: 1 (St. Louis won 2-1)
Total Games: 11
Beers: 7
Total Beers: 32
Hot Dogs: 1
Total Hot Dogs: 9

Miles Today

Boxscore

August 26th, 2006 | Category: 2006 Road Trip, Busch Stadium |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

The drive to St. Louis was an easy one, all I had to do was take I-70 West from just south of Pittsburgh and I would run into St. Louis. So needless to say the drive wasnt that exciting at all. Those 600 miles went pretty quick really and I am guessing it was because I was very excited to get to St. Louis as the New Busch Stadium would be my 30th current major league ballpark and would complete my dream of seeing them all.  So as I got in to town I headed straight to my hotel to check in.

I am staying at the Millenium Hotel which is about 600 yards, or less, from the ballpark.  This is AWESOME!  So when I checked in, I went up to my room, relaxed for a while and then headed down to the stadium around 5:30pm.  I walked to the park, around a bit on my way to my seat, and was seated by 6:00pm!  I knew it was close, but thats just incredible!

The new Busch Stadium is a beauty, with its retro feel of red brick and green steel.  The view of the Arch is also incredible.  In old Busch you couldnt see it that well, but here you can from just about everywhere, except the bleachers.  There is a big hole where the old stadium used to sit,but I heard they are going to make some kinda “Plaza” there.  They sure took hadicapped people into consideration when they built this one, with ramps, several elevators and seating in several places.

The game was a good one, if you wear red, as the Cardinals won 2-0.  That was my 3rd shutout on this trip already, in 10 games.  That’s a .300 average Nothing really noteworthy to mention from the game, except Jim Edmonds struck out 4 times, and Pujols didn’t do anything either.  I enjoyed seeing Edmonds K like that cause I am still pissed about his comments of not wanting to play in Seattle back in 1999.  So take that Jimmy!!

The coolest part of the night was that after the game was over and I started heading to my hotel, it took me only 18 minutes to go from my seat, in line for the elevator, with the crowd across the street and up to my room.  I was back in my room before a good majority of the people got out of the stadium, thats AWESOME!!

P.S… that picture of the Arch above was taken out the window of my hotel room!  Whatta view, huh??

Miles Today: 600
Total Miles: 3905
New States Today: 3 – W.Virginia, Ohio, Missouri
Total Countries: 2 (USA and Canada)
Total States: 14
License Plate Game: 0
Total Plates: 40
Games: 1 (St. Louis won 2-0)
Total Games: 10
Beers: 2
Total Beers: 25
Hot Dogs: 1
Total Hot Dogs: 8

Boxscore

August 25th, 2006 | Category: 2006 Road Trip, Busch Stadium |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Since I wanted to be in Buffalo, NY around noon, I knew that I could sleep in a bit, so I did.  I finally hit the road about 9am for my short drive to Niagara Falls.  I had been hearing how Niagara is only 44 miles away, so it wouldn’t be that bad of a drive.  As I mentioned yesterday, those 44 miles are “As the crow flies” cause it ended up being just over 80 miles, you have to drive around Lake Ontario to get there,  and I was now off schedule for the first time on this trip.

I learned 2 big lessons while in Niagara Falls, the first one was dont park and get out of your car there by the falls if you have to pee, cause if you thought the mention of water or the sound of a stream made you have to go, I can tell you first hand that the sound of Niagara will send you over the edge!  Even though I had to go badly now, I still took the time to take some pictures from the vantage point I had on my walk to the “Maid Of Mist” marketplace, and my first stop was the “Washroom”

