Day 9: Boston Day 2

Nothing in life is perfect.  We are all flawed in some way or another and it's how we manage those flaws that defines our existence.  Each day we live is flawed in some way or another, whether that one way is minuscule, it is still there.  Our happiness however...and really our definition of perfection, is dependent on the elimination of as many flaws as possible and the prominence of joy, content, love, or whatever good feeling we may have.  For me, today was perfect.  

More so and for longer for anything in my life outside of my immediate family, baseball has always been there.  It was there long before I was born and will be there long after I die.  All I am is a simple passenger riding through the annals of baseball history.  Tomorrow, the sun will rise and baseball will be played.  The same goes with the next day, and the day after that.  Games we be blended together and eventually, nobody will ever remember what happened on July 16, 2017...because life goes on.  

Whether or not you believe in destiny, fate, a higher being, or just coincidence, to each their own.   However, there is no doubt in my mind that I was supposed to be at Fenway Park on July 16, 2017.  My journey through all 30 major league baseball stadiums started when I graced this beautiful Earth with my presence on July 13, 1987 and it ended three days after my 30th birthday, marking 30 ballparks visited in 30 years.  Today, the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees at Fenway Park by the score of 3-0.  The deciding home run in the game was hit by Mookie Betts, a player who has a walk out song entitled "30 for 30."  Baseball, once again, showing humor and pure poetry by its obvious examples of coincidence.  

 

In 30 years, I will not remember what I had for breakfast today nor the number of blisters I have on my feet from this vacation.  I will not remember the brief squabble with my wife or the awful smell of garbage as we left our apartment.  I will not remember the name of the gentleman sitting behind me at the game or what seat I sat in.  I will not remember what I had to eat at the game or the names of many of the players playing in it.  But, just as God made green apples, baseball was there.  Two teams played and one team won.  That team was the Boston Red Sox.  It was perfection at Fenway Park, my final stadium.

Day 8: Boston

When you have been to 29 of the 30 baseball stadiums, by default you have been to nearly every major city in the United States.  Boston was the last city unchecked on that list and we could barely contain our excitement as we hit the turnpike towards Beantown.  We left our Manchester, New Hampshire hotel room and the drive into Massachusetts didn't take long.  The two cities are separated by about 50 miles and the drive was easy and painless on this Saturday morning.

We arrived in Boston about an hour after we left and we were very thankful but saddened that our driving for this trip was done.  In all, we covered 1,294 miles which is roughly the distance from our house in Orcutt to Cheyenne, Wyoming.  The ford focus made it and while we were sad to say goodbye, we were more relieved that the car made it through the entire trip with no issues.  Enterprise is by far the best car rental customer service I have ever dealt with and they didn't disappoint again.

Our Air B and B apartment was located about a mile away and we summonsed a Lyft ride that cost a whopping $4.00.  These ride sharing apps are so easy to use and I'll never use a cab again.  Our apartment is located in the Fenway neighborhood in Boston, made famous by the home of the Red Sox, Fenway park.  The apartment is a cute little studio apartment that is perfect for what we need and about 1/4 of the price of any hotel nearby.  Air B and B is the way to go and a lot of credit for Alyssa for finding this place!

Steps from the public transit rail system (the T), we grabbed a couple of train passes and were off to explore Boston...or so we thought.  As we waited for our train to arrive at the station, we were surprised when a train going the other direction stopped and didn't move from our station.  When we saw a police officer walk by us down the tracks, it became obvious what was going on.  A heavily intoxicated man had decided to use the rails of the tracks as a pillow and wasn't budging.  After being handcuffed and escorted off, the trains resumed activity and took us to our needed destination.

We had a quick breakfast at the hotel but we were both getting ready for lunch and decided to try a place Alyssa had researched called Mike and Patty's.  They specialize in hot sandwiches and it sounded like a perfect lunch on a cool afternoon.  After ordering our sandwich in a store that was no larger than a hotel bathroom, we waited outside in the cute, eclectic neighborhood lined with brick sidewalks.  Our name was called and we took our food to the Boston Commons, Boston's equivalent to Central Park.  (Side note: Being an outsider from the West Coast, I feel like we often have the preconceived notion that Boston and New York are similar.  They couldn't be any more different in terms of architecture, people, and sights to see).

The start of the Freedom trail, a self-guided walking tour that takes you through all the major historical sites of Boston is in the Boston Commons.  The trail is brick-lined and weaves it's way through the city and across the St. Charles river into Charlestown, the site of Bunker and Breeds Hill.  It became obvious that after spending a lot of time in rural New England, we quickly were becoming annoyed with the droves of people on the trail and lack of time to process the information that we both really enjoy learning about.  Thus, we took a quick detour off the trail, picked up the best $8.00 purchase of the trip, a guide to the Freedom Trail. 

Thus begin our avoidance of the large crowds and walking "near" the Freedom trail, stopping to see the major sites along the way, resting to read our book along before we moved on to the next one.  This process became much easier and way more fun than pushing through crowds of people on a busy, summer, Saturday afternoon.  We walked through the cemetery where Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Ben Franklin are buried.  We toured the Old North Church in Boston, site of the famous "one if by land, two if by sea" lanterns that warned which way the British soldiers were coming from.  Historical site after historical site, our American History classes were starting to come back to us.  We watched a lady make old fashioned drinking chocolate and sampled a cup.  Finally, we made it across the river and into Charlestown, site of the Battle of Bunker Hill and where the trail ends.  

