Homecoming!!

We saw lots on our adventure. We saw the first and last pitch of all 7 games. We learned a lot about baseball and even more about each other. The biggest being that we are so much alike. We did have some navigational issues, and we should have been able to see more of Chicago and possibly Detroit, but I would not have traded the fun we had, lost in Iowa for anything on the trip. Like the nice lady at Walmart in northern Iowa who when I asked if they sold any Major League Baseball clothes, she said “Sweetie, we do, but we only carry it during the season, and it’s not baseball season for a while now.” I told her yes ma’am it is baseball season right now. Her response was “Well shoot a pickle in the foot, I didn’t realize that!” We had a new saying for the trip. Russell tries to bring humor and happiness into every situation.  Going into the quick shop to pee and grab a soda should be done with a smile. When we made wrong turns and got off schedule neither of us were upset. We just had fun being together without rules.

Here is a recap of our adventure with some more pictures:

We hooked up with some friends in Kansas City and watched the Royals pull off a victory against the Minnesota Twins. Met a great baseball fan and I think Carrot Top sat behind us…life’s been hard for the Top

We traveled on to Chicago where we had some road struggles, but ultimately made it to The Windy City where we watched the Cubbies lose to the Cardinals. We were in one of Baseball’s holy cities and you could feel the difference inside the ballpark. We called my friend Bernard Hairs on the way looking for parking advice. He told us what to do, but he also had a long list of things that Russell HAD to see while he was in Chicago. Bernard didn’t quite understand the length of our Iowa adventure, and regretfully there just wasn’t time to see anything but baseball.

From there we drove toward Detroit. I made the mistake of having Russ navigate us to South Bend because it was “on the way”. It is not… We had to get up before light to make it back to the correct Interstate and to Detroit in time for the 12:10 start. There was no way we could take ANY time to even drive around Notre Dame.  As it turned out it was a 1:10 start AND there was a 2 hour rain delay. There should be pics of the Golden Dome and Touchdown Jesus, but Tom’s an idiot.

We weathered the weather in great seats, but the Tigers did not…. losing soundly to the Red Sox.

We made the short drive to Cleveland without any traffic issues and relished in the thought of 3 nights in the same bed. We didn’t have to get up before the front desk shift change for once. We went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and I have one major suggestion…more Barry & Thurman exhibits. There weren’t any on OU players either, although Jim Thorpe is credited with pretty much starting Professional Football. If you are thinking of going, wait 2 years. They are just starting a MAJOR renovation and expansion where they will be adding a hotel and a water park. It’s gonna be huge!

While we were running around getting our Indians t-shirts, I was telling a lady about our trip (I told anyone & everyone who would listen) and she suggested we go to the Akron Rubber Ducks game that night. So we did!! The Rubber Ducks lost, but we were part of the few who stuck it out until the bitter end. It was laid back and rainy, but we had a great time.

We had 2 games in Cleveland, one on Tuesday night and Wednesday at noon. It was beautiful weather for both games and we met some nice folks both days. The Indians lost to the Pirates on Tuesday, but ended the Pirates 20 game winning streak on Wednesday with the arm of starting pitcher Trevor Bauer. We also saw a near hometown boy in Pirate short stop Jordy Mercer from Oklahoma State and Taloga. Goooo #10 for the Pirates! Cleveland also has some cool buildings in their downtown close to the ballpark.

From there we went on to Cincinnati for our last game. We originally thought we’d be going to St. Louis too, but we decided it was better to hit 2 games in Cleveland and get home a day earlier. We had more time in Cincy to get our Reds gear and to see the city sights. We wanted to get Luke something from the trip. Russ knows his brother better than me and when we sent him a picture of the choice of a Red’s t-shirt or a collared Kentucky Basketball shirt he chose the latter. He likes basketball and to dress well… We even were able to catch a movie at the mall across the river from the ballpark. We left the car at the mall and walked across a 7 mile bridge to the stadium…ok it was maybe a mile total, but it about killed me. We were not any help to the Reds, but we had great club seats with all the food we could eat! We did get to see 10…yes 10 homeruns… 7 by the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.

We then were a little stupid and drove ALL THE WAY home after the game. A 12.5 hour drive. It took us a little longer because we made frequent stops. I had was drinking tea, soda and energy drinks by the gallon and I had to pee once an hour. This helped to keep me awake too. We did stop somewhere along the way and slept in the car for an hour or so, but Russ was a trooper and stayed awake every second I did while driving. This was the rule we had the last time I drove through the night going to Florida for Spring Break in College. My friends and I were crazy then to try it too.

It was an amazing trip! Not just for the baseball, we didn’t even care about baseball the week before, but for the quality time spent together. He still has a lot to learn about life and navigation, but if the boy I went on the trip with is any indication; Jessica, Anita, Mark & myself have all done a great job of teaching him wrong from right, and he’s going to be an amazing man.

Baseball is a game of statistics and I have some from our trip: We saw 21 homeruns (10 total in Cincinnati) 3 triples, 5 players hit by a pitch and 2 ejections – Cubs 1st basemen Javier Baez and their manager, 9 beers, 7 hot dogs, 2 pretzels, a chicken rice bowl and everything they offered in Cincinnati… by me anyway. We also drove 2862 miles, averaged 57 mph and 19.2 miles per gallon while being in the car for 49.55 hours…and laughed almost the whole time.