The Baseball Trip 2026

Day 3 - Wednesday August 5

Editor's Note:  We are not going to Sioux Falls, SD. We are going to Sioux City, Iowa. Doh!

Random Observation From Randy: Well, I knew it was Sioux something.

Also: I forgot to give the counts from yesterday, so here goes:

Wildfire warnings - 0

One lane roads - 0

Before we left Minnesota, we stopped for breakfast at Park Cafe in Saint Paul Park, Minnesota.

It doesn't look like much, but the biscuits and gravy lived up to Randy's standards. So, all good!

Yes, we are indeed heading across Minnesota and into Iowa for an American Association game between the Sioux City Explorers and the Lake County Dock Hounds. The Dock Hounds are out of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. The American Association League is an independent League, meaning their teams are not affiliated with Major League Baseball.

The Explorers were down 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth, but exploded for 5 runs to take a 6-4 lead. I can't vouch for the final score because we left early. The game was at the three hour mark and it wasn't even in the eighth inning yet. I'll let you know when I find out.

Nonetheless, here are some pictures from Lewis and Clark Park:

Press box behind home plate.

Left field.

Right field.

Center field scoreboard.

Slider, the Explorers' mascot. He took no pictures with the fans. Big-timed us.

From behind home plate.

Stadium entrance.

Me waiting twenty minutes for a brat and chicken strips.

Favorite town name: Buttercup, MN.

Favorite signs: Lost Sanity Brewing Co.

                         5,000 Guns! Turn here!

                         Guaranteed Bat Removal

                         Worry-free Water!

Random Observation From Randy: That's another reason I don't like the suburbs... all those creepy roads.

Wildfire Warnings - 0

One lane roads - 1

Next: Montana.

The Baseball Trip 2026

Day 2 - Tuesday, August 4

We leave La Crosse,Wisconsin, heading for Saint Paul, Minnesota. But first, a couple of pictures of the river behind our motel:

Homes on French Island, in the middle of the Mississippi River.

Boats docked on the river.

 

After a few pix, we went to breakfast, crossing the river into La Crescent, Minnesota for a delicious meal at Kaddy's Kafe.

Random Observation From Randy: It's lucky we escaped that joint with our lives considering the number of police badges on that wall.

After that, we skipped back into Wisconsin to take the scenic river byway (Wisc 35) north to Saint Paul. On the way, we found Alma, Wisconsin. The Mississippi River Lock and Dam  #4 is there for your viewing pleasure. It also makes Alma the town of a thousand puns:

Alma: the best town by a dam site!

The Best Dam View Bar and Grill

Pun and Favorite sign qualifier: Mrs. Hippie Antiques

Mississippi Lock and Dam #4.

One more photo from the river:

Another island in the river.

But, on to Saint Paul. The Saints take on the Louisville Bats (AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) tonight at CHS Field. CHS stands for Cenex Harvest States (now officially known as CHS Inc.), a massive, farmer-owned global agribusiness and energy cooperative. In case you hadn't noticed, I googled that. It's AI.

The home team took a mighty blow in the first inning, thanks to a two-run-homer. But they also supplied the power in their half of the first with a three-run homer by Matt Wallner. The game was tied 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh when the Saints exploded for 6 runs, including a three-run-homer by Aaron Sabato. Ben Ross added a two-run dinger, and the Saints win running away, 15-5!

Some pix from CHS Field:

Players warming up in front of the left field berm.

Right field party zone.

Behind home plate/press boxes.

Center field batter's eye.

Videoboard in left-center.

View from the concourse behind the third base line.

Me with "Mudonna", the mascot of the Saint Paul Saints. Her full name is Mudonna T. Pig. The mascot is a pig because Saint Paul was founded by a fur trapper named Pierre "Pigs-eye" Parrant. She is famous for twerking atop the dugout. I'm not kidding, and I cannot un-see that.

Favorite Town Names: Saint Paul (in honor of my pub trivia teammates Good Paul and Bad Paul).

                                       Diamond Bluff

Favorite signs: Big River

                         Radio Drive

Things we cannot hang around for: Preston 'Daze' -  Preston, WI.

I think Randy was onto something: There are two police cars in front of our motel as we leave for the Saints game.

Next: Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

 

The Baseball Trip 2026

Day 1 - Monday, August 3

There are only two rules on the Baseball Trip: no interstate highways and no chain restaurants. 

We - and by we I mean myself and Randy, navigator extraordinaire - like to count things along the way. Usually we count things like women on riding mowers, personal injury lawyer billboards, Kingdom Halls, Confederate flags, and other signs of the apocalypse. This trip we are counting one lane roads due to construction and extreme wildfire danger warning signs.

Well, let's get the boring part out of the way early: today is merely a travel day, but if anything of interest comes up, I will let you know. This is the corn and soybeans tour as we head west on US 20 through Rockford, Illinois and into Galena. Then, north into Wisconsin on Wisconsin route 80.

After that, we veered off onto Wisc 35, the Scenic River Byway.

Random Observation From Randy: They have nothing better to do than to flatten a scenic byway to make it four lanes.

