Coors Field, Denver, Colorado - Day 11 of the Trip

We just got back from our tour of Coors Field - home of the Colorado Rockies.  For the first time since we left Phoenix, we got weather that topped 70 degrees.  It is an absolutely perfect day here today - not a cloud in the sky.  Michael will provide his input in this review of the stadium as well.

So for me, I really liked the park.  That pains me to admit that because of the long-standing hatred I've had of Denver sports due to one of my closest friends Dallas Eubanks.  I met Dallas in my sophomore year at ASU.  He walked in my dorm room and the first words out of his mouth after seeing all my Chicago sports stuff on my wall was - "Dude, Chicago sports sucks especially the Bears."  Needless to say, when I found out he was from Denver, I immediately despised the Broncos, Nuggets, and later the Rockies for no other reason than him.  I took great pleasure in sitting next to him during the Broncos several Super Bowl losses back in the late 80s and early 90s.  But I digress...

Anyway, Coors Field is a great place to watch a game.  It's the largest field in the majors according to the tour guide, but it doesn't feel that big.  The outside of the stadium fits perfectly with all of the surrounding buildings.  It opened in 1995.  It looks like an old-time ballpark with all of the bricks.  

Michael in front of the stadium

Inside, it is very modern and very spacious and with some spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains to the west.  The one thing I liked is that it is not overwhelmed with ads.  It's one of the few stadiums in MLB that still operates a manual out-of-town scoreboard.  One cool feature is the row of purple seats that go around the upper deck of the stadium that marks the exact point where the elevation is 5,280 feet - one mile above sea level, which is of course why they call Denver the Mile High City.

Great view from the upper deck behind the plate

These seats have a spectacular view of the Rocky Mountains to the west (snow and all)

The Dugout

We love this picture

As you walk through the stadium, the Rockies are obsessed with the fact that they swept the Diamondbacks in the 2007 NL Championship Series.  Since I was wearing a D-Backs shirt, they made sure they reminded me of that fact.

Screw you Rockies!  The D-Backs still have one more World Series win than you.  Call us when you win one!

Anyway, overall I give it a 7.5 out of 10.  Here's Michael with his take.

Coors Field wasn't half bad.  It had great views from every seat.  The thing that I was most impressed with was the four Coca-Cola red seats in the first row on the first base side.  The suites were pretty good.  Not as good as the D-Backs though.  The dugout was sort of plain.  But the field itself was beautiful.  Overall, I would give it a 7 out of 10.

Anyway, we'll have our Denver video up by Thursday.  Tonight we are meeting another friend of mine, Brett Ingram and his family for dinner.  He also happens to be Dallas' best friend.  Tomorrow morning, we take off very early for Kansas City where we will spend the next two days there at Dallas' house (he lives there now). Our next game is Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium where we will see the Royals play the Minnesota Twins.  We will have our updated stadium rankings posted tomorrow.  Until then - later!

We made it to Denver

After a long but scenic ride from SLC, we have arrived in Denver.  FINALLY some sunny and warm weather.  The trip along I-70 through the Rocky Mountains was very cool - lots of snowy mountains.  Here are a few photos:

We're taking a rest tonight.  We have an afternoon tour at Coors Field - home of the Colorado Rockies.  We hope to have a full review of the stadium and new rankings out by tomorrow night.  If anyone has ideas for stuff to do in Denver, let us know.  We'll be here until Wednesday morning and then it's off to Kansas City to where we will hang out with my good friend Dallas Eubanks and see a Thursday game between the Royals and Twins.

A couple of pics from Salt Lake City

It was too cold and rainy to do much, but we did manage to snap a couple of pics in front of the Mormon Temple.  BTW, I got pulled over by a cop for making a right turn into the middle lane of a three-lane street when no one was around.  Okay, I know there's no crime in SLC, but really???  I started to ask him "shouldn't you be busting some real criminals" but I guess he would have said illegal right turns are about as bad as it gets here. If there's a cop out there who has EVER busted someone for doing that, please comment.  The officer, who looked like someone from Children of the Corn, let me off with a warning.  

Off to Denver

Leaving freezing Salt Lake City for some warmer weather.

Seattle Video

Michael and I had a great time in Seattle.  Thanks to my great friend Nick for letting us stay at his house.  His cat didn't terrorize us either!

Here is our Seattle video:

Our Trip Has Made the Papers!