Once that was taken care of I went to get my ticket and stand in line for my chance to go out and see the falls up close.  It seems like I have been doing that alot on this trip, either walking great distances, rushing from one place to another, or standing in long lines for long periods of time.  This combined them all into one.  We had to go down several sets of strairs, walk around these ramps, ride an elevator down a couple levels, and then walk a ways to get in line and stand there a while.  But when we got there, we were right next to the water awaiting the next boat.  When it came, we loaded up and set out onto the Niagara river for our journey.  I really dont recall how long the boat ride was, cause I was too busy taking it all in.  If you dont know what the “Maid of The Mist” is its a boat ride that takes you right out to the base of the Horseshoe Falls and you are so close that you get really wet with the spray (mist) coming up off the falls.  They do give you disposable ponchos to wear if you wanted to.  Another way to realize what this is is to think about the Jim Carrey movie, “Bruce Almighty” and the scene where he found out that he didnt get the anchor job towards the begining of the movie… he was on a “Maid Of The Mist” boat.  So anyways, they take you past the first 2 falls, the American Falls and Bridal Falls and right to the base of the Horseshoe Falls and the water gets really choppy and its hard to walk around the boat, but I did it anyway to see things from all over.  The truth is, when your right there, its hard to really make out anything descriptly, because the mist kida makes it a white-out.  But the whole experience is a great one and I would suggest it to anyone!

I learned lesson # 2 as I was leaving Niagara.  That lesson is  to get gas and make sure you have plenty before you go to cross the Rainbow Bridge back into the USA.  I didnt have alot, I was about 1/8 of a tank, or less… but I knew that I only had about 1/2 mile to go until a station, so I opted to go ahead and cross the bridge and fill up on the US side.  This was almost a big mistake!  On my car there is a digital gauge that will show you how many miles you have “Until Empty”.  I sat there in line so long that I watched the gauage drop, drop, drop and drop until just before I finally got up to the inspection point, it litterally read “0 Miles Until Empty”!  I had an option of 3 lanes, and I chose the smallest one and it turned out to be the WRONG choice.  I watched the lanes on both sides of me whiz by, they were getting about 3 cars through inspection for every 1 in my lane.  This was terribly frustrating. Finally I get up there and I am watching the person in front of me as they go through and the guy working the booth has them open their trunk and he starts to look through it, he even unzipped a bag to look in!!  I thought to myself, and probably said outloud, “No wonder its taking so long!”  I mean, I understand that we have to be careful at our borders and all, but did this guy really think this lady could be a terrorist or something?  Anyways, when it was my turn I handed him my ID and asked if he wanted to see my birth certificate, he said yes and asked me what I was doing in Canada and I told him I went to see a Blue Jays game.  He asked what Iw as doing today and I said, “Well, if I can get gas before I completely run out, I am off to Buffalo and then down to Pittsburgh for a Pirates game.”  He told me there was a station about 2 blocks up the road. I already knew that as I mapped it, 481 yards to be exact   He then handed me back my stuff and away I went.  I had to be the fastest person through there in the whole time I sat there!

I got into Buffalo much later than I wanted to, but there was no debate if I was going to stop at the Anchor Bar or not.  For those of you that dont know, the Anchor Bar is where “Buffalo Wings” originated.  I can tell you this, after ordering a “double” (20 wings), they are without a doubt the best wings I have EVER had!  If you think you have had great wings, no, no you havent… unless you have been to the Anchor Bar!  I bellied up to the bar, had my wings and a Labatts to wash them down.  I intentionally ordered more than I could eat so I could take some with me and they made a great dinner as well

I got to PNC Park in Pittsburgh about 6pm, which wasnt that bad, just meant I couldnt check into my hotel before the game.  I met up with my friend Christie and we went in to get a bite to eat.  I had been hearing about Primanti Brothers sandwiches, so I wanted to try one of those.  Sadly, we couldnt find their booth at PNC, so I settled for a lame footlong dog, with grilled onions.

