Home Sweet Home August 1, 2008

Our last day of our adventure started off by getting going at 9 and out the door by 10. We had a small breakfast at my aunt’s house so we were set till lunch time. We stopped in Centerville for some good ole’ BBQ at Woody’s Smokehouse, where we sat and enjoyed our meal. We made very good time by arriving at the Howeth’s house at 245. We got Jason and Josh’s stuff and Gray took me home then was on to take the car to the shop for an oil change. Technically that was the end of our fabulous trip. Although I had Astros tickets tonight and only Jason went with me and my little brother and my dad. It was actually the most exciting game yet. Tied 3-3 in the 8^th inning and Loretta hits a pinch hit grand slam!! The crowd went nuts. We finished with the weekly Friday Night Fireworks. A perfect ending to a baseball fanatic’s dream trip. Memories were made and experiences will never be forgotten. I know I had a blast on the trip and writing this blog. I am probably thinking about writing one for my college team, the University of Texas at Dallas Comets. But we will see. Goodbye and thank you to all the readers out there!

 

Good night and so long.

-Kyle Guest

Feels Good to Be Back in Texas

Our final day of heavy driving started off bright and early at 630. Although that was just me while all the other guys laid around in the beds. We got out of Jason’s second cousin’s house by 720 to find McDonalds for the last time. Not to mention there wasn’t much of a choice. We made good time by stopping in Texarkana for lunch. We tried looking for a Subway on the GPS but it could not find its location. But we headed down the road a little bit to find a Whataburger. It tasted extremely good after not having a burger like that for a while. We made our way to Denton where Jason had to sign his lease for his apartment for next year. That kind of slowed us down because of the rush hour traffic we hit in Dallas. We made it to my Aunt Kim’s house by 530 or so to receive our first Mexican food meal in forever. We swallowed that up quickly and made our way over to the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

 

Jason’s Stadium Review:  

The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington was a very nice ballpark. Probably built very recently, and it shows. I could definitely tell that I was in Texas again. Not too many people showed up to the game, but that’s okay because I felt at home still being a half-Rangers fan. The Jumbotron had a stupid setting at the highest point of the stadium, where a good 4000 people could not see it. The seating was very nice and comfortable and the gigantic Starbucks cup in left-center field made me want a frappucinno. That’s really all I have about this stadium. It’s a nice home away from home, when I can’t see my Astros. I can come and support my Rangers.

 It’s been fun. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe I will do my own on the next trip. Adieu.

 

Kyle’s Souvenir of the Game: I can honestly say that there was no true item of the game. I think we were either out of money or all of us got something different or unique that we all collect. Gray got the helmet sundae, Jason collected his usual shotglass, Josh purchased his usual scorecard and a deck of cards, and I got a collector’s pin. So overall it was a mixture of things.

 

We met up with one of our old youth pastors that moved up here to this area, Ben Davis. He brought his wife Missy and son Jackson along, and boy was he a lot of fun. Our seats were on the front row of the upper deck home run porch so to speak. We couldn’t see the video board or really understand the announcer but I think we just wanted to take a break from all of that and just watch the game. The Rangers ended up losing 8-5 but had to come back in the bottom of the ninth. We came back to my aunt’s house and settled down for the night. We make our final trip back home and 3 of us are going to complete the trip with another hometown Astros game and collect our Lance Berkman bobbleheads. Finally get to sleep in our own beds tomorrow.

On the Road Again July 30, 2008

Our morning started off early which some of the other guys didn’t want to get up but with 12 hours of traveling ahead of us,  we got on the road about 745. We drove a little bit to find breakfast at…….you guessed it, MCDONALDS!!!  We also found a Starbucks to wake us up a little bit, or at least the driver. Josh and I slept in the back to charge up for driving. There wasn’t much activity outside of that besides lunch at Sonic in White House, Tennessee. We arrived at Jason’s second cousin Sidney’s house. He is a very nice man who lives in a small town of Tunica, Mississippi. We got there around 745 and were shown to the bed rooms. We sat down and talked for a while because he is a sport fanatic like the rest of us. He then cooked us up some steaks and salads which we amazing. It was very pleasing to have some good hearty steak meat in a while. After dinner, he said he was going to sleep at a friend’s house and said he leaves his house for his daughters and their children all the time. I think we felt bad for having him leave us his house, but he said make yourself at home. So we had the whole house to ourselves when all we need was just the roof. All in all, he is a very generous man and we are all very tired. Another 8 hours of unfamiliar road. Last big drive!

