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"!
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