As mentioned earlier, the I received a call from Bud Withers of the Seattle Times.  He got word of our trip and did a short story on it.  Here is the link:

Seattle Times Story

Thanks to Bud for the kind words!

Salt Lake City on a Sunday

We made it to SLC.  It's Sunday and boy is this place like a ghost town.  Not a whole lot going on here but I guess that's to be expected here on a Sunday.  Anyway, we are going to get some rest before we head out to Denver on a 10 hour drive from here through the Rocky Mountains along I-70.  We may have the Seattle video up by tonight.

Salt Lake City here we come

I bet the place is hoppin' on a Sunday!

Los Angeles Video and Pacific Coast Highway - Trip Days 2-3

Video of Los Angeles and Pacific Coast Highway - Trip Days 2-3

Latest Stadium Rankings through Seattle

Through six stadiums, here are our updated rankings.  We'll update this after each game/tour.
In a major surprise, Michael slotted Safeco as #5 out of 7.

Michael's Rankings:

1. Petco Park - San Diego Padres
2. AT&T Park - San Francisco Giants
3. Anaheim Stadium - Los Angeles Angels
4. Chase Field - Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Safeco Field - Seattle Mariners
6. Dodger Stadium - L.A. Dodgers
7. Oakland Coliseum - Oakland A's

Lance's Rankings:

1. AT&T Park
2. Petco Park
3. Safeco Field
4. Chase Field
5. Anaheim Stadium
6. Dodger Stadium
7. Oakland Coliseum

Boise, Idaho - Trip Day 8

We made it to Boise.  It was a long day, but we saw some beautiful scenery.  We drove back down to Portland and drove across the Columbia River Gorge.  Lots of green, mountains, and waterfalls.  We avoided the rain again, but it has been quite chilly (low 50s).

Tomorrow we head out for a 6-hour drive to Salt Lake City.  Before we leave, Michael wants to check out the Boise St. football field (the all blue one).  After Salt Lake City, we make it in to Denver on Monday before we tour Coors Field on Tuesday.

Safeco Field - Seattle Mariners - Day 7

Michael and I had a relaxing morning and then an afternoon of seeing Seattle's main tourist attractions - the Pikes Place Market and the Space Needle.  The weather was chilly although we dodged the rain for the day.  After seeing the sights, we drove over to Safeco Field and grabbed a spot in the right field bleachers to see if Michael could make up for that annoying kid who snagged his baseball at AT&T Park on Tuesday during batting practice.  And low and behold he got one (see below)!!  The kid snagged a home run ball in the first row!  He said we can go home now.  I say there's more balls to be gotten!

Anyway, Safeco Field is a beautiful park.  When we first came in, the roof was closed.  About 6:30, the sun came out and they opened that bad boy up to let the sunshine in.  Here was the view from our seats:

The view of downtown Seattle is great.  The people around us were friendly and in a good mood since the team was playing the Yankees.  The Mariners came from behind to win the game 4-3.  It was great seeing the game with my old college roommate and best friend Nick.  He's a Seattle native and a diehard Mariners fan.  I had been to Safeco twice before so I knew what to expect.  Michael seems to have been spoiled by Petco and AT&T so he wasn't as thrilled about the stadium as if he had seen it first.  But he liked it nonetheless and we had a great time at the game.

Also, we got a call from a reporter at the Seattle Times who was tipped off about our trip from someone who had seen this blog back in Phoenix.  Apparently, he was going to write a short story and put it in Saturday's Seattle Times.  There is an online version of the paper so if someone sees an article on it before I do, send me the link or post it in a comment.

Our next destination is a tour of Coors Field in Denver on Tuesday - home of the Colorado Rockies. We make stops in Boise, ID and Salt Lake City, UT.  We take off bright and early tomorrow morning to Boise, Idaho.  It's a very long ride but it is very scenic.  We'll be traveling along I-84 through the Columbia River gorge (the same route Lewis and Clark took to reach the Pacific Ocean).  We'll post some updates tomorrow.  Until then, it's bedtime!

Pikes Place Market

Michael and I at the top of the Space Needle

The Space Needle

It was Vegas night at the ballpark.  That's Ichrio in an Elvis outfit

Michael and I with my great friend Nick

I caught a baseball at Safeco Field!!

It's Michael.