Cleveland July 29,2008

Another day under the roof felt extremely nice, except we didn’t get to sleep in as much but it was well worth getting up for what we were about to do today. We left Gray’s relatives house by 1030 or so to head to Progressive Field in Cleveland. We arrived at the ballpark just in time to take the 130 tour. This tour was much more worth the one we took in Boston. We got to go inside a party suite which holds 40 people and they also have dugout suites at field level. We also got to go into the actual dugout and batting cages and were extremely close to the club house. After the tour we were on our way to our campsite to set up when Mrs Jodon called and said there was rain in the forecast so we tried to go get our refund from the campsite but they didn’t allow us. We decided that we would find a hotel towards the way we were headed after the game after traveling an hour or so. This would also cut down on our driving time the next day a little bit. We headed towards the stadium about 545 and went to our seats.

 

Jason’s Stadium Review: Progressive Field: Even after 15 years of life, Progressive Field (aka Jacobs Field, aka The Jake) is one of the premiere ballparks in America. The mini-monster (such as the Green Monster in Boston) in left field, the bleacher seats in centerfield (as the ones in Wrigley Field), the Restaurant in the Left Field foul area and the monuments in centerfield. The Jake is a great ballpark. My favorite feature was after Take Me Out To The Ball Game, they played a song where during the chorus, they spell out O-H-I-O. With motions. It makes it a great experience, even when the Indians are losing. The fans are pretty spirited as well, because as I just said the Indians were losing, but the atmosphere was still pretty electrifying.

 

Kyle’s Souvenir of the Game: There was a deal of the game. 2 adjustable Indians caps for only $30. Gray and I took the deal to get some sweet looking hats. They are definitely worth wearing many times in the future.

 

The Tribe fans weren’t very enthusiastic although their team was losing so we didn’t get a very good feel for the crowd. After the game we headed south towards our hotel for the night to miss the rain. Tomorrow is a long road day back to the South. Yes!

Pittsburgh July 28,2008

We all got up around different times, but whatever time it was when we did was considered sleeping in. Gray’s parents and family were here to greet us when we came in last night. Gray’s dad made us breakfast which was excellent (heck of a lot better than McDonalds). We stayed downstairs and played PS3 and Scattagories, so it was kinda just a hang out day to rest until the game. We had an amazing dinner right before we left at 530. We had a little trouble getting out of New Eagle because of a closed bridge and then had more trouble finding a parking lot  around the stadium because of another closed bridge for the game. But we got into the stadium right as the game started.

 

Jason’s Stadium Review: PNC Park: Aside from the mere 15,000 fans at the Pirates v. Rockies game, PNC was a nice ball park with fun quirks. Located on one of the rivers, homers into the river are occasional, but still often. The pirate mascot was very festive, but the fan favorite was the Parrot. He was probably one of the funniest mascots I’ve ever seen. We kept trying to do the “text your message” thing, which was supposed to be shown on the LCD screens on the seating decks, however none of our messages got through, which was a little disappointing. However once we moved down to better seats that we didn’t pay for, the game was much more fun and easier to get invested in.

 

Kyle’s Souvenir of the Game: The yellow and black Pirate sword. This item was kind of a no-brainer because it resembled the Braves red tomahawk, but  the stadium doesn’t use them for anything particular. But it was fun to wave around a Pirate orientated ballpark.

 

We started off in our original seats next to Gray’s dad, brother and his 2 cousins. Cole and his 2 cousins snuck down to the field level and sat in seats with no one else in them. So we made our way down to the seats next to them and stayed there for the rest of the game. The Pirates ended up winning 8-4. On our way out, we forgot that we didn’t get a picture of us with the stadium in the background. So when we tried to run back in, the security stopped us and they asked us why we needed back in. Josh quickly thought on his feet and said he lost his cell phone when it was just in his pocket. So the guy took us back to the seats we said we were sitting at and Josh pulls his phone out of his pocket and said he found it. Then we randomly ask him if we can get a picture of us and he snapped the picture off. I couldn’t help but laugh the whole time. So we made our way back to New Eagle about 1025. We made it back and played around some more before we went to bed. Tomorrow its off to Cleavland.

