| Play ball! |
Summer can mean only one thing: baseball. Here we celebrate and document our 2008 pilgrimage.
Come along, won't you? |
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| Thank god for hybrid technology |
posted by Kristina @ 8:06 PM   |
| Friday, June 27, 2008 |
Here's a rough map of where my car traveled between June 10 and June 22. Note that Jason and Google Maps differ on some preferred routes so this is not 100 percent accurate. By my quick calculations we probably could have trimmed a few hours off our driving time if my navigator had bothered to look at the atlas once in a while instead of blindly trusting Jason and his antics, but she was too busy trying not to stab herself in the jaw out of boredom from listening to me drone on and on and on and on and on and on and on. And on.
CAR STATS
Total miles recorded on the ol' Civic hybrid: Around 3,600.
MPGs: 48.
Gas burned: Approximately 75 gallons.
Most expensive gas: ~$1.34/liter in Canada.
Exchange rate during our visit: $1CA = $.97US
Cost of being bad at math and metric conversions: ~$5.21/gallon.
Total gas cost: Approximately $300.
What it would have cost to fly instead of drive: $1 kajillion. Each.
BASEBALL STATS
Stadiums visited: 5.
Home team wins: 4.
Number of times our respective favorite teams played: 3.
Number of times our respective favorite teams won: 0.
GENERAL STATS
Kristina/Shalar tiffs, smackdowns or other conflicts: 0.
Fun had: Infinite.
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| Fin |
| posted by Shalar @ 9:09 PM |
| Wednesday, June 18, 2008 |
Well, as we anticipated, midwest flooding has caused our trip this year to end a bit early. Despite the graphic, as Kris said, we didn't intend to attempt the White Sox at Cubs game this weekend because we can kind of go to Chicago anytime so didn't feel very into paying hundreds of dollars to get tickets for that. We were to end in St. Louis, however, at the new Busch Stadium which is located near the river. The Cardinals don't seem worried about being able to continue to play there this week, but we were worried about trying to navigate the trip south to get there. Many of the towns near the Mississippi down that way are evacuating and/or otherwise gearing up for bad times as their crests are expected Thursday and Friday. We just decided it wasn't worth the risk, and honestly it gave us headaches trying to keep up on road and bridge closures due to flooding. Plus all it would take is someone's levee to break and it would mess everything up. We hope to be able to catch it another time soon, it looks gorgeous. A big bummer is that my sons were supposed to join us for that game then we were going to have a little weekend vacation in St. Louis and they're very disappointed, but what can you do?
Good news is that I'm home, and Kristina is visiting family down near Burlington for a bit before heading home herself.
I'll take this opportunity to thank Kris for the really nice words on this blog for my birthday. She is an awesome travel partner as well. We have similar styles and preferences for tripping - sleep in when possible, no big concern for getting to games necessarily on time, listen to and sing 80s music on the XM radio, etc. Our one sore point of having to share a computer last year was eliminated this time, so no issues. Anyway, I'm glad we have this baseball interest to share and neither of us thinks the other is crazy for wanting to take a trip like this. I literally couldn't make this trip without her (mostly because I'm very poor and she does pretty much all of the planning. And driving, which we've covered, since we wanted to use her hybrid vehicle). So thanks, Kris, love ya! |
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| Game photos and Our Amazing Hotel Room |
| posted by Shalar @ 12:07 PM |
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I took a couple of photos at the Nats/Twins game - the first is a bad photo of Twins first baseman Justin Morneau but you can't tell so much if you don't enlarge it, so don't. The other is St. Paul native son and catcher and cutie Joe Mauer. His photo is better because I gave up on the action shots.
 
We've just gotta mention how awesome our hotel room was in Bloomington. Because of our Choice Hotels hook-up (thank you SO SO much, you know who you are!) we got an amazing rate on an expensive suite hotel room. Here's a taste of the decor of the place. The bed was the most comfortable bed I've ever experienced - super pillowy mattress, perfect pillows. You never want to get out of it, I'm serious, no lie (shout-out there to The Chicks there).  The bathroom was very posh and had awesome Bath and Body Works toiletries.  I loved it so much I already have another stay there booked, and the staff was very helpful getting that organized as well. They even have a free shuttle that takes you to the light rail station that takes you many places you'd want to go - airport, downtown Minneapolis, Metrodome, or the shuttle will take you to the Mall of America if you're into that. And picks you up when you call! It also has free wireless internet, free made-to-order hot breakfast, and free parking. One minor quibble: we're sort of sticklers for correct punctuation, and a sign requesting guests turn off lights on their way out had an apostrophe in the word "TVs" where there should not have been one. So Kris removed it. See new and improved sign below.  All in all, way thumbs-up on the accommodations. |
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| Frankie say: Welcome to the Metrodome |
| posted by Kristina @ 11:14 AM |
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Shalar says that because my friends joined us at the game Tuesday night, it's my job to post about the Metrodome Experience. (This was not the rule in Detroit, where the Butters clan enriched our visit to Comerica Park, but whatever.) Here's my take on the Metrodome Experience:
In short: BOOOO!!! HISSSSS!!! BAD TWINS! DON'T BEAT MY NATS AGAIN!!!