I just caught a HARD line drive from a batting practice home run in right field at Safeco Field before the Mariners/Yankees game.  Now I know what it's going to feel like when I'm in the big leagues!!

I give Safeco Field a 6 out of 10.  My dad and I will have our new rankings out tomorrow night.  Tune in to see where we place Safeco.

Video from day 1 of the trip in San Diego

Here is our second video.  It was a quick day in SD, but Petco Park was great!  Note the speed on the last pitch of the radar gun - he gets it all from his old man! ;)

Our first video - San Francisco

Here's my first attempt to put a video together.  I'm going to do this for each city.  I hope you like it.

We promised Michael's pitching instructor some pub

Michael's pitching instructor at Extra Innings in Tempe, Greg Minton, is a great guy and he also was a legendary pitcher for the San Francisco Giants and was inducted into their Hall of Fame.  He's done wonders to help improve Michael's pitching.  We promised we'd take a photo of his plaque outside of AT&T Park so here it is:

Short video of us during batting practice at AT&T Park

Perfect evening for baseball in San Francisco

We made it to Seattle - Trip Day 6

Yesterday afternoon when we got into Eugene, we drove around the U. of Oregon campus.  It's very nice and very green.  The people at the restaurant who we talked to couldn't have been nicer.  The new basketball facility looks incredible from the outside.

We snapped this one in front of the Univ. of Oregon football stadium

Today, after a short drive up from Eugene and we are in Seattle.  We're actually getting some sun although it's been a fairly cloudy day with the temps in the mid-50s.  The ride up was kind of disappointing since we didn't get to see either Mt. St. Helens or Mt. Ranier.  On a clear day up I-5, you get some spectacular views of those places.  Anyway, today and tomorrow are relaxation days.  We'll probably check out some sites tomorrow before the big Yankees/Mariners game such as the Pikes Place Market and the Space Needle.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.  

We'll be here until Saturday morning when we take off on a 3-day trip to Denver with stops in Boise, Salt Lake City, and then to Denver where we will get a tour of Coors Field and hope to meet up with another friend of mine, Brett, who I knew from my undergrad days at ASU.  The forecast for Denver next Tuesday for the tour looks to be mid-70s and sunny!

A couple of notes on the trip.  Michael has been doing fantastic.  No whining or complaining and he hasn't shown a single sign of home sickness.  We miss mom and sis and the family, but we've already Skyped a couple of times which makes things much easier to handle.  Another note is that we are eating healthy to make sure we don't come back weighing 30 lbs more than when we left.  We worked out in the gym at the hotel last night and will do that at every hotel we stay at - 30 minutes each on the treadmill and some weights.  Teaching him to do laundry too today.  He'll be posting more on the blog now that we have settled in on the trip.  His takes are much more interesting than mine right?

Safeco Field from I-5

One last note - our blog is getting lots of hits now - over 100 just today so far.  Thanks for all of you who are visiting.  Please post comments!  We love hearing from people - even those we don't know.

Emerald City here we come!

We're taking off from Eugene this morning to Seattle to stay with one of my best friends and college roommate Nick.  Nick has spent the past few days putting the fear of God into Michael (and me for that matter) because we have to endure his cat who is literally possessed by the devil.  The cat's name is Puma and it is as black as a cat can be and only has eyes for Nick.  The cat will literally attack you and try to dismember you.  Michael wants no part of the cat and wants us to stay in a hotel instead.  I've assured him that you just need to carry a belt around and fight it off if he gets in the attack position.

Other than the cat, we are looking forward to spending a couple of days in Seattle.  The forecast calls for rain and mid-50s for weather for today and tomorrow.  It shouldn't be a problem for the game since Safeco has a retractable roof.  Tomorrow night, we get to see our first view of the Yankees and our second of four games with the Mariners.  The nice thing about staying with a friend in a house is that we get to do some laundry.

Anyway, more later today.

Stadium Rankings

So far, we've seen five stadiums (and of course we've been to Chase Field a number of times).  So here are our rankings through 5 days in the trip.  We'll update this after each game/tour.

Michael's Rankings:

1. Petco Park
2. AT&T Park
3. Anaheim Stadium
4. Chase Field
5. Dodger Stadium
6. Oakland Coliseum

Lance's Rankings:

1. AT&T Park
2. Petco Park
3. Chase Field
4. Anaheim Stadium
5. Dodger Stadium
6. Oakland Coliseum

Bad News Bears

To pass the time on the trip, Michael has been watching some classic movies that he's old enough to check out now.  He's seen Ferris Buehler and Major League for the first time.  Today's movie was the Bad News Bears.  By far, it is his new favorite movie of all time.  Tanner Boyle is his new hero.  I forgot how funny that movie was.  That movie could never be made today - way too politically incorrect.  Buttermaker would have been arrested for child abuse today.  The kids were flipping each other off during the game.  Tanner Boyle was hilarious.  But if you played little league in the 70s as I did, that's how it was.  Michael was losing his breath he laughed so hard.  Anyway, tomorrow's movie is Field of Dreams - one of my favorites of all time.  Definitely one of the few movies where guys get choked up.  That final scene still gets me.

Here is the schedule again.

5/21 - San Diego (Seattle @ SD) Petco Park

5/22 - Los Angeles - tour Dodgers Stadium (morning)
5/22 - Los Angeles - (Atlanta @ L.A. Angels) - Anaheim Stadium
5/24 - Oakland - tour Oakland Colliseum (morning)
5/24 - San Francisco - (Florida @ SF) AT&T Park
5/27 - Seattle - (NY Yankees @ Seattle) Safeco Field
5/31 - Denver - tour Coors Field
6/2 - Kansas City - (Minnesota @ KC) Kauffman Stadium
6/3 - St. Louis - (Cubs @ St. Louis) - Busch Stadium
6/5 - Chicago - tour Wrigley Field
6/6 - Chicago - (Seattle @ White Sox) US Cellular Field
6/7 - Milwaukee - (NY Mets @ Milwaukee) Miller Park
6/8 - Cincinnati - (Cubs @ Cincinnati) - Great American Park
6/10 - Detroit (Seattle @ Detroit) - Comerica Park
6/11 - Cleveland - tour Progressive Field
6/12 - Pittsburgh - (NY Mets @ Pittsburgh) - PNC Park
6/14 - Toronto CA - (Baltimore @ Toronto) - Rodgers Centre
6/16 - Cooperstown NY - Tour Baseball Hall of Fame Museum
6/19 - Boston - (Milwaukee @ Boston) - Fenway Park
6/22 - New York - (Oakland @ NY Mets) - Citi Field
6/24 - New York - (Colorado @ NY Yankees) - Yankee Stadium
6/25 - Philadelphia - (Oakland @ Philadelphia) - Citizens Bank Park
6/26 - Baltimore - (Cincinnati @ Baltimore) - Camden Yards
6/27 - Washington DC - tour Nationals Park
7/1 - Atlanta - (Baltimore @ Atlanta) - Turner Field
7/3 - Tampa Bay - (St. Louis @ Tampa) - Tropicana Field
7/5 - Houston - tour Minute Maid Park
7/6 - Dallas - (Baltimore @ Texas) - Rangers Ballpark
7/13 - Phoenix - 2011 MLB All-Star Game at Chase Field

We made it to Eugene, OR

Great ride up to Eugene.  But it was cold, rainy, and even snowy all the way up to the Oregon border.  We finally got some sun about 150 miles south of Eugene.  Tomorrow we get up early and bolt up to Seattle.  The next game is Friday night at Safeco Field.  We're going to take a drive over to the Univ. of Oregon and see the campus and grab a bite.

It's snowing in Shasta CA

Nasty weather

It's cold and rainy and apparently will be that way until Monday on our trip. Thank God Seattle has a roof!

Trip - Day 5

On the way to Eugene, Oregon.

AT&T Park - San Francisco Giants

Golden Gate Bridge

Great view of the Bay from Right Field

Mike, Me, Michael and Roger

AT&T Park is unbelievable.  This is what we saw from our seats.

We just got back from our game at AT&T Park where the Marlins beat the Giants 5-1.  All we can say about the ballpark is WOW!!  I liked Petco Park, but this is baseball heaven here.  The park sits in the Embarcadero in San Francisco.  Right field backs up against the San Francisco Bay.  If you hit it out, it goes in the water.  It was a cold and blistery evening in SF, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

We attended the game with one of my best friends Roger and his two cute little daughters (they lasted 5 innings) and another good friend of mine Mike and his girlfriend Sarah.  We got their early so we could check out batting practice.  Michael almost got a ball tossed to him from one of the Marlins' players, but some little kid ran right in front of him and stole the ball from him.  Needless to say, Michael wasn't happy.  The stadium is absolutely beautiful.  Great sight lines, great food, and great atmosphere.  I think the thing I was most impressed with were the Giants fans.  The place sold out on a Tuesday night and the fans were loud, enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about baseball.  Even though the Giants were losing 5-0 in the bottom of the 9th, about 2/3 of the fans stayed around to see the end of the game.  It was something the people in Phoenix should learn from.  Chase Field is dead even when things are going well.