City of Brotherly Love

Philidelphia  July 27,2008

 

After a great nights sleep in a nice warm bed, we  woke up at 8 and hit the door running. We drove into Philly around 11 and parked pretty much right next to the stadium for a very cheap price compared to Boston’s right  across the street parking. We were thinking about going to see the Liberty Bell but it was 3 miles away from the stadium. Only one of the gates to Citizen Bank Park opened 2 and a half hours before game time so we went through that gate and just kind of looked around. At the time, Tom Glavine was throwing his bullpen for the day. We took a few pictures of him then made our way over to the Speed Pitch booth. With my arm, I could not top over 60 but Josh was looking good hitting 70 on the radar. After that we went to our seats and watched the Phillies Father/ Children game which was pretty neat to watch. All the players and there family played a small game on the field. Some of the kids were Ryan Howards son and Brett Myers little boy and many others. So once the game started, we looked to our right to find our old enemy again. The Thunderstorm. It was very dark and by the 2^nd inning, it absolutely poured. We probably had around and hour and a half to 2 hour rain delay. The grounds crew put the tarp on, and about halfway through the rain 2 guys decided to turn that into a slip and slide and immediately got arrested. Everyone cheered for them but it was funny to watch. The game started back up at about 4 and got real exciting. The Phillies hit 5 home runs that game and Shane Victorino absolutely destroyed Brian McCann at a play at the plate. I’m pretty sure he got knocked out cause he just lay there for a good minute and was taken out of the game. I also called Shane Victorino’s home run that tied it up at 5 which started their come from behind win. The guy that sat next to me was amazed at how I called his shot. 

 Jason’s Stadium Review: Citizen’s Bank Park was a great ballpark. I kept imagining CBP is what Minute Maid would look like if It didn’t have a roof. The Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches are THE BEST. Being there for a 2 hour rain delay let me really soak (haha get it? Soak in a rain delay) the surroundings. I really liked the gimmicks they had in center-ish field including a pitch speed detector, and other carnival-like games. Its too bad the stores didn’t have much of anything except shirts and hats, otherwise I would’ve remembered to get the shotglass from each stadium. I have one from each except minute maid and Philly. Shucks.

Kyle’s Souvenir of the Game: I’m not sure that this item would be called a souvenir but more of a food souvenir. We had some ice cream and frozen yogurt from probably one of the cheapest helmet sundaes. So we all got a Phillys mini helmet as the Souvenir of the Game.

 Unfortunately we had to leave after the 7^th inning stretch due to the rain delay otherwise we would have been extremely late showing up to Gray’s relatives house in New Eagle, PA. We listened to the rest of the game on the radio on our way out and Philly won 12-10. It was a very exciting game. We ate Burger King to go on the road to New Eagle. We arrived at Gray’s relatives house around 11:55 and got ready for bed. Lucky for us there is nothing to do until the Pirates game so we can sleep in! YAY!! 

Cooperstown July 26, 2008

July 26, 2008

 

So last night was probably one of the best nights we have slept in a while. Some of us decided to get up at 8 while some decided we had nowhere to get in a hurry. I was like “What are you talking about? We are going to the place where all the real Hall of Famers stay and play!!!” So we got on the road to Cooperstown by about 915 and stopped an hour later to get some breakfast at McDonalds again. There isn’t much else up here to eat on the road. We arrived in Cooperstown about 1:30 and to our amazement, there were a heck of a lot more people here than we expected. Although probably half of the people were there for the induction on Sunday. It took us a while to find a parking spot with so many tourists like ourselves. We had to walk a ways across a bridge but it was worth it once we got inside and looked around at everything. There was so many different things to look at and then some. We took so many pictures that I don’t even know which ones to put on here. But the museum was definitely worth its $14.75 value we paid. It took us about 4 hours to look through everything. After that we hit the road to a HOTEL!!!! In PA.  We arrive at the hotel at 8 o clock, set our stuff down and went to Applebees’s more than a few miles away. We got back at 1015, took some showers and played some PS3 and actually got to just sit and chill. We will also get to sleep in a little later. All is awesome in Moosic, PA.