Aside from that, it was a most fantastic night. We caught up with my friends Beth and Casey and Beth's baby-filled belly (she's pregnant, not a carnivore!), as well as Joy and Steve and their three delightful children (all post-belly age), Louisa, Sebastian and Elias. The company was grand. The stadium was ... quiet. Not inside, by the field; Twins fans are as enthusiastic and loud as any I've come across in my travels. But out by the concessions, navigating the food and souvenir stands was a total breeze and you could've heard a pin drop. This made for an awkward moment when Justin Morneau's hit that became a two-run homer traveled across the TV screens as we were out there seeking beer and I started yelling, "NO! NO! NO! NO!!!" This gave the Twins the 2-1 lead that they eventually used to declare victory over us.
Fun fact: Our beloved Dmitri "Heavy D" Young has a brother who plays for the Twins, Delmon Young. The two faced off last night, both sporting #21, which I think is kind of cool. If my brother and I ever both become professional athletes in the same sport but on different teams, I hope we too will wear the same number.
It was a fast-paced game, and our quest for the best food in the stadium led us to miss the 7th inning stretch, which is a total bummer because I love to yell "root root root for the NATIONALS" when watching them at an away game. But the time with my friends was fantastic, even if it meant that I was responsible for the blog post later, and Casey surprised and delighted us with Twins caps that we could wear home as a souvenir of our travels to his home team's turf. Shalar put hers on immediately. Afraid of jinxes, I waited until after the Nats lost to wear mine. (Note to readers: I do own a Twins cap, a faded dark brown one that I really love, but I chose not to bring it on this trip because doing so would surely doom my Nats to a loss. It turns out I could have brought it.) Also! That gem Casey was wearing a cap of the old Washington Senators, an extremely classy simultaneous nod to baseball in D.C. and baseball in Minnesota, as our Senators became their Twins in 1961.
I didn't take many photos, so this is where the readers suffer because of Shalar's crazy new rule about me having to do the post when I've also arranged the game-time entertainment. Below is our official Metrodome photo, where I am smiling and happy because a) the game wasn't over yet and b) I didn't yet know about Shalar's crazy new rule.
Minneapolis is due to get a new stadium, sans roof, in 2010. On behalf of Twins fans everywhere, I cannot wait. Domes stink. |
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| They built it and we went |
| posted by Kristina @ 10:32 AM |
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Since we overnighted Monday in Dubuque, trying to avoid flooded roads and closed sections of interstate between Davenport and Minneapolis, we figured it was wise to get up early and swing by the Field of Dreams movie site, about 25 miles from Dubuque near Dyersville, Iowa.
     The site was pretty cool. The most awesome thing about it is that it's there and the owners of the land have decided to maintain it as a free-admission site for baseball lovers, movie buffs and tourists from everywhere. There's a souvenir shop packed with reasonably priced items and if you bring a bat and ball (we didn't), you can hit on the field.
We had a slight adventure getting there; Mr. Jason decided that paved, named roads are unnecessary and took us down a dusty gravel trail to our destination. I am not sure about Shalar but I felt pretty certain we were going to end up in the middle of nowhere with J declaring, "You have arrived at your destination!" This is basically what happened, but past experience with Jason told me to drive on a bit and sure enough, around the bend or up the hill or whatever it was, we found our goal.
There were a few other people there when we visited, including a child wearing a cap bearing the insignia of ... the Washington Nationals! I asked an adult male accompanying this child if he was a Nats fan or if this was random, as I was decked out in my Nats gear for the contest against the Twins that night. The father/uncle/brother/kidnapper/whatever he was said they have friends in Maryland who always bring the kid Nats hats. So, yeah, random.
Anyway, when you're in northeast Iowa, and I know most of you often are, the Field of Dreams site is definitely worth a detour.
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| Happy birthday, Shalar! |
| posted by Kristina @ 12:47 AM |
| Tuesday, June 17, 2008 |
Let me be the first to wish my very, very good friend and most excellent travel buddy, Shalar, a happy birthday! 39 never looked so good!
Last year my birthday fell smack in the middle of our baseball trip, and it was a fantastic day. It didn't hurt that we were on Martha's Vineyard for that leg of the trip and many friends were there to toast the happy occasion and everything was just right. This year we were aware during the planning that Shalar's birthday would be part of our experience, so let me take this opportunity to make sure she doesn't have to post her own birthday balloons.
A few words about Shalar, our birthday girl: She's awesome. I am so lucky to have known her these last, I dunno, 28 years? I can't imagine a better friend to travel with on a trip like this. She's so laid back and mellow about everything, including the many incidents of lateness that I force upon her, and even though she isn't driving an inch of the shared travel time (wait, that's not true -- she did drive us to dinner last night), she hasn't slept for even a second of the miserable hours we've spent on the road. She keeps the exhausted driver company and listens to the exhausted driver tell really tedious stories that have already been told before, often just a day earlier. She just all around rocks, and if you are reading this and you're fortunate enough to know Shalar and have her in your life, too, it'd be appropriate to take several minutes and think about how danged great she is and how much better the world is because of her.
Happy birthday, Shalar! |
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| That reminds me! |
| posted by Shalar @ 7:15 PM |
| Monday, June 16, 2008 |
Thanks, Casey, for your comment on ballpark food, because we meant to post the article from the New York Times on the best and the worst of food available in baseball venues. We keep forgetting to refer to this before we visit one, but thought their review of US Cellular was kind of funny (that nothing was worth eating). Hard to believe, though, that 1) they could not find good sausage at a ballpark in Chicago and 2) they sampled enough different foods to be able to really make that claim. Plus I like the corn, like I said. Here's the interactive graphic:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/06/08/travel/20080608_BALLPARK_GRAPHIC.html |
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