Exhausted, it was time for dinner and decided on a whim (and thanks to our guidebook) to check out a place called Warren's Tavern, the oldest establishment in Charlestown...a place so old that Paul Revere and George Washington frequented this place.  We toasted to George and the boys and enjoyed our dinner.  Alyssa chose the Canadian Bacon Burger and I opted for the Buttermilk Chicken Sandwich.  I can honestly say I have never had a better Chicken Sandwich in my entire life.  

Back across the river for our return home, we found the T stop and there were no drunks to postpone this leg of the journey, thank goodness.  We found a local ice cream shop in the Fenway neighborhood and called it a night...after a grand total of 10.04 miles and 19,654 steps (according to my Apple Watch).

--KT

30 by 30 continued

25. Cleveland Indians (August 8, 2015)

• Indians beat the Twins 17-4
• Attended game with John Higgins.
• Before game, attended WGC Bridestone (PGA golf event)
• Game got so out of hand that Twins infielder Shane Robinson had to pitch and threw a scoreless inning.

26. Tampa Bay Rays (June 11, 2017)

• Rays defeated the Athletics 5-4
• A's loaded the bases in the 9th but could not score due in large part by terrible baselining by Adam Rosales.
• Attended game with my cousin, Garrett.
• Got to talk with friend and former teammate Josh Smith before the game, a member of the Oakland A's.

27. Miami Marlins (June 13, 2017)

• Marlins defeated the A's 8-1
• Attended the game with my cousin, Garrett and he missed a really easy ball in batting practice.
• Got to watch my friend and former teammate Josh Smith pitch in the game.
• Giancarlo Stanton hit a HR

28. Houston Astros (June 14, 2017) 

• Astros defeated the Rangers 13-2
• Astros scored 9 runs in the 6th inning.
• Derrick Fisher hit a home run in his major league debut.
• Attended the game with my cousin Garrett and he got a ball during batting practice.

Day 7: Acadia National Park and Manchester, NH

Living close to the ocean, I thought I had a good picture in my mind of what Coastal Maine would look like.  Here's the hardest thing to determine, "is that body of water fresh or saltwater?"  In Maine, there is no way to tell where ocean begins and ends.  It wraps around every piece of land you could imagine and the thousands of tiny islands and inlets make it difficult to judge what exactly you are looking at.  Where the sea meets the land is not sand in Maine.  Thick vegetation and trees runs right up to the cliff or beach.  Rolling sand dunes are non existent and bodies of freshwater overlook the ocean from mere footsteps away.  The coast of Maine is heavily populated and the city of Bar Harbor is intertwined amongst Acadia National Park, making difficult to understand where the city ends and the park begins.

We began the day at National Park Canoe and Kayak Rental on Long Pond in Acadia National Park.  The canoe rental is on the northern tip of the pond and the National Park begins about half way down.  Fishing rods in hand and accompanied with two Maine fishing licenses, we chose the three hour rental for 36 bucks and dipped our canoe in the seven mile long body of water.  Side note, there are multiple names for bodies of water in New England...and I really cannot tell the difference so in my head I have come to determine that they decide based on whatever sounds best.  I have seen rivers, streams, brooks, lakes, ponds, none with any obvious name choice based on size, width, or length.  Regardless, we paddled what appeared to be about halfway down the pond and began to set our sites on another goal, catch a fish in another different state.  After a while of trying different lures and different depths, we settled on a rocky outcropping that looked the part.  The water was crystal clear so my inclination was we needed to find where the shallow water meets the deep.  I was right but Alyssa's fishing prowess struck first as she landed a smallmouth bass.  1-0 to the wifey.  

The catch was a much needed shot in the arm as it now became a competition.  I just couldn't lose...could I?  Nothing had been working and the wind had started to blow.  I set my pole down in my lap to pick up my paddle.  My lure hung just off the tip of my pole skimming on the surface of the water.  As I started to paddle, I heard a splash behind me.  Miraculously, I looked behind me to see a fish had come up to the surface, grabbed my lure right next to the boat and all of the sudden...tie game.  Thanks to a bit of blind luck and a fish that was barely bigger than the lure, the competition was on.  

As our time on the canoe was running out, we drifted back to the launch ramp with the help of a breeze at the stern.  We stopped one last time on another rocky outcropping and made some casts.  Focused and determined to avoid the tie, we each made perfect casts, one after the other.  We hardly spoke and eager with anticipation.  Who would it be, who would win the contest of the greatest fisherman or woman in New England?  Finally a bite, the hook was set, and the fish landed.  2-1 me!  Game over!  Adding my two fish together may have equaled Alyssa's fish, but the game was quantity and I'll take it.

After the great morning on the water, we hit the road again to Manchester, New Hampshire, a mere 50 miles or so north of Boston, our destination for tomorrow.  Side note again...when traveling on the east coast, make sure you have cash on hand to pay for tolls.  We squeaked by, literally down to our last dollar of cash on the New Hampshire turnpike.  

Anyways, we had done some research and noticed that the Portland Sea Dogs and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats were playing a Double A baseball game so we decided to check it out.  We quickly checked into our hotel and drove to the game.  We settled on a parking spot that was questionably in an apartment complex but with no signs indicating we couldn't park there.  We took the chance knowing it was on the opposite end of the main entrance of the stadium so we wouldn't probably be noticed anyways.  As we began to walk around the stadium, we noticed a large gate near right field was open, so we figured we could walk up and ask the gentleman standing there where we could grab some tickets.  Only the gentleman looked at us, turned his head, walked away, and there we were...standing inside the stadium with no tickets, confused as we could ever be.  Yep, we got in free...how, I have no idea.  Most of you are probably thinking it, so I'll say it..."yes, cause it's me."  