 

Note: Already half way finished with our amazing trip. Or the optimistic view would be we still have another week of amazingness!

BOSTON!! July 25,2008

And now an advertisement . This is a straight link to Josh’s blog. Just to give us equal exposure to our blogs.

 

Got up at 8, went to mcdonalds and then went to BOSTON!!!! We arrived in Boston 1045 and met up with a friend of mine and gray, Brennan. We took a sub to meet him near Quincy Market for lunch where Jason and I had an amazing bowl of ham and mac n cheese. Unfortunately we couldn’t finish it all. After that we made our way down the Freedom Trail and to the Bunker Hill Monument where we climed up 291 steps to the top. I say we got our work out in. After that we took a sub back to Fenway Park where we took about an hour tour of the stadium (to be elaborated upon by Jason’s Stadium Review). It has lots of amazing views. After that we had an hour to kill so we charged up a few things in the car and unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Brennan. He waited until the gates opened at 5:05 pm. We were one of the first people to get into the stadium. The 4 of us rushed to the right field fence overlooking the bullpen to watch both teams take batting practice. Only Jason got an actual ball thrown to him and Josh told one of the bullpen coaches that Richie Sexson hit a homerun into the garden house in the bullpen but the coach didn’t believe him. The rest of us had to help the little kids grab for baseballs tossed in the stands. Yes, I even caught one for a little Yankees fan cause he was one of the nicer ones.

 

Jasons Stadium Review:

 

Ummmmmmm….. wow. I have never felt so surrounded by history, and modern day electricity at the same time. Our tour was great! We started off sitting in the 15” wide seats. Built in 1912, this stadium has seen a lot events and people who have definitely gotten wider. It was renovated in 1934 after the owners at the time were bought out. Later on more renovations were done at a gradual pace, but the 15’ seats remained, wood and all. Moving along, the Budweiser porch was pretty cool, but nothing fancy. Then we went to the upper levels and again, fun but nothing fancy. THEN we go to the green monster. THAT was awesome. Seeing where everyone dominates in left field, and the manual scoreboard.

 

Game time came and we had all recharged our stuff and found our seats. Food was fantastic, and the fans weren’t bad either (as in not too many Yankees). Got TONS of pictures. I loved getting to see the support poles still holding the upper decks. Reminded me of how old the stadium is. Thank God the bleachers weren’t actually bleachers anymore. I LOVED Sweet Caroline during the 8^th inning. The Red Seat signaling Ted Williams’ 502’ homer. Old school seats (1934 edition) Pesky Pole. And finally the Green Monstah (as they say it). All of this added up to a FANTASTIC stadium. I’m not lying when I say I could seriously see myself living in Boston someday. AHH! Goodnight all.

 Kyle’s Souvenir of the Game: There were many things to choose from the gaint Team Store across from the stadium but 3 out of 4 of us bought the famour Red Sox t-shirt with our coice of our favorite player’s name and number on the back. Also some got jerseys for the hardcore Red Sox fans for some of us.

So the game was pretty much amazing even though we were like 3 rows from the top. We met these very nice ladies that were hardcore Red Sox fans and probably loved the game just as much as we did. Unfortunately the umpires were not on Boston’s side and just kind of threw the game away for them in the end. Final score: New York 1, Boston 0. It was definitely a pitchers duel. So by the time we got out of the stands to go back to our cars, the traffic had already built up. So we were headed back to our campsite in MA by 12:30. We have stopped at another Stop, Shop and Save to get string to hold up the tent so no time for pictures for now. Hopefully tomorrow. By far, this has been the best day of the trip!!

Real Stadium Review for Shea

Jason’s Stadium Review:

 

So first off I’m sorry for the disappointing review of Shea. I had just caught myself up on Yankee (which as you can see took a while) and was blogged out. ANYWAY here we go

 

Shea Stadium is blue. Very, very blue. The entire outside walls were painted blue. I’ve always thought this was a cool stadium though because it’s a perfect circle. The stands and field are completely symmetrical, which I always thought was the way parks should all be built. I’ve since then changed my thinking, because that’s just a silly way of doing things. Stupid conformity. Not gonna lie though, Shea was not impressive. It was hard for me to get into the game mostly because there were so many groups of people there. I realized later that since Yankee stadium is so high priced and sold out, they could get better tickets at Shea. For example, there was a large group sitting behind us who happened to be there just to annoy everyone sitting around them. They chanted “Go Yankees!”. Mets fans were not happy. Mets fans retaliated. Consequently, I couldn’t focus on the game. Moving on…. The outfield of Shea was the most barren and dry thing I’ve ever seen in a ballpark. A pathetic attempt at bleachers followed by a scoreboard that not only didn’t tell you anything useful, but was older than dirt and hard to read in the first place.

I must say however, the new Citi Park they are building next door is going to be a thing of beauty. The outside looks fantastic and its not even finished yet. It’s a good thing the owners are building new parks to Shea and Yankee cuz they NEED it.

In terms of Shea, my thoughts can be summed up into one sentence.

 

Eh….Better than Yankee Staduim.

Shea and Camping in Boston

I believe we got enough rest to make up for the last 2 days. We got going at 930 to clean out the van and drove to Queens for the Mets game. We left a little later cause we thought the game was at 1 but the tickets said a 12:10 start. Either way we got to the game in the first inning. It was a very fast game at that. Only about 2 and a half hours. The starting pitcher for the Mets had a total of 12 strikeouts. Amazing!

 

Here’s Jason Stadium Review:

Shea Stadium

Eh…. Better than Yankee Stadium.

 

From there we headed up to Boston. We ran into some commuter traffic through Connecticut but were able to make to our campsite by 815. We went ahead and set up the tent and mattresses while we still had some daylight. We then went to dinner at Cracker Barrel that we saw on the way in. It was the best food I've had in a good week or so. After dinner, we headed over to Wal-Mart for ice, water, sodas, and different types of bug spray cause there was a sign on the campsites bathroom walls saying "Beware of Ticks". So we are making sure there are none around our area. We are now at a local Stapels supply store using their hot spot. We will have more from Boston hopefully within the next day. 

New York City

The rain finally moved us out of the campsite at 5 a.m. when we had some leakage problems from the tent so we packed up and drove to our next campsite to get away from the rain. Once we got settled at the Liberty Island Campground, we took the 9:15 a.m. ferry over to Manhatten. We met a man who was from Denton and he had gone to the Yankees game the night before so he helped us find the sub to get to the stadium. So we walked down wall street and took a few pictures. So we got to the stadium a few hours early to try and get to Monument Park. Well we figured out a couple things when we were trying to get in. 1)We could not bring in any sort of bag like computer bag or fanny pack because they were too lazy to check it and 2) the Bleacher section is completely separated from the rest of the stadium. So we were not able to get close up pictures but Josh somehow managed to throw his camera down to a person who took close ups. Probably the most  exciting part of the game is when the bleacher fans do “Yankee Roll Call”. They call out all the Yankees players one by one that are on the field and then they acknowledge the bleachers. It was pretty neat. The Yankees won 5-1.

 Souvenir of the Game: There wasn’t exactly one item but me and Josh both bought an All-Star Game pin. It was very cheap which tells me they were trying to get rid of them.

 Jason’s Stadium Review:

Ladies and Gentlemen! Presenting, here, for the first time ever in this blog, the one and only, world-renowned, “House that Ruth Built”, Yankee Stadium. Where the Big Bambino soared to greatness. His famed Called-Shot. Home of 26 World Series championship teams, including the 1927 Yankees (aka the greatest team to ever step foot on a ball field). Where “Win one for the Gipper” happened, Lou Gehrig’s famed “Luckiest Man” farewell speech. Babe Ruth’s 60^th and Roger Maris’s 61^st homeruns.  Where Joe Louis’s knockout punches were thrown. And finally for length purposes, “The Greatest Game Ever Played” where the Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants 23-17 in overtime for the title.

Ok so moving on to my thoughts. I’ve determined that to truly soak something in in life you have to sit back a minute and sort of meditate on what you’re focusing on, and let me tell ya, there was a lot of that happening here. Located in the Bronx, (hence the Bronx Bombers) it was crammed in the middle of what we described as almost utter chaos. When I walked through its gates and into the concourse, I certainly took in all I could. Seeing the original 1930s handiwork in the walls and concession stands was compelling. Bleachers were a great tradition. Rarely do stadiums have them anymore (for obvious reasons).

If you sit in the bleachers you are what’s known as a “bleacher creature”. Finally the game starts and in the first inning they do whats known as the roll call. This is cool. They call out the player’s names one by one and do it until the player they’re screaming to responds with a wave. VERY cool. Praise God, they did NOT sing “Thank God I’m A Country Boy”. I’m pretty sure that would’ve been the deal sealer for the rest of the stadiums. All together, however I wasn’t particularly impressed with the stadium. The bleacher seats were actually completely separated and cut off from the rest of the fans, Monument Park, and the dugouts and everything. It was really annoying to not be allowed anywhere else. On top of that, there was nothing visually appealing to the stadium. The feeling of being surrounded by so many great moments in history was almost stunning but to be honest, this was not a great stadium to go to.

 

After the game we stopped off at Grand Central Station to take some pics and get some drinks. For dinner we found a Chipotle to eat and get wifi access. That’s where Josh got to post some of his blog. After that we walked through Times Square and saw a lot of neat things. We then made our way to the Apple Store, which was awesome. It looked like a glass box but the whole store was underground and it was about 50 times bigger than the one at Memorial City. After that we took probably the longest subway back to the pier. Once we got to the pier, we had missed the last boat by a few minutes and had to wait another hour for the next one. So after the hour, we got back to the campsite, and no doubt, we rain into the biggest rain storm yet. So then we needed some stakes to hold down the tent, but supposedly they did not make it into the car. So while Josh and Gray drug the tent and mattresses into the community bathroom while Jason and I took a trip to the Walmart Supercenter. And you would think being a Supercenter means staying open 24 hours. Obviously not. We caught the manager as he was taking inventory and we told him we needed some stuff for our tent. We got it and on the way back almost ran into high water but thanks to the GPS, avoided it. So when we got back, all was calmer to set up the tent. To make sure the tent didn’t have any problems, Gray and I slept in the car with a fan which I think worked out better than the tent cause they ended up in the car with us. Overall, another exciting adventure set into writing.

The Hike Around DC and The Amazing Camden Yards

Our Tuesday morning started a little later than we would have liked to due to cell phone snooze buttons and dead cell phone batteries. So we woke up at 745 and got out of VA by 835 just to run into a little morning rush hour traffic. We crossed over the Maryland border at 930 and pulled up next to Camden Yards. I don’t know if it was on the itinerary we gave anyone but we talked about visiting Washington DC before the game. So we took the 10:44 Amtrak train to Union Station in DC which we arrived at 1130. We got off the train and immediately started looking for a map. We thought we had a clue as to which way the Capitol building was (plus Jason even saw the tip top of it) but others had a strange idea to go  in the opposite direction. So we walked a mile the other way turned back and walked another 2. I say we got our morning work out in. So we traveled around the Capitol building about 180 degrees while taking every different picture angle possible. We walked over and jumped in line to enter the National Archives at about 1245. We saw the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. After that Jason has his “Sight of the Day”:

 

Hello again, Jason here. After all that Kyle said there I really wanted to go up to the fence in front of the white house just to get the picture. As we were walking down whatever road we happened to be on,  we see a police and secret service escort screaming down the road and passing right in front of us. So we keep walking after the initial “woah that’s so cool!”s. Roughly 5 minutes later I start hearing helicopter blades. As a joke, I turn to Gray who was right next to me and said “Marine One”. Well, as it turns out, it REALLY WAS Marine One, accompanied by 2 other duplicates. Noticing the awesomeness of my prediction, I started running to get to the front of the White House, only to find that my plan for the perfect picture had been foiled. There were policemen blocking off the view of the front of the white house. I thought to myself that I had to see this helicopter on the lawn, and it was my only chance. There was another sport 300 ft away from the one I was at, to which I quickly ran to. By this time, Josh Gray and Kyle had said “no lets stop and get waters”. Wussies. As it turns out, the helicopter had landed on the lawn like I thought it did. Many-a-picture was taken as well as a video of it taking off and flying directly overhead. It was a great experience.

 

After that, we walked across to the Washington Monument and across from that was the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Monument. Once we got through sightseeing, it was a mad dash to try and catch our train back to Baltimore by 405. We had to ride a few Metro subs to get back but we made it back in time when they had started boarding the train. Once we got back in Baltimore, we still had an hour to kill so we went and found the cheapest gas and food in town, which was an adventure within itself using the GPS.

We finally arrived at the stadium at 630 and I think we were all very amazed at what we walked up upon. 

 Jason’s Stadium Review:

Camden Yards was a GREAT ballpark. Built next to an old Brick Warehouse, it was truly beautiful. Its quirks included some very fun things. Eutaw Street was closed off, but technically still in the ballpark, that’s where they had the shops and restaurants. It was fun to see that they had metal baseball plaques where people had hit homeruns over the outfield wall. Another fun gimmick was when the other team committed an error, the E of the ballpark sign would flash, and the H would flash when there was a hit.

Traditions were few and far-between here, but memorable. Starting off, during the national anthem, at the second “O Say” EVERYONE sings the O, to sport the Orioles. According to a local who you’ll hear about in a minute, it is also a tradition for the stadium to play John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” during the 7^th inning stretch after Take Me Out To The Ballgame.

As a side-note, apparently this is a common characteristic for ballparks, because at Turner Field, the exact same song was sung at the exact same occurrence. Lets hold out for the other 7 stadiums. My dream roadtrip: 9 renditions of Thank God I’m a Country Boy. Yippee.

 

Kyle’s Souvenir of the Game: A Camden Yards “Brick Ball”. It was actually on sale and was called the item of the game around the ballpark. It pictures an almost full panoramic view of Camden Yards.

 We have a special shout out to the very nice family who sat to the left of us and a very Happy 9th  Birthday to Stephen Meyers, which I’m glad we yelled at the Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones enough to where he threw the ball up to him on a flyball third out. Unfortunately the Orioles lost 10-8 in a very close game. We then headed to the campsite at 1045 with a little bit of wetness on the way there. But that wouldn’t be the last of it.

Continuation of July 21, 2008

As we continued on to Josh’s roommates house in Clifton, VA, Gray and I played MLB 08 The Show on the PS2 because it actually works in the car. We arrived at Mike’s house around 630 which I might add is slightly on the large side. Mike’s mom had only been expecting Josh and Jason, but she amazingly whipped up some tuna for sandwhiches which only I found very delicious. After dinner, Mike took the 4 of us to a near by empty soccer field and we threw the Frisbee around for a while. We cam back and Mike’s mom had made brownies which were amazing. After that and FINALLY!!!, we got to hook up the PS3 to Mike’s basement TV and played football and baseball. Also shoot pool which was fun. And that concluded our night in Virginia. 

Bobby Cox arguing balls and strikes after already being thrown out.

Bottle made of baseballs, bats and helmets, and more

Touring Auburn's basketball stadium

at Turner Field

On the Way to VA

Morning started off nice and early setting our phones for 7 to get going and off the camp ground, although we kinda have plenty of time to get where we are going. So we got out of the camp by 745. We crossed over into North Carolina by 845 while eating all the chocolate chip Pop tarts for breakfast. So at 930 we decided to stop for a couple things like pop tarts, batteries and a fan for the next time we camp which will help. And of course we had to try for another power converter at Best Buy which….. you guessed it, I didn’t work! We had a 400 Watt converter but the PS3 is being stupid and wont start. So we might try one more Best Buy on the way but after that, I’m about ready to give up on buying all these converters and trying them then returning them right back around. We stopped at Wendys for lunch. We then made our way to Starbucks to try to get Wifi access but nothing ever works for us once. The lady said they had free Wifi at a restraunt across the street. So we are here now sitting on the benches. My pictures take forever to upload so when I have lots of time and a good connection I will just do one post of pictures. We’re all good here.

