Coasting Along

Our next park is the home of New York's Mets, Citi Field. We are planning to catch two games with the Mets, Friday and Saturday, in part because they are hosting our beloved Cubs. We are also going to be joined for the weekend by Jacob who is flying in from Seattle. Our three-some will also be joined by one of our God sons, Blake Benard, for the Saturday evening outing. More on baseball tomorrow and Saturday.

However, with the free time on Thursday and Friday (prior to Jacob's arrival and the evening game), we decided to take a drive along the Connecticut/Rhode Island coast.

We began by crossing the George Washington Bridge (Beth is driving), crossing Manhattan and heading to Connecticut.

We decided to head to inland Connecticut to try one of New England's top 15 dinners for lunch. Laurel did not disappoint.

We had a corned beef hash followed by the Captain Crunch French Toast.

We then made our way from Connecticut to Rhode Island to check in with the Atlantic Ocean.

For those keeping track, we have managed to add New York (State #14), New Jersey (State #15), Connecticut (State #16) and Rhode Island (State #17) to our count since departing Pittsburg following the holiday weekend. 

We conclude our day in Newport, RI, with dinner at the marina.

No a bad Thursday at all.

Tomorrow, back to Queens for the Mets v Cubs.

Game 5: Yankees 5 - Astros 3

Our day for game #5 turned out to be an amazing day of contrasts. We began our day in a fairly small town (rural) area of southeastern New York. We began about 200 miles from the heart of Manhattan, and the craziness that is NYC.

However, for all but the last 20 miles, we enjoyed several hours of beautiful two-lane roads, driving along some fantastic scenery.

Once we drew within 20 miles of NYC, the highways quickly expanded to six lanes in each direction and the clarity of signs/directions faded as well.

In the end, this madness really meant that we had arrived ...

Yankees Stadium ... the new version of the house that Ruth built ... is really a beautiful ballpark. We enjoyed a good game, on a beautiful summer evening, from seats on the first base side of the second deck.

I was also reminded that not all of the "us-ies" that I take are perfect.

The height difference between my sandal clad beauty can be a bit of a challenge. (Note: I will take a moment here to give a shout our to Jesse and his towering wife, Raquel. I am sure they know what I mean.)

In the end, the Yankees prevailed,

and we took one more "us-ie" to cap our day.

Still smiling at the end and looking forward to some rest and a day of exploration tomorrow.

The Real New York

Today we wandered from Pittsburg to Endicott, NY. It was a beautiful drive. While in Endicott, we were able to dine with our friends Chris and Kate. It was such a fun evening. 

After a fantastic dinner, we invited ourselves to their lovely home to meet their two (too) sweet Golden Retrievers. 

Beth also had a strong desire to see one of Chris's more recent hobby efforts.

Words can't really do it justice, but if you are wondering what you are looking at, it is a working model of Main Street (along with a few bonus elements) from Walt Disney World. The model includes a running train (two actual trains), a monorail, Electrical Parade and Cinderella's Castle.

There are multiple sound tracks and a projection (with sound track) for the Wishes show displayed on the castle.

Believe me, the pictures do not do this justice. So happy to have been able to see it in person.

The adventure continues ... off to Yankee Stadium tomorrow.

Game 4: Cubs 7 - Pirates 0

Happy 30th Anniversary!

Well, I know what I was doing 30 years ago today.

To celebrate today, we were able to see an excellent game at beautiful PNC Park.

We stayed just across the river and walked the bridge to the park.

The park was awesome. We had great seats and would definitely come back to watch more games here.

In the end, the Cubs won, capping a perfect day!!!

We dined at Meat and Potatoes and sat just a few feet from the small glass walled room where a number of the Cubs players were dining.

Pittsburg has been awesome. Time to make our way to New York. See some rain in the forecast. Let's hope for nice weather in the coming days.

Push for PIttsburg

We are completing our push for Pittsburg today. This stretch from Denver to Pittsburg is the longest stretch between ballparks on our grand plan ... yes, I have a spreadsheet. It was necessary for two reasons.

1. Denver's park is the furthest park from any other MLB stadium ... it is a long way from everything.
2. We wanted to try to get to a Cubs game for our actual anniversary (May 28th) ... and the Cubs will be at PNC Park in Pittsburg.

As a result, we headed out of Denver right after the game on Friday night and drove for a few hours into Nebraska. We spent about 14 hours Saturday crossing the wilds (traveling on only small amounts of Interstate) of Nebraska (State #7), Iowa (State #8) and Illinois (State #9).

We saw deer, a fox and some beautiful clouds, including one I thought looked like cotton candy.

We even had our first encounter with an Officer of the Law ... don't worry ... Beth only got a verbal warning.

Sunday we  completed the trek, adding Indiana (State #10), Ohio (State #11), West Virginia (State #12) and Pennsylvania (State #13) to the visited list. Arriving in Pittsburg we found this view from our room.

Monday is a day game and there seems to be some shifting in the Cubs rotation. The Pirates look good these days ... may be an adventure on its own. No matter. Should be a great day ... 30 Years and counting.

Game 3: Rockies 5 - Reds 4

Today began with a delightful brunch rendezvous with our dear friends, the Heaths. It was great to catch up with Mike and Michelle and their three great children, Olivia, Caleb and Anna. We hope to see them again, and sooner rather than later will be just fine.