The game ended 15-8 in favor of the home team.  However, it was quite odd to figure out the fans' interests.  The Portland team is the affiliate of the Red Sox, the closest MLB team to Manchester, NH and the favorite team of most of the residents.  The Fisher Cats, the home team, are affiliates of the Blue Jays.  I took the crowd as kindly cheering for both, but secretly not really caring and being there for the fireworks.  The pyrotechnics did not disappoint and as we left the stadium and returned to our un-ticketed vehicle, we were still baffled by the good fortune of the evening.  However, we won't have a ticket stub to remember the game by....

--KT

30 for 30 continued.  Note: these two actually would technically be #19 and #20 but I messed up the chronological order.  For the sake of not repeating, I have labeled them as #23 and #24.

23. New York Mets (June 27, 2015)

• Mets beat the Reds 2-1 and 7-2.
• The night's previous game had been postponed so we actually got to see the continuation of a tied game and then another game.  
• College teammate Josh Smith started the second game for the Reds, first time watching him in the bigs.
• With Alyssa
• Steven Matz in his debut for the Mets threw a 7.2 inning gem.
• Josh only gave up 1 earned run but got the loss.

24. Philadelphia Phillies (June 28, 2015)

• Brewers beat the Phillies 7-4.
• Phillies fans ruthless with constant booing of their team.
• Lame atmosphere.
• Very nice usher lady gave Alyssa a Phillies children's book for her classroom.

Day 6: Maine and New Brunswick

"You ever hear of why it always takes forever to drive places in Maine?"  It's cause they spend so much time doing Mainetenance on the roads.  Ok, wasn't my best...but neither is the thought of turning 30.  Unfortunately, I can limit my bad dad jokes but cannot control turning the big 3-0.  At exactly 12:32 this morning (as my mom still calls me on the dot each birthday), I had officially been in this world for 30 years.  Thankfully, I learned a long time ago to control what I can control and live every day to its fullest.  That is exactly what we did today.

We woke up in Conway, New Hampshire and hit the ground running in what feels like our slowly dying Ford focus.  Though it has been a great car and very economical on the gas, there have been times where we raised a few eyebrows accelerating.  Regardless, we passed Poland, Norway and ended up in Naples.  However, these weren't the European hubs you are accustomed to hearing about.  Instead, these were all towns in the absolutely gorgeous "Lakes Region" of Maine.  

We arrived at "Naples Seaplane Adventures" on a blustery, cloudy, typical normal Maine morning.  Alyssa's research for this surprise birthday adventure got us in touch with Mike, a native Ohioan who relocated to Maine 12 years ago to fly seaplanes.  For those of you who don't know, a seaplane is a plane that has pontoons on it making it able to land and take off on water.  So there we were, on Long Lake in Naples, ME ready for our morning tour with some raised eyebrows about the weather.  After being reassured by Mike and caffeinated by the local Naples coffee house, we hopped in the Cessna 180.  I found it somewhat interesting that my 30 year old butt was in a 30 year old airplane.  After a few quick engine checks in the middle of the lake, we were airborne. 

We opted for the 25 mile ride, a ride that took us in a figure eight pattern around the Lakes region.   Mike proceeded to tell us about the many Maine summer camps in the area, some costing over $15,000 to send a child for a summer.  I was listening intently, but all I could think about was "Heavyweights" and "The Parent Trap".  Regardless, we turned our attention to trying to spot a moose and were unsuccessful.  The tour was a blast, landing on water is a trip, and we were both in awe the entire flight.  

Float plane over, we headed east.  And by east, I mean literally as far east as any human can possibly go in the United States of America...Quoddy Head State Park in Lebec, Maine.  After heading up I-95, cutting towards the coast in Bangor (shoutout to Julie the Cat Gaffney), we rested for lunch in Machias, ME...overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  Finally, 281 miles from where we started the day, a beautiful red and white striped lighthouse beautifully greeted us to the Bay of Fundy.  The quintessential coastal Maine postcard glimmered in the sunlight as the glassy North Atlantic Ocean watched nearby.   Tides in this area fluctuate almost 48 feet, so the ocean current stays swift and powerful all the time, as evident by the nearby whirlpool that is the largest in the Western Hemisphere.   There are millions of people in this country and for about 10 minutes today, I can officially say that there was no person further east in the entire USA than me.  That, I believe, is really cool.  

From far and wide, Canada was staring at us from across the bay, and we just had to make one of those "just because" detours.  Our true patriot love crossed the border in Lebec, ME, past a Canada customs agent who was standing on guard for thee, and onto Campollindo Island in New Brunswick.  Our first stop was at Roosevelt International park, a park frequently visited by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his family.  In fact, his cottages still remain, and we were able to take a nice little self-guided tour through the largest of them.  The island's best feature was a gorgeous rocky beach with the most beautiful polished rocks you could imagine.  I see flat polished rocks and I see the perfect example to show off my rock skipping skills...skills that Alyssa clearly doesn't have.  In fact, it was kind of sad.  After a couple of hours, we headed back into the States, and waved back to the Canada customs agent, who, along with God, was still keeping his land glorious and free.  

Finally, after 383 total miles driven on the day, we finally reached our final destination of Bar Harbor, Maine, home to Acadia National Park.  We celebrated with dinner and ice cream at one of Maine's local ice cream parlors.  I opted for the butterbeer and banana molasses ice cream while Alyssa chose the Grapefruit and Cucumber-lime sorbet.  Odd flavors, but remarkable good taste from Mt. Desert Ice Cream in Bar Harbor, ME.  

Another day, another year, another adventure.  I keep getting older and the days ahead keep getting shorter.  The first dreaded birthday couldn't have gone any better and I have a lot of people to thank for that.  Thank you to all my friends and family for taking time out of their day to make me feel special.  Thank you to my parents for making this whole being alive thing possible.  And thank you to my amazing wife, whose thoughtfulness and selflessness has no limits.  I love you all!

--KT

30 by 30 continued

21. Toronto Blue Jays (August 6, 2015)

• Blue Jays beat the Twins 9-3
• When sitting right behind the Blue Jays dugout, the CN Tower appears as if it is coming out of the stadium.
• Edwin Encarnacion hit a HR and walked the parrot (his signature celebration)
• Parked directly under the stadium (thought this was odd)
• There is a hotel in CF of this stadium.
• By myself

22. Pittsburgh Pirates (August 7, 2015)

• Pirates beat the Dodgers 5-4
• Gerrit Cole vs. Clayton Kershaw
• Baseball game televised on ESPN
• with John Higgins
• drove to Pittsburgh in the middle of the night from Toronto, Canada (5 hour drive).

Day 5: New Hampshire

At over 6,000 feet, Mount Washington in New Hampshire is one of the tallest mountains east of the Mississippi and it once held the world record for measured surface wind speed at 231 miles per hour.  Today, with Mt. Washington as our backdrop, we hit the summer slopes for an alpine Canopy Tour featuring zip lines and rappels and explored the Bretton Woods portion of New Hampshire, one of the most beautiful places I have been in my life.

We slept comfy in our quaint 1843 hotel room in Littleton, NH and enjoyed a quiet breakfast complimentary of the hotel.  After a long day of driving yesterday, we planned it so today would be much more laid back.  The drive from the hotel to the canopy tour was all of about 30 minutes and we arrived about 15 minutes early to the beautiful slopes of Bretton Woods Ski Area, New Hampshire's largest ski resort.  After a brief orientation and fitting for our gear, we hopped on the chair lift to the top of the mountain and the start of our zip lining adventure.  We became acquainted with our two guides, Steve and Rob...and were delighted to find out that Rob has spent a lot of time in San Luis Obispo as he has a friend who works at Cuesta College.  After informing Rob that Alyssa and I had met at Cuesta College, we all shared some great laughs about how truly small this world is.

The zip line tour started slow, with the crowd as boring as the first day of math class.  As we continued on, Alyssa and I took to a lot of great conversation with Rob about the local area and the places that we have been.  He found out we were teachers and told us at the end of the tour that "you guys break the stereotype for teachers."  At first we thought he was referring to the CA stereotype, but when he informed us he was referring to the fact that teachers usually don't listen up on the tour, we shared a good laugh together.  Our technique was pretty flawless compared to the rest of the group and we definitely had more fun as noted by the louder screams and my take off slogans such as "Gone forever, Aaron Hernandez" and "Hepatitis C you later"(--Kent Murphy).

After 9 ziplines and three rappels and a wonderful and informative three hour tour, we were ready for a dip in the river.  Knowing we were headed to the mountains and regions with a lot of water, I packed accordingly with my collapsable fishing rods and a small tackle box that fits nicely in my carry on bag.  We drove down the road and picked up a couple of New Hampshire 1 day fishing licenses and found a turn out on the side of the highway next to the picturesque Ammonoosuc River.  Luckily for us, the Rainbow and Brook Trout were biting today and we finished the mid day fishing trip with 7 fish, 5 brookies and 2 bows.  Alyssa's river technique keeps improving each time we fish and I am very proud of her.  

Time for lunch, and another Yelp review found us in The Local Grocer, a deli using only local New Hampshire products.  While it was a bit expensive, it was worth it knowing the money stays local.  We checked into our hotel in North Conway, New Hampshire and decided to try our luck at local Conway Lake for some late evening fishing.  Alyssa was the winner here, with the lone fish, a local catfish.  We met some nice folks as we have our entire trip and I was able to give a couple of lures that had been working for us today to a young boy who was fishing with his dad.  He wanted so badly to trade lures but when I told him he could have them, he was very excited!

We ate dinner at another local place called "Wicked Fresh Burgers" and the burgers and fries were "In and Out" like with a local taste.  Phenomenal.  

After dinner, I beat Alyssa in a round of mini golf, but it was close.   It officially came down to the 17th hole but I made it difficult after getting a hole in one on #16.  She treated me to a Dairy Queen soft serve and I enjoyed every minute of it.  

On any trip, I typically only pack for five days of clothes...something we picked up last year when we went to Europe based on advice from Rick Steves.  Thus, it's time to do laundry!  Miss you all and we appreciate you all keeping up with us.  Love you!

--KT

Ballpark tours continued:

19. Chicago White Sox (August 4, 2015)

• Got side swiped on the freeway driving to the stadium.
• Rays beat the White Sox 11-3
• boring stadium, boring team
• Chris Archer vs. Chris Sale
• By myself

20. Detroit Tigers (August 5, 2015)

• Tigers beat the Royals 2-1
• Johnny Cueto pitching for the Royals
• 3 triples hit in the game, not surprising as park built for triples (huge gaps, deep center field).
• Most underrated stadium/downtown.  Wasn't expecting much, but was very impressed.
• By Myself
• Found out during the game that I got a teaching job at Righetti High School; principal called during game.

Day 4: Lake Placid, NY, Lake Champlain, Vermont, and Littleton, NH

The more I travel this country, the more I realize how absolutely beautiful it is.  If you have followed us over the years on our many adventures, you would notice how we focus a lot of our vacations around big cities.  We have our share of amazing times doing so many things and don't get me wrong, big cities have been great to us.  However, one of the most under appreciated parts of this country is small town america.  

Growing up, I used to think I lived in a small town. In a way, I did.  But let's be honest...30,000 residents is small for the state of California.  Now put Paso Robles, CA in this neck of the woods and it would be the 2nd largest city in Vermont and the 4 largest in New Hampshire and Maine.  During some parts of the day, it takes me about an hour and a half to drive to my parents house from Orcutt to Paso Robles.  Today, it took us an hour and a half to drive across the entire state of Vermont.  Heck...today we even hopped on a boat in New York and ended up in Vermont...and that only took 25 minutes.

Today felt like the quintessential tour of small town USA.  We left our hotel after the best nights sleep we have had all trip and after I dominated the hotel's claw machine.  After a quick coffee stop, we hit the road for Lake Placid, NY.  Now I will be honest, I had done a ton of research on Lake Placid and we were planning on doing a Bobsled ride on the USA Bobsled, Luge, and Skelton training center.  Trying to make a reservation before we hit the road, we were disappointed to find out they only did rides on Thursday-Sunday.  We decided to check out Lake Placid anyways, and we were so glad we did.  We stopped by the bobsled track anyways and got a chance to sit in a real bobsled.  I will tell you one thing...my hips are not built for those machines.  "Surprisingly uncomfortable" would be the term that I think best fits.  As far as the machines themselves, they are surprisingly simple.  A couple of levers here and there, a brake, and an aerodynamic design pretty much makes up a bobsled. 

We left the Bobsled track and were overcome with awe as we pulled up to the Olympic Ski Jumping facility.  Pictures or words cannot describe how high these jumpers start from, how steep their landing area is, and how easy Olympians make it look on television.  I was surprised to learn that the ramp, or the area where they leave the ground is not so much a ramp, but more of an end.  Basically, there is no ramp that launches them upwards.  The ramp ends and the cliff begins.  Thus, the lifting of the skis right at liftoff makes more sense now. 

Right nearby, there is the aerial practice, where the ramp does launch you upwards.  They don't use the full ski jumps we just toured, but these are no joke either.  Here, athletes go down the ramp and perform stunts off a ramp.  Since it is summer, they practice this time of year by jumping into a pool, full boots, skis, and adding a life vest.  Double back flip after double black flips splashed down and as we watched these athletes, Alyssa was as depressed as a person that realized she missed her true calling.  Combining diving and gymnastics (the two sports she competed in) would be the best of both worlds.  Of course in winter, they must land on snow, but this seemed like it would be a neat summer olympic sport.  After a long debate of how much money it would have taken to go off the steepest slope and highest ramp, we settled on somewhere near $10,000 after we watched what seemed like 8 year old kids look like pros.  

Another phenomenal yelp find by Alyssa (she's on a roll) for lunch found us at Big Mountain Deli in downtown Lake Placid.  They have 50+ sandwich options and their bread is phenomenal.  

We hopped back in the car again through the Adirondacks ending up on the shores of Lake Champlain.  For those that don't know, Lake Champlain is half in NY and half in Vermont and even stretches partially into Canada at the northern end.  We took the Lake Champlain car ferry from Essex, NY to Charlotte, VT and 25 minutes later, we had crossed state lines and were ready for a snack.  

We settled on the Ben and Jerry's factory tour in Waterbury, VT and won our tour's "who is from the furthest away" contest and got some stares from the audience as I rocked my Montreal Expos hat with my Los Angeles Rams shirt.  The tour was ok, it includes a short video, a quick look into the production room, and then of course, the sample room...but was worth the $4 per person.  Luckily for us, they scooped too much for the amount of people in our tour and before long, I was double fisting shots of Americone Dream ice cream.

Alyssa got behind the wheel for the first time in New England and did a stellar job getting us to our final destination of the day after a total of 285 miles driven, Littleton, New Hampshire...a town 3,200 miles away from home, yet eerily resembles the village of Arroyo Grande.  After a romantic outside dinner of Chicken Maple Bacon Pizza at Schillings Beer Company (Alyssa on Yelp again), we settled into our room at the historic Thayer's Inn, so old that Ulysses S. Grant once stayed here...small town lodging at it's finest.

--KT

Continuing my ballpark history tour...

17. Minnesota Twins (August 6, 2014)

• Got to watch the game with a former Lipscomb alumni and member of the LU softball team, Vanessa Medina (she is originally from Bakersfield and was working with the Twins that year)
• Free tickets in the beautiful club level at the new Target Field.
• Padres beat Twins 5-4
• Cal Poly alumni Kevin Correia on the mound for the Twins.
• Mall of America after the game

18. Kansas City Royals (August 8, 2014)

• Royals beat Giants 4-2
• Preview of the 2014 World Series
• by myself
• Madison Bumgarner throws a complete game but gets the loss.
• Winning pitcher (Jason Vargas) from the same town as Alyssa was born (Apple Valley, CA)
• Home run by Country Breakfast, Billy Butler

Day 3: Cooperstown

"You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time."--Jim Bouton


I've spent most of my 29 years and 362 days of life holding a baseball in some way or another.  I haven't confirmed these facts with my folks, but from what I remember...I started playing baseball when I was four, though it could have been three.  Regardless...from tee ball, coach pitch, little league, senior league, Babe Ruth, high school, junior college, Division I, and then into coaching, baseball has been there.  I've been all over the country watching baseball but the real joy is being able to play it.  Knowing when that slider feels just right, feeling nothing when you hit the ball of the sweet spot, walking off the mound after a strikeout looking, these feelings never go away.  What I would give to go back for one day of playing competitive, meaningful, baseball.