Overall, I give that stadium a 9.5/10.  Michael still thinks Petco is better.  He gave Petco a 9/10 and AT&T 8/10.  Oakland was a 2 for me, but Michael says 4.  The Bay Area portion of the trip has been fantastic!

Tomorrow morning, we wake up early and head to Eugene, Oregon for a quick stop over before we drive to Seattle on Thursday for a game Friday night at Safeco Field.  The weather forecast looks really bad for the next several days.  It's supposed to rain and be in the mid 50s for the next 5 days of our trip.  Hopefully, we'll see some sun.  We've been spoiled with the weather so far.

More tomorrow.

Perfect day in San Francisco

Michael and I at the Golden Gate Bridge!

I found this sign in the A's locker room to be very funny

Mass in the Raiders locker room?? I bet Raider Nation doesn't know about this.

Oakland A's Coliseum Tour - Day 4

We just got back from Oakland and our tour of the Oakland Coliseum where the A's play.  Michael had a GREAT time!  Most people know that the stadium is one of the older stadiums and it's shared with the Oakland Raiders.  It's not the most aesthetically pleasing places, but the people that work there more than make up for whatever deficiencies the building has.  Our tour guide Randy Duran was very cool.  Since it was just Michael and I on the tour, we got all the attention.  We did the usual stuff - press box, field level, dugout, suites etc.  But when we got to the clubhouse we met up with Mike Thalblum who manages the clubhouse.  He was happy to see us (he's from Scottsdale) and hooked us up big time!  He gave Michael a couple of signed bats from Kurt Suzuki, several signed balls (Bert Blyleven, a World Series ball signed by Dustin Pedroia, and a couple of others that we couldn't make out who they were, but we will find out soon), some A's hats and a few other things.  Then on the way out, Randy hooked him up with an A's back pack that had some more t-shirts, hats and other goodies in it.  

Overall, it was a GREAT experience.  We took the BART subway back to our hotel in San Fran, and now we're headed out to see the sights before going to the Giants game tonight.

Thanks Mike for all the A's gear and letting us see the locker room!

Michael with his signed Kurt Suzuki and Mark Ellis bats.

Out on the Coliseum field

Heading to Oakland for our tour of the A's stadium

Michael gets to take his first subway ride today.  We're getting ready to walk over to the Powell St. BART station to take the subway to the Oakland Coliseum.  Pictures will follow later this morning.

Drive to San Francisco

A long day it was.  We took off from Bellflower about 6:15 and endured some horrific L.A. traffic.  We didn't get to Santa Monica until about 7:45 and then we finally hit the Pacific Coast Highway.  The scenery on PCH was tremendous!  The trip was going great until we got past San Luis Obispo about 30 miles only to find that the road was closed for a mud/rock slide.  So instead of getting to see Big Sur and the rest of the PCH, we had to turn around and double back.  That added 1.5 hours to the trip, which sucked.

After heading east back to US 101, we took it to Monterey and drove the rest of the trip along the PCH.  We got into San Francisco around 6:30 pm and headed to our hotel.  Michael and I had dinner over at Fisherman's Wharf and drove back to the hotel via Lombard St.

It should be a great day tomorrow.  A tour at the Oakland Colliseum at 10 and then an Alcatraz tour, a trip to the Golden Gate Bridge, and then a 7pm game over at AT&T Park - Marlins vs Giants.  We'll be joined one of my best friends Roger Garcia and his family.  We'll be taking the BART over to Oakland which will be Michael's first train ride.  More tomorrow.

It's me Michael

I had another great day with my dad. we went down to fisherman's wharf they had the best clam chowder ever. tomorrow i go to a train that goes under the pacific ocean to Oakland to see a tour of their stadium. and I also had my first beignet so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!! yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope this trip never ends :)

Pacific Coast Highway

Michael on PCH about 60 miles south of San Fran.