We were also able to make a stop by and connect with Eddie and Flor Lopez, along with their kiddos. So proud of the accomplishments since moving to "The Springs".

Next, we made our way to Denver. We stopped at Hillstone (it was an accident ... really!) in Cherry Creek, for an early dinner. It turned out to be such an unexpected and welcome adventure! Big shout out to Kasie (the GM) and to Kate who took such good care of us.

On to Coors Field.

Celebrating their 25th year, the Rockies and the Park appear to be in solid shape. The Rockies narrowly leading their division, held off the Reds.

It was a beautiful, sunny, late afternoon.

We sat along the third base line. Other than the excellent game, the bast part of the Coors Field experience was Beth catching up with her lifelong friend Donna.

Donna lives in the area and we knew she was planning to attend. They connected for a quick catch up and a picture (which Beth indicated did not turn out well ... as a result, I am not allowed to post). The two of them with no doubt swap stories of eating mud pies to their dying days.

Time to begin the push to Pittsburg.

Dashing to Denver

Today we made our way to Denver. It was the longest drive day yet, covering about 620 miles and covering three more states, Oklahoma (State #4), Kansas (State #5) and Colorado (State #6).

Our big surprise of the day came when we passed through Shamrock, TX. At the intersection of our US Hwy 83 and the famous Route 66 was this amazing, restored art deco (build c.1936) gas station/diner.

We stopped and took a brief tour.

Most amazing is that this was the building that served as Pixar's inspiration for Ramon's in Radiator Springs, from the movie Cars.

Below is a professional photo taken just after dusk a couple of years ago with the neon lights.

We lunched at Mel's diner in Wheeler, TX. Excellent!

Of course, I had pie! It totally worked!

Following our overnight in Colorado Springs, we are on our final leg to Denver and our next game.

Game 2: Rangers 12 - Yankees 10

We are feeling special in Texas, special indeed. We departed Houston this morning, hit the freeway toward College Station and were met by our police escort.

Approximately 200 miles (not kidding) later, we had to separate from them and make our way to Waco to take in a smattering of the Fixer Upper craze. We had an amazing brunch at Magnolia Table (open now about two months).

We waited an hour, but understand the waits are commonly two hours plus - so worth it. They open at 6am and close at 3pm. So, if you wish to dine be prepared to wait and arrive no later than 11am. After passing by the Magnolia bakery and the silos, we were off to Arlington for Game 2.

Globe Life park is about 22 years old and is a nice park. However, it will be replaced by a new facility in 2020. The current stadium has no roof and the new one will have a retractable roof. Any excuse for a new stadium seems to work these days.

It was a beautiful day for baseball, if not a bit warm. We had shade at our seats and a nice breeze.

The Rangers and Yankees had split the prior two games and this "rubber game" for the series did not disappoint. Back and forth, the Yankees once lead 10-5. However, the Rangers fought back and took the lead (winning 12-10) in the bottom of the 7th.

Oh yes, Texas made us feel special indeed. Not only did we have the escort in the morning, but (look very closely) President George W. and Mrs. Laura Bush joined us in the stadium for the game ... must have been because we were in town!

Tomorrow is a travel day, heading to Denver, passing through the panhandle of Oklahoma, southwestern Kansas and southeastern Colorado.

Game 1: Astros 11 - Giants 2

We arrived in Houston early afternoon, enjoyed a late lunch and checked in to the hotel. Check out the lazy river at the pool complex (night view from the 26th floor).

Guess we all know what they say about Texas!

A couple hours prior to game time, we walked over to the stadium (Minute Maid Park c.2000) and walked the exterior.

Once inside, we ran into an old friend who made us feel right at home.

Our seats were on the first row of the upper deck (trying to be somewhat budget conscious about this whole endeavor).

With rain threatening (it stayed on the outskirts of the city), we enjoyed our first excursion.

The Astros looked great. The Giants pitching is really struggling. In the end ...

Off to Dallas for game/park #2.

Highlights to Houston

In the couple of days on our path thru Texas to Houston, we were able to celebrate our 30th with friends of almost the same duration, Mark and Pam. We caught up on all the exciting happenings with their children, Evan, Leyna, Britt (Leyna's husband) and their beautiful daughter Stella (3) ... who provided a number of welcome hugs.

We toured the campus of Texas Tech on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, graduation and the Spring semester having just ended.

We also spent a fabulous afternoon and evening catching up with our dear friends Ray and Melanie (as well as their two adorable children Megan and Lucas) at their lovely home outside Austin.

Conveyance

We thought we would offer a bit of insight regarding our method of conveyance for our travel adventure. Known as Beth's "baby car", we have elected to spend these next 12 weeks touring in her Audi TTS.

The trunk is a small engineering marvel, in that it can hold a significant amount. (One of the reasons we purchased the car.)

However, let's not fool ourselves. We are only able to each take one rolling airplane style carry-on bag, a toiletry/makeup bag, a backpack with electronic items, a cooler, a few extra pairs of shoes and a couple of sweaters. Hopefully we packed smartly.

We set off bravely as few days ago, and with our first game tomorrow, the excitement is growing!