The game was good, and PNC park is a beauty.  I still dont like how they designed the left  field area, how its hard to walk around the hard cause its not on the same level. I have no clue why this did this, but they did, so it still dont set right with me.  The Pirates did win 5-3, after being down early.  But the real excitment came 30 minutes after the game when they did “Sky Blast”!  Sky Blast is a fireworks show.  This one was a bit different though cause they had a live band playing as well, “Me First and the gimme gimme’s”.  I had never heard of these guys, but Christie has and was kinda excited.  They werent all that bad, different for sure, but they did their versions of classics like “Sweet Caroline” and “Stairway To Heavan”.  They would play inbetween big sets of fireworks.  The whole show lasted about 40 minutes or so and while I thought it was great, Christie told me “I think that was a better show than the one on the 4th of July.”  If you have read my blog before you will know that I mentioned how Pittsburgh is famous for its fireworks shows, so if this one was better, I must have seen a great show and it was quite good.

As we were leaving, Christie and a couple friends tried to talk me into going to Primanti Brothers with them… this was VERY tempting!  I thought about it quite a while but decided that I best get some sleep cause I have a 600 mile drive tomorrow.  So I headed to my hotel, checked in and called it a night.

Miles Today: 326
Total Miles: 3305
New States Today: 2 – New York and Pennsylvannia
Total Countries: 2 (USA and Canada)
Total States: 11
License Plate Game: RI, MA, VI, WV, NH
Total Plates: 40
Games: 1 (Pirates won 5-3)
Total Games: 9
Beers: 1
Total Beers: 23
Hot Dogs: 1
Total Hot Dogs: 8

Boxscore

August 24th, 2006 | Category: 2006 Road Trip, PNC Park |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

The drive to Toronto wasn’t that bad really.  I was very tired though, so that was a bit of a struggle. Getting into Canada was much easier than I thought it would be really.  The lady at the border asked me what my home country was, I replied “US”.  She then asked if I had any tobacco or alcohol in the car and I said “No”.  Her final question asked me what I was doing in Canada and I said “Going to Toronto for a Blue Jays game”.  She then handed me back my ID and waved me through.

I was about 16 miles from Toronto when I first spotted the CN Tower, you cant miss it.  If you have been reading my blogs leading up to this trip, you will recall that I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go up in it or not, cause the top observation deck is 1465 feet up, which is almost 3x the height of the Space Needle in Seattle and going up it freaks me out!  Well, as soon as I got into town, I went straight there, parked the car and walked across and headed for it.  Man is that sucker tall!!  Without even thinking I went up and bought my ticket and headed inside.  Before I knew it I was in line to go up to the first lookout level, a mere 1300 feet up.  I kept in my head how I was able to go up the 1300 feet Sears Tower and if I didn’t look out the glass front on the elevator, I could do this too and I did!  I was so happy for myself that as soon as I got up top, I called my wife to share the news with her.  She wasn’t as excited as I was, but she did just get up… forgot about the 3 hour time difference… OOPS!

The view from up there is amazing, you can see clear into parts of  New York and all of Toronto.  I enjoyed looking down on the Rogers Centre (old Sky Dome), even if the roof was closed it was still cool to see.  I decided to get in line to go the rest of the way up to “Sky Pod” and see the view from the World’s Highest Man Made Observation Deck in the world!  It was GREAT!  Everything looked about the same, just a bit smaller and you could see a bit further.  They say that on a  really clear day you can see Niagara Falls, which is 44 miles from the tower, as the crow flies.

I spent about 10 minutes up there before taking the elevator back down to the first lookout level again.  When you exit the elevator you go into a room that contains a glass floor so you can walk out of it and see the streets below you… NO THANKS!  I kinda peeked down, but I wasnt going to walk on on that glass, I could see it cracking like the ice on a pond in late February, so NO!  I did take a couple pictures of the crazies that were out on it and I moved on to get in line to go to the bottom so I could go check into my hotel, rest a bit and go to the game.

I have read a lot about all the parks and everything I have read about Rogers Centre is true… especially the part about it being BIG!  This place is not only big, its  HUGE!   As I got inside and started my walk around the concourse I couldn’t believe I was going to a baseball game: 1) In the “Sky Dome” 2) In Canada, a “foreign” country! and 3) Where they have the largest video screen I have ever seen!  It was unreal!  I walked around watching BP from different views, watching a bunch of people get balls and just taking it in from all over.  My seats were in left field but by gametime I had found me a folding chair around by home, on the 1st base side.