Nonetheless, there are only a few good spots to take pictures of the river because its hidden by trees and freight trains. Here's one:

I should have more tomorrow since the river is directly behind our motel.

By the way,we are in La Crosse, Wisconsin for the night. You know, home of...

Favorite Town Name: Dickeyville, WI.

Favorite Signs: Old Highway Road

                          Schnuks Grocery.

Things we cannot hang around for:  Car and Tractor Show, Potosi, WI.

One Lane Roads:  2

Wildfire warnings: 0

Next: Saint Paul, Minnesota for the Saint Paul Saints (Twins AAA affiliate).

 The Baseball Trip 2025

Day 11 - Monday, July 28.

Not a lot to say. We always finish our trip with a traditional root beer float or a chocolate malt at a real ice cream stand. Not that soft serve stuff.

Today we stopped at Fair Oaks Farm in Fair Oaks, IN.

Randy had a root beer float, I had a chocolate malt. Excellent!

Well, that's the trip. Not too exciting at the end, But pretty cool through most of it.

What's the upshot?

Almost 3000 miles.

11 states.

Illinois

Indiana

Michigan

Ohio

West Virginia

Pennsylvania

Delaware

New Jersey

Maryland

Virginia

Kentucky

8 - Casinos

6 - Unique People

5 - Cybertrucks.

Things we cannot hang around for: Fair Oaks Concert Series.

Random Observation From Randy: Did I tell you I hate Google? I hate Google.

See you next year.

 The Baseball Trip 2025

 Day 10 - Sunday, July 27

We are traveling from Covington Virginia to Indiana. We ride the Ohio River Scenic Trail, crossing into West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana at various points along the way. Just trying to avoid Cincinnati traffic.

Before we left, we had breakfast at a diner I can't remember the name of. This guy was our company for breakfast:

Some pictures along the Ohio River:

Our third capitol building of the trip, Charleston, WV.

Favorite Town Names: Charmco, WV.

                                        Rupert, WV

                                        Utopia, OH

Favorite Signs: Lewisberg. The Coolest Small Town in America!

                           Possum Holler Pizza

                           Biscuit World

Things we cannot hang around for: Churchfest, Dover IN.

Casinos -0

Unique People - 0

Cybertrucks - 0

My Toyota RAV4 hit 100,000 miles in Higginsport, IN!

Next: Home!

 The Baseball Trip 2025

Day 9 - Saturday July 26

We are cutting the trip short by one day because we are tired of 98 degree weather and I am in need of medical attention.

One thing I can do without pain is sit still in a car and drive. So that's something.

We decided to revisit the Skyline Drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains because the last time we took the drive we encountered torrential downpours.

So guess what? Torrential downpours!!

Nonetheless...105 miles at a maximum speed of 35 MPH.

This is what it looked like when I figured I should pull over.

Well, as soon as I become tech savvy, I'll even post a video.

But here are some pictures from along the way, rain or not:

Before we left for this beautiful drive, we had breakfast at the Aberdeen Diner, Aberdeen, MD.

Random Observation From Randy: These must be the patron saints of the diner:

The Potomac River along the way after breakfast:

Favorite Town Names: Buckeystown, MD

                                        Longdale Furnace, VA

Favorite Signs: Animal Collision Area

                          High Crash Area

Random Observation From Randy: I don't think West Virginia has wi-fi yet.

Casinos - 0

Unique People - 0

Cybertrucks - 1

Things we cannot hang around for: Family Nite Out in Aberdeen, MD.

Next: Travel Day. Let's just move it.

 The Baseball Trip 2025

Day 8 - Friday, July 25

Again, a turn for the worse: The Cape May Ferry to Baltimore was sold out. All day! Bummer!

Random Observation From Randy: It's not a baseball trip without a ferry ride, dammit!

We then drove around the bay into Baltimore.

Please note: We sat in buckets of sweat as it was 96 degrees at game time (7:05)!

The Orioles were facing the Colorado Rockies, the worst team in baseball. The O's hit 4 solo home runs in the first two innings for a 4-0 lead. The Rockies fought back with a couple of dingers themselves and eventually forged a 5-5 tie. They added a run in the 8th to take a 6-5 lead and hung on to defeat the Orioles. That had to be disappointing.

One more note: The fans in the open seating area had to evacuate for a couple of innings because of lightning!

And then it came!

Some pictures from Oriole Park at Camden Yards:

Outside the park.

Statue of Brooks Robinson.

Eutaw Street outside the park.

Right field corner and the warehouse behind.

Left field stands.

Center field videoboard.

Favorite Town Names: Erma, NJ,

                                       Tuckahoe, NJ.

Favorite Signs: If you drive like a sea turtle, stay out of the left lane.

                          Sassafras St.

Things we cannot hang around for: Cape May County 4-H Fair and Chicken BBQ

Casinos - 1 - Horseshoe Casino Baltimore

Unique People - 0

Cybertrucks - 1

Random Observation From Randy: God I hate Google! We'd be better off following smoke signals.

Next: The Skyline Drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains.