NYC

Normally this drive back up I-95 is one of the worst around. Toll roads have returned - it seems that the Interstates in most of the country are free. Even the 10 mile long "Delaware Turnpike" charges you four bucks....Highway Robbery!

Finally, the 117 mile stretch of the NJ Turnpike, which usually feels like an eternity, passed by like it was nothing! Maybe this trip will make these "short" drives in the Northeast easier to tolerate. We'll see - I have Gina's birthday party 47 miles away on Long Island on Saturday and my nephew Jack's birthday party 90 miles away in South Jersey on Sunday.

In the end, my trip lasted 28 days, driving through 27 states (plus DC), covering 9,840 miles, and I stayed in 23 "cities/towns". I saw ten stadiums, nine games, and 16 different teams. The home team won 6 games and the visitors won 3. I visited six National Parks, plus Mt. Rushmore.

Favorite ballpark: PNC Park in Pittsburgh

Favorite ballpark food: Primanti Brothers Cheesesteak in Pittsburgh

Nicest fans: Rangers Ballpark at Arlington TX

Least favorite fans: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

Favorite Stadium Race: The original, Great Sausage Race in Milwaukee

Least favorite Race: The Dots in Arlington, TX

Favorite National Park: Grand Teton

Favorite Baby: Ava Marie Morgan

Favorite non-ballpark meal: Ribs at the Salt Lick outside of Austin, TX

Favorite music venue: Continental Club in Austin, TX

Longest drive: 855 miles from Houston, TX to Nashville, TN

Favorite hotel: Q Hotel & Spa in Kansas City, MO

Least favorite hotel: Days Inn St. Louis

Favorite campsite: Upper Lehman Creek in Great Basin National Park

Least favorite campsite: Well.....all of them in Yosemite, since I couldn't find an opening!

All in all, it was an incredible trip that I would do again in a heartbeat. Once you're out of the Northeast, driving is actually pretty stress-free. Next time, I'd consider beginning the trip by going through the South on the way out and the North on the return trip. But this will certainly be an experience that I'll remember (at least after re-reading the blog) forever!

Washington DC

Thursday will be my final game on this trip. It seems like I’ve been going to a lot of games, but it’s only been 9 games (10 stadiums – toured Target Field). Rain is in the forecast in Washington, DC, but I’ll take my chances with 30% chance of t-storms.

The 240-mile drive north from Salem, VA along I-81 was pretty easy for a while. There was a fog rising from the Blue Ridge Mountains and it made me think of any of the Civil War documentaries - I was basically driving through the battlefields. Maybe my next trip will be a Civil War Tour down through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.

About 15 miles outside of DC, traffic came to a crawl on I-66. I really thought I’d miss the morning rush hour, but at 10:30 am it was still creeping along! So I tried to avoid some of it and took the beltway all the way around from the west side of DC to the southeast corner and managed to avoid some of the mess.

After the air-conditioned comfort of The Juice Box in Houston, I was back in the oppressive heat in Nationals Park in DC. The game between the Nationals and the Atlanta Braves had a 12:35 start.

Washington has a long, but not necessarily good, baseball history. In fact, the National Baseball Club of Washington was founded in 1859.

There were two incarnations of the Washington Senators – the first moved to Minnesota in 1960 and the second to Texas in 1971. So this time around the Nationals name was resurrected and slapped on the lowly Montreal Expos franchise in 2005.

The Nationals played their first three seasons in the dumpy RFK Stadium, then moved into Nationals Park at the start of the 2008 season.

The ballpark is the first to be a LEED Certified green major sports stadium in the US and has a seating capacity just over 41,000.

Beyond the centerfield wall there’s a plaza with lots of concession stands, a team store, and three statues – Walter Johnson of the original Washington Senators...

...Frank Howard of the expansion Senators...

...and Josh Howard of the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues (many of their games were played in DC).

For the last time, I was able to purchase a great seat for a reasonable price.