I went to get me a dog, chilli/cheese, and a beer and I noticed that the prices are all strange, like $6.44, or $3.08 and even with tax they don’t equal something even.  Getting used to dealing with Canadian money wasn’t all that difficult really.  I kinda like it cause they have $1 and $2 coins.

The game was a good one if you are from Oakland!  Esteban Loaiza pitched a complete game, 4 hit, 6-0 shut out. Frank Thomas went deep for the 475th of his career and Milton Bradley also had a jack!  Though I had read about it, it was strange not to lead off the 7th inning stretch with “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”.  Instead they do something called “Go Jays Go” and have people out along the baselines actually showing you how to stretch.  Once that nonesense is over, its time to sing the classic… and they rush right through it as if they really couldn’t care less.  Was good to see Lyle Overbay play, as he is from Centrailia, WA and whenever he came to bat, they had Pearl Jam playing.

After the game I drove back to my hotel straight up through Toronto and got to see some of its nightlife.  Wasn’t too bad.  I had been told the part of town I am staying in is pretty safe, and it seemed so.  Not too shabby, was great to finally get to see Toronto!

Miles Today: 264
Total Miles: 2979
New States Today: 0 – 1 new country – Canada
Total Countries: 2 (USA and Canada)
Total States: 9
License Plate Game:
Total Plates: 35
Games: 1 (A’s won 6-0)
Total Games: 8
Beers: 2
Total Beers: 22
Hot Dogs: 1
Total Hot Dogs: 7

Boxscore

August 23rd, 2006 | Category: 2006 Road Trip, Rogers Centre |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

Back to another early morning and out the door and on the road by 5:30am.  I needed to get out of the main part of Chicago as early as I could and by the time I did, I was suprised at how easy it was to get out.  I did reralize that my mapping software did not take me through teh bulk of Chicago and over the Skyway, so that was a good thing.

The drive to Detroit was uneventful, which is good, and I got into town earlier than I had planned on.  My first stop was at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull, otherwise known as Tiger Stadium.  This classic park I have only once before seen from a distance, so today I wanted to get a closer look cause there have been some great games played here, including some World Series games.  I have heard that they are considering knocking it down, what a shame that would be, but you can tell they have neglected it to the point that its a crime to see it in the shape that it is.

I couldn’t remember if I had told Lisa that I would be in at noon or 2pm, but it was just before noon and I was on my way to her house.  I got there, we hung out for a while talking and then we piled into her van to go meet up with her husband, Bill, and go to the Henry Ford Museum to view the “Baseball As America” display.  It was AWESOME!  It had several artifacts from the Baseball Hall Of Fame that were so great to see.  I had things like the bats used by Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa when they broke the HR records.  There were other things like aball used by Roger Clemens in the game where he struck out 20 Seattle Mariners, the bat used by George Brett in his famous “Pine tar incident” game, the actual contract that was signed that sent Base Ruth to the Yankees from the Red Sox that started “The Curse Of The Bambino”, several different jerseys worn by the greats like Hank Aaron and Jackie Robinson.  They even had a pair of Harry Carrys glasses!  I could have spent hours in there, it was so incredible, but we had to go and see a few other things at the museum as well, like the car that JFK was riding in when he was shot and the car that Regan was getting into when he was shot.  They have the bus that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on and the chair that President Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot at Fords Theater!  This place is full of history and we only saw such a small portion of it!

We left the musem and headed to dinner at the Mongolian BBQ.  Thats a cool place, cause you get to pick and choose what you want to eat, put it in a bowl and let the cooks cook it up for you.  Bottom line is that if your meal sucks, its your own fault for not chosing the right ingredients!