Today, we honored the best to ever play, those enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  The day started early with a 6am wakeup call.  We took a quick UBER to Penn Station and hopped on the Amtrak towards upstate NY.  We arrived in Albany after a relaxing, uneventful, yet scenic three-hour trip along the Hudson River.  After picking up our rental car, we hit the highway for Cooperstown.

We arrived around lunch time and after another superb Yelp restaurant find by Alyssa, we settled in a cute coffee shop in Cooperstown.  The streets were busy but the crowd wasn't bad and it felt like it slowly dwindled as the day went on.  The best part was that everyone we saw had one common interest...baseball.  We entered the Hall of Fame and spend over three hours in the museum gawking over records, tearing up over inspirational quotes, and high-fiving over correct trivia answers.  The emotions of baseball have no boundaries and this proved true today.

Overwhelmed by the perfection that is the Hall of Fame, we finally finished the self-guided tour and set out on a shopping spree down Main Street in Cooperstown.  Cooperstown has one stop light on one main street, and this street is littered with sports memorabilia and everything baseball.  Alyssa found a new A's hat and I found a great pair of socks to add to my collection.  Of course, we picked up our usual Christmas ornament.  We could have spent thousands, but kept our purchases minimal and reasonable.  Satisfied, we hopped back in the car back to Albany to get to our hotel in time to watch the Home Run Derby.

Aaron Judge is a beast.  He dominated the Home Run Derby to the point where it really wasn't even fair.  The amount of home runs this year is ridiculous but it is great for the game of baseball.  Baseball is in a great place.  Sprinkled in with flame throwing pitchers are young power hitters that each bring their own flair to the game.  For today and for always, baseball is life.

Off to bed.  Headed upstate then across to Vermont and into New Hampshire tomorrow.  Stay tuned

--KT

Continuing my trek through the MLB parks:

16. Texas Rangers (June 25, 2012)

• Returning home from our honeymoon, Alyssa and I had a 6 hour layover in Dallas.  What better to do than go to a game.
• Tigers vs. Rangers
• 105 game time temperature with 90 percent humidity.  By far, the most miserable weather I have ever experienced at MLB game.
• Tigers win 8-2
• Josh Hamilton hits a HR for Texas.  

Day 2: New York City

New York City is an amazing city.  After a long day of traveling across the country, we got a full night sleep.  I love sleeping in, we both do.  However, that is one thing I am always glad we refuse to do on vacation.  Knowing we really only had one full day in NYC, we had to make this count.  Luckily, we had already visited NYC in 2015 so we had good game plan.  We felt we needed to sprinkle in some of our favorite things with some new things and that is just what we did.

We began the day with a quick continental breakfast provided by our hotel, the wonderful Comfort Inn and Suites.  Now let me preface this day with one piece of advice for those interested in traveling to NY...I think it is best seen on foot.  If the mileage is under two miles away, walk to your destination.  The subway is great, but you really get the feel of NYC on foot and in each little neighborhood.  We began the day walking from our hotel to Central Park, a favorite from our trip two years ago.  As we strolled through Central Park, the cool morning breeze whisked through the shady trees.  Runners passed...some with good bodies, some with bad.  Loungers lounged and bad moms continued to be bad moms.  

When you have had enough walking, the Subway is easy and accessible within a few blocks of just about anywhere in Manhattan.  So, we did a quick Kevin McCallister cut out of the park at 72nd, didn't slip on ice, and were in the Subway station ready to head to and the only unvisited borough of NYC we had not visited, the Bronx.  

In the Subway station rocking my Yankees hat, I was approached by a gentleman and his son asking if we were headed to the stadium.  We told him we were and our morning filled with conversation about baseball, basketball, high school, and much more.  The father and son were from Oklahoma City and were on a road trip checking off many baseball stadiums along the way.  The son was a 15 year old incoming high school sophomore who had a great left handed pitcher frame.  Alyssa couldn't get over how polite and respectful the son was and really wanted to compliment the dad on raising this boy the right way.  We had great conversations and between the Subway and waiting to enter the game, we had spent almost two hours speaking with them.  

Walking out of the Subway station, swarms of pinstripes filled the station and the stadium sidewalks. The pet peeve list continues to grow and this one has to do with baseball stadiums.  I love giveaway days just as much as the next person but teams need to do a better job at figuring it out.  Yankees tickets aren't cheap, they nearly sell out most games (Attendance today was 42,000+), so there is really no need to only give 18,000 bobbleheads.  My point is, they can afford to double their bobblehead order.  People wouldn't show up 9 hours before the game, crowd the stadium sidewalks to the point it was miserable, and then get their bobblehead and leave.  Then, some even have the nerve to try and purchase them off of other fans.   I couldn't care less about the bobblehead, just let us in.  Luckily, we had our new friends to speak with which made our experience waiting in line tolerable.  

As we parted ways, the son and I exchanged Instagram handles and we wished each other well.  The Brewers beat the Yankees 5-3 in what felt like a much longer game than the score indicated.  We were able to alleviate the boiling sun by finding some shade that made the game much more tolerable,  In total, I think 11 pitchers were used and there were very few 1-2-3 innings.  

