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.