There were plenty of options for lunch, but I came across a stand that had “healthy food”. Three plus weeks of BBQ, Brats and Beer guilted me into getting a turkey wrap. However…….I did manage to grab a beer. They have “good beer” beer stands all around the park and each one features a different microbrew. I saw the Dogfishhead tap at one, but passed them up since they’re from Delaware and not DC (or MD or VA). I opted for the Dominion Ale – an English Style Ale – from the Old Dominion Brewing Company. I’ve since discovered they are a Delaware brewery too. Oh well. It was good.

A woman from the Broadway show Avenue Q (which was playing in DC) sang the National Anthem and there was something about being in DC and having Service men and women in the crowd - I got a chill, pretty cool.

Chipper Jones is playing in his final season for the Braves. He's spent his entire 16-year career with Atlanta.

I didn't get to see Stephen Strasburg pitch, but I did see Ryan Zimmerman, one of the better players on the Nationals roster.

The heat was pretty bad - two people seated in front of me were taken to the Emergency Services area for dehydration. I did have two bottles of water to go with the beer! But after about four innings dark clouds rolled in blocking out the sun and the breeze picked up. While it was more comfortable, it meant one other thing…..Thunder Boomers!

The 4^th inning brought the Presidents Race, yet one more variation of the Great Sausage Race.This one features 10 foot tall versions of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. The race has taken place every game since 2006 and poor Teddy has yet to put up a W. He has appeared to win sometimes, but has been disqualified for one reason or another. Today’s race had Abe jumping out to an early lead,

...but he forgot to turn when getting to the rightfield corner and crashed into the wall. George and Teddy followed Abe into the wall allowing Jefferson to win the race.

For more on the race, one fan has a blog titled “Let Teddy Win”.

With the Nationals up 4-3 after the top of the 6^th, the skies opened up and we had what would be a 90-minute rain delay.

Not being a fan of either team and not wanting to hang out in a crowded concourse with 30,000 smelly fans, I took off. In my mind it was an “official game” and I declared the Nationals the winners. When the game resumed, Adam Dunn homered to make it a 5-3 final, Nationals.

* photo from an earlier at bat since I was long gone by this time.

Nashville and Beyond...

Tuesday wasn't going to be a fun day. 855 miles from Houston, across southern Louisiana, all the way north through Mississippi, and about halfway across Tennessee to Nashville. Translated: about 13 hours in the car.

Again I got to drive through more remnants from Bonnie in Texas and Mississippi, which slowed me down considerably.

I finally got to Nashville around 8 pm, found a room for the night, then looked into some local music. A website mentioned a bar called The Station Inn, considered one of the best bluegrass venues in Nashville. Playing tonight was a group called Westbound Rangers - four guys, probably just out of college at Vanderbilt. One acoustic guitar, one string bass, one mandolin, and one banjo. Perfect!

The banjo player had a big bushy beard and also played the kazoo. The bass player was wearing a tie dyed t-shirt, overalls, and of course he was barefoot!

To blend in a little better, I even drank PBR (that's Pabst Blue Ribbon for the uninformed). The sad thing is they charged the same $4 for PBR as they would charge for Fat Tire. That's sad.

My favorite song of the night was a bluegrass version of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition".

If the video doesn't play, click here to go to one of their other YouTube videos. Trust me, it was good.

Wednesday morning started with breakfast at the Waffle House. The last time I went to one of these places was in Pascagoula, MS. What I remember most was the fine coating of grease on the menu and I've been traumatized since. But since it was right next to the hotel, I decided to give it a shot and sat at the counter.

I got a ham and cheese omelet and it was actually pretty good. When I got in the car, I looked down at my shorts and noticed they were covered in grease.....like, mechanic grease!!! And they were fairly new shorts too! Never again will I eat a a Waffle House.

The windshield was installed in pretty good time and I had a decision to make. Head northeast to Cleveland for the Yankees/Indians game at 7 pm or east to Salem, VA and maybe catch a Salem Red Sox game. Cleveland had severe t-storms in the forecast and I would have driven through storms all the way. Salem had a 30% chance of scattered t-storms and not much rain to drive through. I opted for Salem and hope to get to a Washington Nationals game on Thursday in DC.