After dinner it was onto Comerica Park.  Having been there before I knew how great this park is.  If it wasnt for Citizens Bank Park in Philly, it would still be my 2nd favorite of the new parks, behind Safeco of course.   The game was a dandy.  We saw Kenny Rogers, the Gambler, combined with 1 other Tiger pitcher shut out the Chicago White Sox, 4-0, and only give up 5 hits total!  Considering the rivalry between these 2 teams, it was a higly exciting game from the start and you could tell the players were ready for it as well.  Maggs had several great catches in right while Carlos Guillen flashed the leather at short!  The White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillen, was ejected in the 2nd inning for arguing balls and strikes… SEE YA!  There was 39,361 people in attendance and the majority went home happy tonight.

When the game was over we headed back to Lisa’s, talked for a while and went to bed.  Her and Bill have to be up in the moring early and so do I cause I am driving to Toronto in the morning…

Miles Today: 332
Total Miles: 2715
New States Today: 2
Total States: 9
License Plate Game: Canadian – Saskatewan and New Brunswick
Total Plates: 35
Games: 1 (Tigers Won 4-0)
Total Games: 7
Beers: 2
Total Beers: 20
Hot Dogs: 0
Total Hot Dogs: 6

Boxscore

August 22nd, 2006 | Category: 2006 Road Trip, Comerica Park |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment

A day of rest was finally here.  There was still several things I could have done today in Chicago, but I opted for a day of rest and lunch with an ole friend of mine… especially since she said we should go to Portillo’s!  So after sleeping in until about 9am, I got a few things done and headed to Arlington Heights to meet her for lunch.

She was running a little late, so I went and filled the car up with gas and put some more ice in the ice chest on my bottles of water to get ready for the drive to Detroit tomorrow morning. But she finally got there around 1:15pm or so and I ordered my usual, “Italian beef, hot peppers, moz cheese,  extra wet please” and let me tell you it was AMAZING!  Maybe its just been cause I havent had one in over 3 years, I dunno, but it was incredible!  We sat there talking about everything from Big Brother All-Stars to sports and life.  I had a good time talking to her and catching up on things.

I went straight from lunch to Wrigley, via the DeVry parking lot again cause it’s that easy!  This time instead of getting in line for the bleachers on the right field side, I went to left field and the line was just as long, but it moved fast!  I got in, went straight to the restroom and then up the elevator and got a seat in left field, top row, against the bars.  Was GREAT!

I was so excited to see that I would be able to attend a night game at Wrigley cause there are so few of them and the game started off good, and was good, until the 4th inning when the Phillies jumped out to a 4-0 lead (sound familiar?) The Cubs did make a game of it but pulled up short, losing 6-5.  A few things happened during the game that are of note: In the bottom of the 8th inning, Rowand collided with his 2nd baseman and had to be helped off the field.  This collision was NASTY and it knocked Rowands glove off his hand and out into the field by about 30 feet.  I have since heard that he broke his ankle on that play and will probably miss the rest of the season, which wont be good for the Phillie and their run at the wildcard.  As Rowand left the field I heard the guy in front of me say, “I am not clapping cause he is walking off the field, I am clapping cause he didnt make the catch.”  You see, Rowand used to play for the White Sox, so most everyone on the North Side hates him still. I also noticed that right after the 7th inning stretch each of the past 3 games (this one being led by Joe Mantenga) there is a serious mad dash for the beer stands.  Its almost comical watching the people take off to get more.  I also noticed the last few days that people like to wear flip-flops or sandles to the games.  I say this cause there are so many people wearing them, they stand out so much to me.  Just thought that was different.

The game was over and I was on my bus back to the car when the craving hit me and when you have the craving, only 1 thing will do and on my way to the hotel I made that stop and fed that craving at WHITE CASTLE!

Miles Today: 50
Total Miles: 2383
New States Today: 0
Total States: 7
License Plate Game:
Total Plates: 35
Games: 1 (Phillies win 6-5)
Total Games: 6
Beers: 2
Total Beers: 18
Hot Dogs: 0
Total Hot Dogs: 6

Boxscore

August 21st, 2006 | Category: 2006 Road Trip, Wrigley Field |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Leave a comment