As far as the stadium goes, this was #29 out of 30 for me.  The stadium was clean, scenic, but lacked a great atmosphere.  Fans even decided to sit down during the 7th inning stretch.  How embarrassing.  

After the game, we took the Subway to Penn Station to scope out our train ride for tomorrow and check out Madison Square Garden.  MSG as locals call it, is located right on top of Penn Station and isn't anything spectacular from the outside.  From there, we walked the 1.7 miles to Greenwich village (where the TV show Friends was based) and got in line for something we have looked forward to for a long time...Cookie DO.  

I've eaten Cookie Dough my whole life, raw eggs and all and never had any issues.  I really don't see the problem.  In fact, I prefer cookie dough over the baked cookies.  This place is something else, they make edible, safe to eat cookie dough and serve it like its an ice cream parlor.  Tray after tray of different flavors and I settled on the Frosted Fork, a blend of sugar cookie dough and mothers animal cookies.  The line stages across the street and only took us about 20 minutes to get in the store...but well worth the wait.  We grabbed our dough and headed to nearby Washington Square Park to people watch and indulge in "dinner."  

NYC is great for people watching no matter where you go, and tonight did not disappoint.  From over the top PDA to a lady who failed to realize her dog's harness was on upside down, there was some great laughs.  

Back on the Subway again, this time to the Staten Island Ferry, the very southern tip of Manhattan.  A free ferry ride takes you right by the Statue of Liberty with the skyline in the background.  A budget friendly and a must-do for any out of town visitor.  When you land on Staten Island, just walk back into the terminal and board the train back to Manhattan.  In, all the round trip takes 1 hour and the sights are wonderful.  One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and 6th tallest in the world is quite the sight hovering over everything like a giant middle finger to the terrorists that devastated the buildings next door.  

All in all, we walked a total of 10.48 miles.  Our feet hurt, legs are chaffed, and our bodies ache.  But you know what, wake up call tomorrow morning is at 6am...and we will be ready.  

One final thing, continuing with my list of baseball stadiums in order, here you go:

#14 Chicago Cubs (May 6, 2012)

• Trip with John Higgins and Tyler West.
• Dodgers @ Cubs
• 3 hour rain delay
• Cubs win on a walk off walk.  

#15 Milwaukee Brewers (May 7, 2012)

• Trip with Tyler West
• Reds @ Brewers
• Reds win 5-1 and score 5 runs on a total of 8 pitches.  
• Actually ran into someone I knew from Paso Robles as our seats were directly next to each other...small world!

Day 1: Santa Barbara, Dallas, NY

You ever get that feeling where you are just waiting for something.  No matter what line you get in or what luck happens, waiting is the only thing that is actually happening.  This is pretty much how today went.  The trip started without a hitch.  The easiest airport in the world (Santa Barbara) took us about 3 minutes to get through security.  The flight into Dallas was smooth, but I guess when it rains, it pours.  That was exactly what happened in Dallas.  Is it just me or does it feel like you spend more time taxing to the gate than you do off the ground.  Today at DFW, this was no joke.  We landed on one side of the airport, waited in between runways, took a full loop of the airport, changed gates, waited for the ground crew to get permission to chalk the tire, and a million other things before we were finally allowed to get off the plane. 

Here are a couple pet peeves as we learn more about ourselves as travelers.  First, here’s a great way to find out if we are that gate…look out the window.  How many idiots have to get up as we are stopped somewhere other than the gate just to make the flight attendant bust your balls on the loud speaker?  By the way flight attendants, stop making vague announcements about how everyone needs to be in their seat.  We all know its one dumb broad so make it known.  Put that idiot on blast.  “Lady in the blue shirt, sit the hell down and figure out your life.”  Guarantee that lady learns her lesson.  Secondly, when the captain turns off the seatbelt sign, the only people that have the right to stand up are the people in the aisle.  Everyone else, sit down.  Finally, there is no need to run ahead three rows to make it quicker to get off the plane.  Nobody is that important.  Glad you saved that 13 seconds. 

Anyway, off the plane and on to the DFW Skylink, the tram that circles the airport from terminal to terminal.   We arrived in terminal C and needed to get to terminal D.  You would think they would be right next to each other.  Nope!  Well done Texas. Fortunately, this didn’t cause a delay.  One of my recent purchases was an Apple Watch.  I love this thing and one of the cool perks is that I can hold my wrist under the barcode scanner to board the airplane.  Another coolish perk is that it alerts me to any notification that comes to my phone.  As the thunderstorm continued to pound DFW, my watch kept blowing up with notifications.  “Your flight has been delayed to 6:45….7:00…7:15…7:30…7:48.  Again, the waiting game continues. 

The one great thing about airports is that entertainment can come cheap.  That is, if you play close attention.  The second thing is that you are never more than 100 yards away from a Wetzel Pretzel or Auntie Anne’s.  After waiting again for our Auntie Anne’s pretzel as we watched a pushy Asian cut in front, our hunger was temporarily cured.  We settled into our seats and watched a father and son play baseball in the middle of the terminal.  Once again, the game of baseball never fails in its ability to make you smile. 

After finally landing in Newark, we took an UBER to Manhattan to the Comfort Inn Midtown West.

Quick note, forgot to mention that there are three major airports in the NYC vicinity: Newark, JFK, and La Guardia.  If your travels take you to Newark, you could grab a train to the city which is economical but for a few dollars more, take an UBER and take in the night time Manhattan skyline and the Lincoln tunnel.  (Obviously, be conscious of what time you are flying in as we chose this because it was late at night and very little traffic.