Besides having much more traffic (and therefore, stress) to deal with, I surpassed 9000 miles on the trip - currently at 9300. I'm thinking I may fall about 100 miles short of 10,000 for the four week trip!

Houston, We Have A Problem.....

It was nice to have a relaxing morning on Monday in Austin. I wandered along Congress Ave in South Austin, the same neighborhood I was in the night before. The temperature was rising rapidly & I didn't want to spend too much time in the heat, but I had a few hours to kill before needing to leave for Houston.

I grabbed an iced Americano and a couple of egg tacos from Jo's and actually ate breakfast somewhere other than the front seat of my Subaru!

Around 1:30 pm I hit the road for the 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive - sounds easy, right?

Well, early in the trip - have no idea what state I was in - a stone kicked up and left a small chip in my windshield. I figured I'd keep an eye on it and get it repaired. For some reason, maybe it was the Texas heat, today was the day for that chip to have a growth spurt! I literally watched as it grew and grew.

So, thanks to my iPhone I was able to track down a Safelite Glass shop outside of Houston. The only problem was that they didn't have one in stock & would need to order one. Time to plan ahead.

My plan was to have a really long drive to Nashville, TN on Tuesday. So, I was able to find a Safelite in the Nashville area that could replace it for me early on Wednesday morning. Not part of the original itinerary.

The remnants of Tropical Depression Bonnie were blowing through Texas today and I was headed into a 20 mile stretch of severe t-storms on I-10 between Katy & Houston.

Visibility was poor on the flooded highway and there were lightning strikes all around me. Fun!!!

Monday night's bed was at the Club Quarters Hotel about seven blocks from the former Enron Field - now known as Minute Maid Park (or as I like to say "The Juice Box"). Club Quarters is a chain in many cities that caters to business travelers. The rooms are small, but nice. And the rates are cheaper than many of the big chains. While they have an exercise room, if you'd like a piece of equipment for your room they'll deliver it to you! I walked to the ballpark for exercise.

Fortunately the ballpark has a retractable roof which can be closed in this kind of weather. Plus it's air-conditioned which is a bonus in mid 90's heat! Believe it or not, I was actually kind of chilly watching the game - but I wasn't going to complain.

Minute Maid Park opened in 2000 - actually the 1st exhibition game there was between the Astros and the Yankees (Astros won 6-5). Those two teams opened the Astrodome with an exhibition game on 4/9/65 and Mickey Mantle hit the first homer (406 ft) - I remember reading about this on the back of a baseball card when I was a kid. The Astros won that exhibition too, 2-1 in 12 innings.

One crazy feature of this park is a hill in dead centerfield that leads to the wall, similar to Crosley Field in Cincinnati (home of the Reds from 1912-1970).

It's 436 ft. to the wall and extremely rare for someone to hit it that far. But it is dangerous for an outfielder to have to run up a hill when he's looking at a ball in the air. And just in case that wasn't challenging enough, they threw a flagpole on the hill for him to contend with!

This year is the 45th year of Astros baseball & not one of the better years. They're bottom feeders in the NL Central. And they're playing the Cubs, who are trying their best not to sink that low.

Again, I had a great seat for the game - I've been really spoiled on this trip. For $53 I was able to sit 10 rows behind the Cubs dugout. Close enough to hear one of the Cubs drop an F bomb for everyone to hear.

Dinner was a BBQ Brisket Sandwich - thankfully this trip is almost over, I can't keep doing this. It was really good though. You just can't pass this up when you're in Texas.

The Cubs won the game 5-2.

Geovany Soto drove in two runs (also cursed loudly). Ryan Theriot (aka The Riot)...

... smacked his 1st homer of the year (actually his 1st since June 29 of last year).

Here in Houston, yet another version of the Great Sausage Race. The Saucy Sprint, sponsored by Taco Bell, features three kinds of hot sauce packets - mild, hot, and fire. There was a lot of cheating going on in this race - low bridges, tackling.

