The Baseball Trip 2018

Day 5   Friday, July 6, 2018

Utah is on fire as well.

We left Grand Junction, Colorado, but not before stopping at Camilla's Kaffe for breakfast. Can't beat that chicken fried steak! Here's a shot from out front:

Her's a shot of the chicken fried steak and eggs:

The road to Salt Lake City from Grand Junction was pretty uneventful.

Favorite city name: Dinosaur, Colorado.

Apparently, you can find anything dinosaur related in Dinosaur. It's like the Area 51 of Colorado. Toys, outerwear, underwear, mugs, etc. There are even real dinosaur tracks. Funny, we didn't see many archaeologists.

Not to be outdone, Vernal, Utah considers itself to be Utah's Dinosaur Land.

Vernal has to keep pace with Dinosaur for tourist dollars. It's a heated business. Competition across state lines is fierce.

The day's journey actually starts with our approach to Utah along the Douglas Pass through the Bookcliff Mountains in far western Colorado. Since no one was coming up behind us like madmen (most of the trip), I jumped out and took a picture of the road ahead:

Here are a few more shots through those mountains:

Anyway, our objective was Salt Lake City. The Bees (Utah is "The Beehive State" - I don't know why) play the El Paso Chihuahuas tonight in another Triple A contest. The Bees belong to the Angels. They proudly display current major league players that went through their system. One of them is Mike Trout. I'm thinking, yeah, for maybe 2 months. Turns out I was close. They promoted him to the majors on July 8th, 2012. He was there about 3 months. And oh yeah, the Chihuahuas are the triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

So the Bees play at Smith's Ballpark. Named after Joseph Smith? I don't know. Actually, I do. It's named for Smith's Food and Drug. Is that named for Joseph Smith? I don't know.

But here are some shots of the field:

 Front gate.

 Scoreboard and videoboard.

 From left field stands toward home plate.

 Mountains behind 3rd base line.

 What's more baseball than balloon animals and foam fingers?

Left-center field.

And, of course, me with Buzzy, Salt Lake's mascot. He is high.

The Bees got their butts kicked, I don't remember the score. No home team has won on this trip so far!

Things we cannot stay for: Rikki Lee Jones at the Avalon Theater in Grand Junction.

Favorite town name: Fruita, Colorado

Favorite sign: Uintah Cowboy Church

Random observation from Randy: I had to move down from the aisle seat. People were bothering me. That's what people do. They bother me.

Ancient Tractors on Display: 3

Tomorrow: Reno