As tomorrow will mark my 29^th stadium (Yankee Stadium), I reflect on some more great memories in this story called the first 30 years..

11. St Louis Cardinals (May 2009)

• New Busch Stadium trip with John Higgins. 
•  Brewers defeat the Cardinals 8-2 highlighted with Prince Fielder 3 run home run. 
•  The rest of the story can be found here: (some of you have heard this story and may want to read it again but to those who haven’t, enjoy).

12. Cincinnati Reds (April 2011)

• Trip to Great American Ballpark with Alex Martin and John Higgins.
• First time ever watching Aroldis Chapman.  Threw 104mph that day.

13. Colorado Rockies (July 2011)

• Colorado vacation with Alyssa and John Higgins
• First time watching teammate Rex Brothers pitch in a major league uniform.
• Went to 3 games this trip.
• Sat next to Scott Van Pelt (Sportscenter anchor) on the car rental shuttle.

Twas the night before departure...

Twas the night before departure and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring, not even...well you get the picture.

After a long wait, and I mean a long wait...we are finally ready to hit the road for our Summer Vacation 2017.  Due to time constraints with our jobs, schooling, and other summer activities, we decided to wait until July for this year's trip.   Alyssa is currently two classes away from finishing her Master's Degree and I just completed my last of the mandatory Teacher Performance Activities and Final Portfolio, so let's just say we have been busy...but not the kind of busy we want to be.  Regardless, as we are about to embark, there are many feelings that are running across my mind.

The first of these is gloating at the fact that Alyssa and I really are seasoned travelers at this point.  There's not much we don't prepare for anymore, and our trips and packing have become so routine, we rarely speak to each other while getting ready.  Not to say the excitement isn't still there, but it is a more contained excitement, and really just focusing on a few standout things that will be a bit different during this travel adventure:  

1. This is the first time in about 5 flights where we haven't flown Red Eye to our destination. 
2. Thanks to American Airlines miles, we are able to leave from Santa Barbara, a mere 45 minutes away compared to the LAX adventure that pushes 3 hours most days.  
3. We finally decided to do TSA Precheck, so those shoes ain't coming off baby!

As seasoned travelers, we have been to a large part of this great country and usually, our travels revolve around one thing...baseball.  I am so thankful for a wife that loves baseball, adventure, and me.  She is the most selfless person I have ever met and words really can't express how much I love her.  So if you get nothing else from this whole post, I want to repeat that Alyssa, I love you with all my heart.  

Anyway, the one word that keeps coming back in my mind as I think about this upcoming vacation is "bittersweet."  I have been blessed to travel throughout this great country and thankfully, my travels have taken me to a lot of cities.  However, I am very proud to say that at the conclusion of this trip, I will have completed the #1 thing on my bucket list: 30 baseball stadiums by 30 years old.  It is still very surreal to even think I am days away from completing the list but I just want to take the time to thank all of the people that have been part of this journey.  From my dad who first introduced me to the great game of baseball to my friends and family who I've been privileged to attend games with to my wife who has embraced this beautiful game since meeting me over ten years ago.  

So as my journey is coming to an end, I plan to compile a list, in order of my journey visiting all 30 MLB teams.  Here are the first 10:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (1990-91?)
1. Unsure of the exact date but remember it was Dodgers vs. Cardinals.
2. Todd Zeile was a notable player on the Cardinals.  I remember this because he shares the same first name with my dad.
2. San Francisco Giants (1992?)
1. Attended multiple games at Candlestick as well as Pac Bell/SBC/AT&T Park.
2. Matt Williams being the only decent player to watch throughout the awful 90s years for the Giants.
3. Dad drops a ball hit by Daryl Strawberry during batting practice.  
4. High fiving Ellis Burks as I walk around during the Junior Giants parade.
5. Being freezing cold at Candlestick.
6. Getting my first ever player autograph (Moises Alou on the Astros)
3. Seattle Mariners (2003)
1. Chicago White Sox vs. Seattle Mariners.
2. Bartolo Colon pitching.
3. Sitting in the Left field bleachers with my whole family (Dad, Mom, Tamara, Amy, and I)
4. Ichiro
4. Los Angeles Angels (2004)
1. First Angel's-A's game with my Mom and my sisters.
5. Washington Nationals (July 22, 2005)
1. Game at RFK Stadium with Grandpa Wood.  
2. Roger Clemens on the mound for the Astros, 10 K's through 6 IP.
3. Nationals staff made me take down my "K" signs I made for the trip.
6. Baltimore Orioles (July 25, 2005)
1. Miserably hot game with Grandpa Wood.  2nd hottest game I've ever been at.
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (July 2005)
1. With my summer league baseball team.  Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals.
2. Albert Pujols hitting 7 home runs in a row in batting practice that still might not have landed.
8. San Diego Padres (August 9, 2005)
1. This catch by David Wright.
2. Mets vs. Padres with my dad, the Graffs, and Amy.
9. Oakland Athletics (September 4, 2005)
1. Sunday night baseball vs. the Yankees.
2. Mariano Rivera breaks three bats in a single at bat.
10. Atlanta Braves (5/4/2009)
1. Braves vs. Mets at Turner Field with my dad.
2. Drove through a gigantic rainstorm in a tiny yellow economy sized rental car thinking there was no way this game gets played.
3. Scalped $25 seats that found us in the first row behind the Braves dugout.

Well, off to bed.  Love ya.

Kyle