Thank You to Everyone Who Made Our Trip Possible!

Michael and I are so grateful and blessed that we had the chance to go on our baseball adventure.  We are grateful that so many people could join us along the way, offer up tickets to games, their homes for us to stay in, and of course, support at home.  In chronological order, we offer up tremendous and heartfelt thanks to the following people:

• Andy Rivera - my great brother-in-law and Michael's uncle who hooked us up with some spectacular seats at Petco Park in San Diego and to his co-worker, Jim Gunther for getting us great seats in Camden Yards in Baltimore;
• Craig Woodhouse and his wife Erika - thank you for meeting us for breakfast in San Diego on our way to L.A.
• Sanjit Das - my good friend and law school classmate who joined us in Anaheim to see the Angels game and gave us two passes to enjoy the rest of the day at Disneyland;
• Helen's Uncle Benny and Aunt Bertha for letting us stay overnight with you while we were in Los Angeles and for cooking for us while we were there;
• Randy Duran and Mike Thalblum for giving us spectacular tour of the Oakland Coliseum and making Michael's day by hooking him up with some great baseball memorabilia and to the tour guides at Dodger Stadium, Coors Field, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Nationals Park, Minute Maid Park, and the guy in the team shop at Progressive Field in Cleveland who let us in the park to take pictures - thank you for showing us a great time at your parks;
• My partner in crime and greatest of friends Roger Garcia and his daughters as well as my good friend from my undergrad days at ASU, Mike Cueto and his girlfriend for hanging out with us and joining us at AT&T Park in San Francisco for the Giants game;
• My other partner in crime, Nick Nicholes for offering up his home to us for the three days we were in Seattle, for the cool Mariners hat and Michael Pineda shirt that you got Michael that he was crazy about, and of course for joining us at Safeco Field for the Mariners game.  We think the world of you.
• Bud Withers of the Seattle Times for thinking enough of our trip to write a nice story in the paper about our adventure.  I enjoyed speaking with you and thanks again!
• My friend Brett Ingram, his wife Stacy, and his two daughters for meeting us for dinner and a great evening out while we were in Denver;
• My long-time and very close friends Dallas and Lisa Eubanks and their daughter Hannah for letting us stay with them in Kansas City.  You should know Dallas that you made a huge impression on Michael with your gift to him and joining us for the Royals game at Kauffman Stadium.  Lisa, thanks for helping with our laundry and for making us the chocolate chip cookies!  And Hannah, Michael had a great time with you - and don't forget - you need to become a Sun Devil!
• My great friends and neighbors in Chicago, Helen, Michelle, and Phyllis Dantzler.  It was great seeing you all again.  The food you made for us was great and know the memories of me growing up in my South-Side neighborhood will never go away;
• My best friend who is like a brother to me Pete Rodriguez and his son Pete, Jr. for joining our family in Chicago to see the White Sox.  It only seemed appropriate that you were there with us to see the only baseball team that matters in Chicago!  Add this to the thousand other crazy things we've done together.  Also, thanks to Pete's wife Nadine for calling her friend who runs the scoreboard at Comiskey Park in Chicago to get Michael's name up on the scoreboard.
• My former law partner Eric Wittenberg and his wife Susan.  Thanks for making the trek from Columbus to join us and sweating it out in Cincinnati for the Reds game and for dinner afterwards with Helen and Andie to celebrate Michael's birthday;
• My brother Ricky Venable and his wife Ernestine for letting us stay with them in Detroit for the three days we were there, for showing us around Detroit, and for being there with us at Comerica Park for the Tigers game.  It was great seeing you both again and it was really good to catch up with my brother after 20 years. Michael really enjoyed meeting his uncle for the first time;
• My cousins Reggie, Theresa, and Roger.  Thank you so much for driving down to meet us for lunch in Detroit.  Our visit was short, but we made up a lot of time and it was so great seeing you after all of these years;
• Doug Tammaro - the SID at ASU and fan of all things Pittsburgh.  Thanks for all of your support for the trip and passing the story on to others, including the ASU alums in Pittsburgh.  Remember, if the Pirates win the World Series this year, it's all because Michael and I visited PNC Park and picked it as our #1 park!  I look forward to seeing you soon.
• My great clients Mike Rhodes and Jeff Scher from Bodek & Rhodes.  Thank you guys so much for offering up your spectacular company seats to the Phillies game.  We truly appreciate the generosity and my son really liked Citizens Bank Park;
• My niece Kathleen Outlaw, her mother Pearl, grandmother Pearl, and Michael's cousin Turner.  Thank you all for giving us your home, driving us around, and making us feel at home in Atlanta. Michael had a great time, as always, with Turner, and it was great spending time with you Kathleen, as always.
• My great friend Matt McCarthy, his wife Karen, and their son Michael.  Thank you for having us over for dinner in Atlanta, and of course Matt for joining us at Turner Field for the Braves game.  Matt, it's always fun hanging out with you!;
• Steve Heinrichs and his son Tyler.  Steve, after all of these years of knowing you only through our fantasy football leagues, it was very cool to finally meet you and your son in person.  Thank you so much for getting those outstanding seats to the Braves game and shuttling us to the game.  We had a blast!;
• Ivan and Patsy Castillo for letting their son, one of Michael's best friend from school, Chris, fly to Tampa to join us for the rest of the trip.  Chris is a great young man and Michael was so happy to have him along for the long rides;
• Mark Crudup of the Wrangler News in Chandler, AZ.  Thank you so much for writing such a nice article on the trip and making it front page news!  Thanks for thinking enough of us to do what you did.
• To my partners and staff at work - Mike Campillo, David Logan, Joe Meaney, Carey Anthony, John Mascari, Peggy Privett, and Amiee Paprocki - thank you guys for holding the fort down and covering for me so that I could take the 7 weeks off to do the trip with Michael.  I'm very grateful having such great people to work with.
• To Michael's grandparents - Bill and Chonita Rivera.  Michael thanks you for his birthday present that you gave him that he used wisely on his trip;
• To my beautiful mother Yvonne - thank you for Michael's birthday present and for supporting us in all that we did on the trip including calling to check in on us.  I owe it all to you!  And to my dad Jack who watched over us the whole way on the trip from up above - I wished you could have been along for the ride with us;
• To anyone that supported us on Facebook or Twitter - especially my law school classmate Miche Rutledge and my friend Laura Garcia (who I know the two of you read and commented on every single blog post), and every person who we sat next to during our games or our tours who chatted with us about our trip and took our picture during the game, and to anyone who has read the blog - thank you so much for supporting us along the way.
• And finally, to the beautiful ladies in our lives, my daughter Andie and my wife Helen.  Thank you for allowing us to do this trip.  We know how hard it must have been to be without us for all of those weeks (well maybe not) having to do everything at home by yourselves and without any help.  You will have your turn one day soon to do something like this.  Without your support and encouragement, there's no way we could have ever done something like this.  We love you both so much.

Well there you have it.  If we've left anyone out, please let us know and we will be sure to add you.  

Lance and Michael