Dodger Stadium and Anaheim Stadium - Day 2

Long day today.  We took off at 6:30 from San Diego and stopped off to have breakfast with our Cousin Craig Woodhouse who generously treated us to breakfast and then bolted up I-5 to Dodger Stadium for a 10:00 am tour.  We made it a little early and we managed to get a few pictures outside of the stadium.  I had never been to Dodger Stadium so I was quite surprised at the fact you enter the stadium at the top level in the highest point of the upper deck.  The stadium is the 3rd oldest in the majors - it opened in 1962.

The tour was great.  Michael had a blast.  We got to go out on the field and the grass was as perfectly manicured as I had ever seen.  The stadium seemed a bit crypt-like though.  From what people had told me in the past, I expected a place with much more character.  There was a lot of history we saw on the tour.  The walls are filled with old pictures of when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn and the memorabilia from their four world championships since moving to L.A. in 1959.  Hanging out in the dugout and then later sitting in the press box was very cool.  Anybody who knows anything about baseball knows that Vin Scully is perhaps the greatest baseball announcer who ever lived and seeing where he works is a treat for any baseball fan.  Michael thoroughly enjoyed it.  He thought the suite seats were very cool too.  Overall, we gave Dodger Stadium a 3 stars out of 5.

After the tour, we jetted back down I-5 to Anaheim to catch the 12:30 game between the Braves and the Angels.  Anaheim is another one of those older stadiums.  It opened in 1966 and has been renovated a couple of times.  The stadium looks great and the fans are actually pretty knowledgeable.  It turned out to be a great day for baseball as the sun broke through about the 3rd inning and we enjoyed 70 degrees for the rest of the afternoon.  As mentioned in an earlier post, our seats were not nearly as good as last night's Padres' seats.  We sat in the upper deck, but the view was still great.  Anaheim has this really nice rock formation in the left field area with a waterfall.  We went to the game with my law school buddy Sanjit Das.  Michael got to see his first home run of the trip thanks to Tori Hunter.  Anyway, the game was great - the Angels won 4-1.

Then we took off to Disneyland for a few hours thanks to the free tickets Sanjit hooked us up with.  Michael had a blast, but we did wait about 45 minutes to get on Space Mountain only to have the ride shutdown.  On the way out we stopped and got some beignets (not sure if I spelled that right).  Michael thought he had died and gone to heaven.  I told him we would have some more when we stop in New Orleans later in the trip.  We then headed over to Michael's aunt's house in Bellflower for the night.  Tomorrow morning, we get up bright and early and head to San Francisco via the Pacific Coast Highway, which should be a treat.  No games tomorrow, but we have an early tour of the A's stadium in Oakland on Tuesday and then a night game at AT&T Park in San Francisco to see the Giants play.  So far, it's been a great trip just 2 days in.

We've just seen Dodger and Anaheim Stadiums - where do we want to go now?

We're going to Disneyland! Thanks to my friend Sanjit for the free tickets!

Angels Stadium

These seats aren't nearly as sweet as the ones from last night :)

Michael touching the grass at Dodger Stadium

Petco Park, San Diego

Day 1 of the trip is in the books.  After a nice 5.5 hour ride to SD from Chandler, AZ, Michael and I spent a couple of hours relaxing at our hotel near the park.  We headed over to the park around 5:30 and hung out by walking around the park until game time.  All we can say is that Petco is a beautiful park!  The park is nestled right in between the downtown area with a great view from just about anywhere.  From the upper deck in right field, you can see the Pacific Ocean and the Coronado Bridge.

The park seems small, but it is actually the perfect size with a lot of character including the Western Metals building in left field.  We certainly enjoyed the game and lucked out tremendously with our seats.  Major props to my brother-in-law Andy who scored us his company seats for the game, which were in the first row behind the Padres' dugout.  The people around us were great and the food was good too.  The Padres didn't do much in the game as they lost 4-0 to the Seattle Mariners.  But it was enjoyable nonetheless.  No homers, but plenty of good action including a Mariner who was gunned down at the plate in the middle of the game.

Anyway, tomorrow we get up early and head to L.A. for a 10:00am tour of Dodger Stadium, and then we jet down to Anaheim immediately after the tour for a 12:30 game between the Atlanta Braves and the Anaheim Angels with a friend of mine from law school.  When the game is over, we are going over to Disneyland for a few hours before staying the night with a nearby relative.  More pics and video to follow tomorrow.

Michael hit 55 on the radar gun.

Coolest seats ever!

Thank you brother in law Andy for hooking us up!!!

This was us right before we left this morning.

We made it to San Diego. Game in a couple of hours!

San Diego or Bust!!

The big day is finally here. The car is packed and we are outta here at 8:00 am for San Diego and a game tonight at Petco Park - Padres vs Mariners.

So far, no sign of the rapture. I think we're good to go! Lots of pictures and video to follow on the blog.

Lance and Michael

Here's the schedule...

5/21 - San Diego (Seattle @ SD) Petco Park

5/22 - Los Angeles - tour Dodgers Stadium (morning)
5/22 - Los Angeles - (Atlanta @ L.A. Angels) - Anaheim Stadium
5/24 - Oakland - tour Oakland Colliseum (morning)
5/24 - San Francisco - (Florida @ SF) AT&T Park
5/27 - Seattle - (NY Yankees @ Seattle) Safeco Field
5/31 - Denver - tour Coors Field
6/2 - Kansas City - (Minnesota @ KC) Kauffman Stadium
6/3 - St. Louis - (Cubs @ St. Louis) - Busch Stadium
6/5 - Chicago - tour Wrigley Field
6/6 - Chicago - (Seattle @ White Sox) US Cellular Field
6/7 - Milwaukee - (NY Mets @ Milwaukee) Miller Park
6/8 - Cincinnati - (Cubs @ Cincinnati) - Great American Park
6/10 - Detroit (Seattle @ Detroit) - Comerica Park
6/11 - Cleveland - tour Progressive Field
6/12 - Pittsburgh - (NY Mets @ Pittsburgh) - PNC Park
6/14 - Toronto CA - (Baltimore @ Toronto) - Rodgers Centre
6/16 - Cooperstown NY - Tour Baseball Hall of Fame Museum
6/19 - Boston - (Milwaukee @ Boston) - Fenway Park
6/22 - New York - (Oakland @ NY Mets) - Citi Field
6/24 - New York - (Colorado @ NY Yankees) - Yankee Stadium
6/25 - Philadelphia - (Oakland @ Philadelphia) - Citizens Bank Park
6/26 - Baltimore - (Cincinnati @ Baltimore) - Camden Yards
6/27 - Washington DC - tour Nationals Park
7/1 - Atlanta - (Baltimore @ Atlanta) - Turner Field
7/3 - Tampa Bay - (St. Louis @ Tampa) - Tropicana Field
7/5 - Houston - tour Minute Maid Park
7/6 - Dallas - (Baltimore @ Texas) - Rangers Ballpark
7/13 - Phoenix - 2011 MLB All-Star Game at Chase Field

In 24 hours the adventure begins!!

Today is our final day in AZ until July 7th.  As excited as Michael and I are to go on our big trip, we know we will get homesick and miss our family.  Helen and Andie will join us on the trip for a couple of the weeks we are gone, but it will still be hard being away for that long without them and it will also be tough not having our parents around.  But thanks to the miracle of Skype and Face Time we will still be able to see them.

Before we begin the trip, I want to specifically thank my wife Helen for allowing Michael and I to do this and being so supportive.  I know I will return the favor when it comes time for her and Andie to go on a big adventure.

Today I go pick up the rental car and pack it all up.  Starting tonight, we will begin posting regularly here on the blog.  I encourage everyone to post comments to make us feel at home.  We will post lots of pictures and fun videos of the trip. 

Anyway, as we head out to San Diego tomorrow morning, I thought this would be very appropriate:

Less than 3 days to go!

Michael's last day of school is Friday (I got him out a week early just for this - and yes I did get the Principal's approval - he happens to be a big baseball fan).  My last day of work is tomorrow.  The packing begins tonight.  Tomorrow night it's dinner with my daughter who I won't see for a couple of weeks, and then Friday afternoon I go pick up the rental car. 

After 12 years of planning, saving, and waiting, it's almost here and we can't wait!

5 Days and Counting

Still lots left to do.  A trip or two to Target is necessary and we still have to figure out a few things to do while in the NY and D.C. area.  The actual packing begins tomorrow night.  We got Skype up and running too over the weekend.

I also got my first glance of California weather for the 7-day forecast.  It looks like San Diego and L.A. have only been up in the mid 60s.  San Francisco has actually been cold - mid 50s at night.  Hopefully, the trip up the coast will be clear and warm by next week!

8 days to go

We're into the final weekend before we head out a week from tomorrow morning.  Still quite a few things to do, but we just got word that the final set of tickets to the Baltimore Orioles game will be here by Monday or Tuesday, and our relatives in L.A. confirmed we will be staying with them overnight.  I also spoke to my friend Dallas who lives in KC.  He confirmed we're good to go staying at his house and that they are looking forward to us being there in early June.

The focus now will be for us to spend a lot of time with our family since 6.5 weeks away will be a long time.  I will get the last details taken care of for the things we plan on doing in each city unrelated to baseball.  We are still open to ideas.  Anyway, more tomorrow...

The countdown is on - 9 days until launch

With 9 days left until we head out, things are starting to get serious.  Packing will start early next week.  This weekend we've got to go to Target and get all of the essentials for the trip and a week from tomorrow I have to go pick up the rental car.  A trip that has been 11 years in the making is now just over a week away. 

The real good news is that yesterday we found out that Michael's wrist is not broken and that he only has to wear a removable cast for four weeks.  He will get it off on his birthday - June 8th.  We will be spending lots of family time together this weekend as it will be the last weekend with the ladies of the house until they come to meet us in Chicago the first weekend of June. 

Anyway, more updates tomorrow!

Down to final two weeks

Michael and I are fired up going into the final two weeks before the big trip.  And in honor of us being fired up, I thought I'd post one of my favorite pics of Michael "firing" the ball in for a strike at Big League Dreams Park.  My wife did something really nice yesterday without us knowing - she contacted all of the MLB teams to see if they could do something special for us when we are in town for a game.  So far, no luck she said, but we're still hoping!

Update to the schedule - had to rearrange the game/tour in Chicago.

Because of the Cubs (of course) not offering tours on 6/4, we had to change our schedule to the tour on 6/5.

Here is the modified schedule for our big trip:

5/21 - San Diego (Seattle @ SD) Petco Park

5/22 - Los Angeles - tour Dodgers Stadium (morning)

5/22 - Los Angeles - (Atlanta @ L.A. Angels) - Anaheim Stadium

5/24 - Oakland - tour Oakland Colliseum (morning)

5/24 - San Francisco - (Florida @ SF) AT&T Park

5/27 - Seattle - (NY Yankees @ Seattle) Safeco Field

5/31 - Denver - tour Coors Field

6/2 - Kansas City - (Minnesota @ KC) Kauffman Stadium

6/3 - St. Louis - (Cubs @ St. Louis) - Busch Stadium

6/5 - Chicago - tour Wrigley Field

6/6 - Chicago - (Seattle @ White Sox) US Cellular Field

6/7 - Milwaukee - (NY Mets @ Milwaukee) Miller Park

6/8 - Cincinnati - (Cubs @ Cincinnati) - Great American Park

6/10 - Detroit (Seattle @ Detroit) - Comerica Park

6/11 - Cleveland - tour Progressive Field

6/12 - Pittsburgh - (NY Mets @ Pittsburgh) - PNC Park

6/14 - Toronto CA - (Baltimore @ Toronto) - Rodgers Centre

6/16 - Cooperstown NY - Tour Baseball Hall of Fame Museum

6/19 - Boston - (Milwaukee @ Boston) - Fenway Park

6/22 - New York - (Oakland @ NY Mets) - Citi Field

6/24 - New York - (Colorado @ NY Yankees) - Yankee Stadium

6/25 - Philadelphia - (Oakland @ Philadelphia) - Citizens Bank Park

6/26 - Baltimore - (Cincinnati @ Baltimore) - Camden Yards

6/27 - Washington DC - tour Nationals Park

7/1 - Atlanta - (Baltimore @ Atlanta) - Turner Field

7/3 - Tampa Bay - (St. Louis @ Tampa) - Tropicana Field

7/5 - Houston - tour Minute Maid Park

7/6 - Dallas - (Baltimore @ Texas) - Rangers Ballpark

7/13 - Phoenix - 2011 MLB All-Star Game at Chase Field

Unfortunately, we won't be able to see the Twins and Marlins.  They are not in town when we are in the area and the trips were too far out of the way just to get a tour.

Less than 3 weeks to go!

Well, the final touches are being put on the trip itinerary.  We're putting a list of things to do other than baseball games and tours on the trip.  If anyone has any suggestions, please post them.