All in all, pretty lame - but not as bad as the Dots racing during the Rangers games.

Also, during the 7th Inning Stretch - after "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" - we had a nice rendition of "Deep In The Heart of Texas". Like with "Roll Out The Barrel" in Milwaukee, fans were much more vocal with "Deep In The Heart of Texas"!

Austin, TX

Before leaving for the city of Austin, I took a tour of the home of Austin - Miles Austin is a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. As much as I dislike the Cowboys & their owner Jerry Jones, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a tour of the new stadium.

More than anything else, I needed to see this SuperDuperJumboTron. The screen stretches from 24 yard line to 24 yard line, which makes it 52 yards wide or 156 feet or almost 1/3 of mile!

In case you're stuck with one of these seats behind the end zone...

...don't worry - there's a "small" screen that you'll be able to watch. But not all of the seats are that comfy....

Jerry spent so much on the big screen that most of the seats look pretty cheap.

After reviewing so many baseball stadiums, I'm not sure how to evaluate a football stadium. All football fields - except for the CFL and that wacky indoor football league - have the same dimensions.

One thing that was pretty cool with the tour is you can run around on the field. People were catching passes in the endzone and spiking the ball with no fear of an "excessive celebration" flag being thrown.

Also included in the $17.50 self-guided tour was both the Cowboys and the Cheerleaders locker rooms. I didn't see the Cheerleaders' room, but in the players' room you could try on shoulder pads, jersey, and helmet of a few players.

I wonder if you'd be able to slip into a Cheerleader's outfit???

Despite being a casual Giants fan, I still needed a hazmat team to hose me down after I left the stadium. I felt very dirty.

Now on to Austin, TX - a 200 mile drive from Arlington down I-35. Although it was a relatively short trip, the amount of traffic on the highway made it more stressful. But not too bad that I couldn't call my mom to wish her a Happy 29th Birthday!

I only had an egg sandwich on Sunday, so I decided to grab an early dinner. A place called the Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX (about 20 miles SW of Austin). They had the best billboards along the highway "You can smell our pits for miles!" BBQ pits of course.

I was lucky on Wednesday in Kansas City that it was "Burnt Ends Day" and this Sunday the sun was still shining on me. It was "Baby Back Ribs Day!"

The Salt Lick opened in 1967 by Hisako and Thurman Roberts. They named it this because the salt lick was where all the animals congregated. This was certainly the case. The waitress informed me that on most weekends, they seat 3000 people a day! The parking lot looked big enough to support a large carnival.

Since it was Ribs Day, I opted for the full rack (only $3 more).

It came with slaw, potatoes, beans, and of course bread & pickles. After the first few ribs, I realized I had to cut out the potatoes, beans, and bread to save room for the ribs! Although I did eat the slaw - needed some veggies. I drizzled some of their spicy BBQ Sauce on top too! Excellent!!!

If you visit Austin or just want to order online, visit saltlickbbq.com. They also have locations in Round Rock and at the Austin Airport.

I spent the night in downtown Austin at the InterContinental Hotel at 7th & Congress. I found a rate about $50-60 lower than all the other hotels in the area. It's a nice place with a king size bed. Good thing, because for some reason they put 8 pillows on the bed!

Seven will be pushed aside and take up half of the king size bed.

Austin is a great music town and the Continental Club is one of the premiere clubs to hear live music.

It opened in 1957 and has hosted many great musicians. Tonight there were a couple of Rockabilly bands - Junior Brown and Heybale!.

Junior Brown is an excellent guitarist. He invented his own guitar - one that combines a standard six string with a steel guitar. He calls it the "guit-steel" and he knows how to use it!

Heybale! had the whole crowd dancing (ok, most of the crowd).

There was an old man who was working the room asking all the women to dance. But my favorite of the night was a guy wearing a t-shirt that read "Corn-fed, Inbred, and Brain Dead." Add a dirty ballcap to that and this guy was a smooth mover on the floor!

Next up, Houston for an Astros/Cubs game.

Dallas (well, Arlington) Texas

Saturday's drive was probably one of the worst. For starters, it was either McDonalds coffee or gas station coffee! Then, I-40 through Arkansas was loaded with tractor trailers and other drivers not familiar with the concept of "keep right, pass left".

It would be a 7 hour drive from Memphis to Arlington, TX. I'd say the highlight of the Arkansas stretch was seeing a place near Little Rock where I could buy a home for $50 G's - of course, it was a double-wide! Maybe I could park it on W. 51st Street.

The Texas stretch was just as dull, but I did get to see a smashed washing machine in the middle of the interstate!

I arrived at the Candlewood Suites in Arlington around 4:15 pm. It's a mile or two from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and the new Cowboys Stadium. I have another nice room, complete with a kitchenette - perfect for the overnight visitor!

I wasn't in the room for long though - enough time to drop off the bags, change into a shirt that's more "breathable", and pack my camera bag.

The temperature at the ballpark was still in the mid 90's by 6 pm (it would later drop to a chilly 86 after the game). Opened in 1994, this is one of the "old" stadiums in the current batch.

Walking around I notice it lacked some of the history that other parks had. The Rangers started out as the Washington Senators 2.0 (the 1961 version) and moved to Texas in 1972, so there wasn't a whole lot of time to "create" a history.

There were two statues out on Vandergriff Plaza: Tom Vandergriff, a Texas senator who was largely responsible for bringing the Senators to Arlington.

The other was of some guy named Nolan Ryan.

He was an ok pitcher in his day. Ryan played for 27 years, holds the record for most career strikeouts (5714), and has thrown more no-hitters than anyone in history (7). Legend has it the when Bobby Valentine was managing the Rangers and wanted to remove Ryan from a game, Nolan showed him up on the mound and kind of told Bobby V where to go. Valentine returned to the dugout, Ryan stayed in the game. Since then, Bobby V would send his pitching coach out to make a change.

There was a Rangers Hall of Fame there, but it was closed to the public for a private event (I'd learn why a little later). To illustrate how bland of a history the Rangers have, their Suite Level has rooms named after Hall of Famers from all around baseball. Most teams name the suites after their own greatest players.

Dinner was a BBQ sandwich and a St. Arnold Fancy Lawnmower ale brewed in Houston. Both were tasty.

I'd have to say the Texas fans were the nicest I've met so far. Of course it could be because they were just happy to be sitting in Row 1!

The couples on each side of me were really friendly and offered suggestions for my next stop on the trip, Austin, TX.

The start of tonight's game was delayed by 30 minutes for the induction of former player, GM, and current Rangers TV announcer, Tom Grieve into the Rangers Hall of Fame. Now I understand why I couldn't get in to see the exhibit. They brought out a bunch of former Rangers greats, including Nolan Ryan who got a standing ovation from the crowd. When it was over, Grieve took a victory lap in a convertible right past me.

As for the game, the Angels won 6-2. Ervin Santana pitched a solid game for the Angels, allowing 2 solo home runs in 8 innings, while striking out 9. His counterpart Scott Feldman wasn't as lucky, giving up 3 runs in five plus innings. After the two Rangers home runs (by Michael Young and Nelson Cruz), fireworks were shot off in centerfield for the crowd of 48,096.

But the highlight of the night was having seen Bengie Molina catch for the Rangers, making it the third straight game I've seen a Molina play in. For the uninformed there are three Molina brothers playing in the majors right now (Bengie on the Rangers, Yadier on the Cardinals, and Jose on the Blue Jays). I bet not many people get to complete that trifecta!

I'd say the lowlight was the Rangers version of the "Sausage Race".....Dots???

Surely Texas could do better than this! Maybe the Bush brothers bumbling around the field?

Following the game there was a free concert by Stoney Larue, some Country music singer I never heard of - though he sang the National Anthem & clearly some folk knew him. Since it was almost 11, I kept walking knowing I'll hear better music down in Austin on Sunday!