First Ball Game in Atlanta, July 20, 2008

This morning wasn’t as early as yesterday but we got up around 8 and was fed by the generous Burns family. We packed up and left their house around 915 to head to Atlanta. It was a very small trip into town. We are officially crossed over to the East Coast when we changed time zones at about 9:58 central time/ 10:58 eastern time. From here on out things will be put into ET. We arrived at Turner Field around 12:30 ET and had a pretty good parking spot in the old county stadium where Hank Aaron hit his 715^th home run. We walked into the stadium and attempted to get autographs but the usher would not allow us to go down to the field level and I don’t think any of the players were signing anyways.

 

Kyle’s Souvenir of the Day:  The Braves’ red foam Tomahawk

 

Jasons Stadium  Review:

 

AAAAALLLLRIGHTY welcome to my new shared blog. I figured it would be kinda cool to do a stadium review of the quirks, features and mostly the traditions of each stadium. So here we go:

 

Turner Field

This stadium had some nice things to it including a coke bottle made out of bats, balls, helmets catchers gear, gloves, the whole works. Personally it was my first time being in an open-roof stadium except when Minute Maid had its roof open, but even that still feels like a closed stadium. The gigantic jumb-o-tron made Houston’s look like a 3” TV. Probably the most fun thing was the Chik-Fil-A cow in left field, which we have pictures of and you’ll hear about a little later.

 

The quirks of this stadium and its fans can really be summed up into one chant: The chop. The Braves symbol is an Indian Tomahawk, and their chant is that Indian-like “oh” chant. If you really want to hear it, ask me in person. Anyway they also sell these foam Tomahawks (which all of us got) and while they’re singing that Indian chant, they chop with the Tomahawks to the beat. GREATEST PART: You guys remember that cow? Probably 50 ft. tall in left field? IT CHOPS! For serious when they do the chant the cow chops. It made me happy and I got a video.

 

I think that’s about all that was entertaining at this stadium other than the game and the new sights and sounds which I have probably already forgotten. Next up on the list, Camden Yards.

 

The most exciting part of the game was Bobby Cox getting thrown out in the 3^rd inning for arguing balls and strikes. It made everyone happy that he got his money’s worth. Unfortunately, the Braves lost in a 3 hour and 25 minute game 14-6 to the Nationals and Jason and I got a nasty knee sunburn. Surprisingly it was the Braves’ pitching. They didn’t have it today. We then hit the road around 5:15 to South Carolina where we are here camping at Croft State Park in Spartanburg, SC. Camping was a whole adventure in  itself. We somehow fit 4 air mattresses into one tent that wasn’t as big as Josh thought. So it was not as comfortable as we’d like. We managed through the humidness and loud bird noises Overall it was a little crazy.

All Roads Lead To....Auburn

So it is slightly late here in Bama, so I'm gonna keep it short, especially with a small amount of connection. If you want more info, you can see Josh's blog.

Morning started with breakfast at the Howeth's house. We left the house there at 9:30. Our first little big stop was at the Best Buy in Beaumont because the PS3 sucked up too much energy from the car. After 3 attempts at buy and returning converters, we finally got angry and left, leaving us to settle for a Jason's measly PS2. 

The day then continued down the road through an on-slaught of rain. At some points we couldn't even see within 15 feet in front of the car. Our drive was interrupted more often than we'd have liked due to gas and potty breaks. We did however fill up at the Tiger stop where they have live tigers and that was ballin.

Josh and Jason finished over half of a setlist in guitar hero while Gray played his new Pokemon game. Continuing on the road, we stopped off for gas again and Josh took over the helm. Nearing the night's end, we finally arrived in Auburn around 8:45. Thanks to the people we're staying with, we were fed wonderful pizza followed by snowcones. Yayness. More to come, including pictures.

T-minus 3 days and counting

Good afternoon everyone. As I overheard at our wonderful dinner on Tuesday night hosted by the Howeth's (which i might add was spectacular!), I am pretty sure one of the parents wanted to know if we were going to have a blog. In my mind I said " Dang, that's a great idea". So here it is! The only problem might be finding an internet connection. I do have internet on my phone so we will see how it works. 

I'm pretty sure we are well prepared for the road ahead (literally)! I think us guys plan on having a run through of car packing and tent pitching sometime in the next day or too. Other than that, I hope you enjoy this view of the great Fenway Park.

-Kyle