The Baseball Trip 2012 / Day 3

Saturday, July 28

We are only 30 miles outside of Minneapolis, but we cannot find a diner for breakfast.

Random observation from Randy:
"You can tell America is going to hell..there are no more diners."

We tried to find one in Northfield, a sizable town, but it fancies itself too cute for diners. It is an arty town with several colleges and coffee houses, but no damn breakfast joints! No, I don't want a cruller. Nonetheless, Northfield is the site of the Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, the bank heist perpetrated by Jesse James and his gang as portrayed in fiction and moving pictures. Here is what the bank looks like, as if you can gain any historical context from that whatsoever.

Go see the Phillip Kaufman movie.

Northfield is also home to Malt-O-Meal, and I can prove it:

Oh yeah, we travelled along the Mississippi river. Here's a couple of shots I took while dodging the motorcycles.

Favorite town name: Shakopee, MN.

For several reasons, one of which is that Canterbury Park, the horse racing emporium, is located there. Since we had some time to kill before the ballgame, Randy and I took in the first four races at Canterbury. Here is what Canterbury looks like:

I like the Knights of The Round Table motif.

So I'm not really a big player. I decided I would play the first race and if i won anything I would allow myself to continue. I took the fastest horse that was listed with some finishing power and put 5 bucks across (win, place, and show) on it. I then coupled it with the favorite on a $2 box exacta (picking the first two). My fast horse was called Cassidilly, the number 4 horse. Here he is:

Cassidilly

Cassidilly finished 2nd and the favorite won. Bingo, $120.00.

I did the same thing with the seven horse in the second race: same results! However, the favorite went off at such low odds that the exacta paid only $13.00, so my total on both bets for that race was only $40.00. Hey, I'll take it. Here's my seven horse in the second race in the paddock (forgot his name!).

Unfortunately, I lost the 3rd and 4th races...but I ended up ahead $100.00. Yes!

Here's a photo of the winner getting hosed off after the race:

After the races we shot into downtown Minneapolis for the Twins game. We were sitting in the left lane waiting for the light to turn when we saw a bicyclist laying in the middle of the street in the right lane. Didn't see him fall, but he was out cold for two minutes. The a couple of bystanders helped him out, and I guess he was okay. I should have taken a picture of him laying there, that would have been cool.

Random observations from Randy:

"The airport is right over there. That's why those jets are only a few hundred feet off the ground."

"There was no pie shelf. You can't open a breakfast joint and have no pie."

"Look at those guys fishing under the railroad bridge. Nothing like fishing under a bridge."

The Twins walloped the Indians, 12-5. Good for them. The lady at the ticket window said she was surprised her machine spat out some good seats at the lower price we asked for. "They're row WC," she said. I asked the usher where are seats were, because the rows are all in numbers. "Oh, WC," he said. "That's wheelchair." So we enjoyed great seats with out handicapped friends.

Here are some photos from the stadium and surrounding area:

Wow. That's alot for one day.

Another favorite Town Name: Norwood Young America, MN
Favorite Sign: Reform Street, straight ahead.

The Baseball Trip 2012 / Day 2

Friday, July 27

Day 2 is just a travel day, so no pressure to be anywhere particular at any given time. We are on our way to Minneapolis, taking in the sights. There is a giant pink elephant in DeForest, WI, in the parking lot of a Shell Station. I don't know why. But you can buy T-shirts and other memorabilia related to this monstrosity inside the station. If you want. Here are 3 different views of the pink elephant, just because.

Why is he wearing glasses? I don't know that either. We are a nation of noise and junk.

We also took a spin through downtown Madison for grins. Here's a really nice shot of the Capitol Building. I jumped out of the car in the middle of the street to get this shot. Luckily, nobody got hurt.

Random observation from Randy:

"It's fun to taunt people."

Favorite sign: Grandpa's Gun Shop

Favorite Town Name: Token Creek

Hey! Another Ron Paul Sign!

Random observation from Randy:

"That place is called The Woodshed. I wonder what goes on in there."

We took the free ferry across Lake Wisconsin so we wouldn't have to drive the whole circumference of the lake. It only took ten minutes, but it probably saved us a half hour in curvyness. Like we care. It's just an excuse to take a ferry. Do you blame us?

Here comes the ferry.

We end up camping at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park in Nerstrand, MN. These tough guys don't cotton to no stinking fire bans. Here's your damn wood and I hope you burn down the state. We get to stare at flame!

Another Ron Paul sign! A grand opening for a chiropractor!

Ron Paul-3

Grand Opening -1

County Fair - 0

Random observation from Randy:

"Do Wisconsin people know what grits are? I think this is going to be our first grit-less trip ever."

The Baseball Trip 2012 /Day 1

Thursday, July 26

There are only two rules on the Baseball Trip:
1) No interstate highways.
2) No chain restaurants.
Everything else is up for grabs.

This will be a long trip.The plan is to find a campground west of Milwaukee, ride into town to see a Brewers game, and zip back to the camp that night. Then on to Minneapolis and the long trek to Denver to see the Rockies. And, oh yeah, my son who lives in Ft. Collins. After that, across the heartland to Kansas City and St. Louis, and then home. About 10 days on the road. Nonetheless, it will be well worth every mile because we intend to stop at every Little House on The Prairie historical site we run into. We means me and my friend Randy. Randy navigates and makes random observations.

Random observation from Randy:
"We are going to see a lot of flatness."

There are always many large things to photograph, many weird signs and strange town names to note, and many interesting people to visit. To occupy the time in between, we like to count things. In previous trips we have counted war memorials, Wal-Marts, cemeteries, women on riding mowers...all symbols of death. This year we are counting these three signs of the apocalypse:

-Ron Paul signs
-County Fairs
-Grand openings.

All fun, in a depressing sort of way.

And oh yes, there will be a lot more pictures to wade through because my friend Steve Leyva said, "When are you leaving? I want to read the blog and I want to see lots of pictures. (He's a visual learner.)

Everywhere we ride, there is nothing but brown lawns and raggedy corn. I understand it's supposed to be as high as an elephant's eye by this time of year, but no luck.  The plan is to find a campground west of Milwaukee, somewhere in the Kettle Morraine. We found a nice spot at Ottawa Lake State Park, but considering the drought, the whole damn state of Wisconsin has an open fire ban. The hypnotic flame effect is our favorite part of camping, but we lose.

Random observation from Randy:
"I guess our entertainment will have to be beer."

Ron Paul for president sighting!

We drove  into Milwaukee later that evening to see the Brewers take on the Washington Nationals. The Brewers were riding a six game losing streak. Oops. They get hammered, 8-2. Make it seven in a row.The park is nice and the weather is cool. Temps have lowered to the mid-seventies. Also, My brother-in-law, Walt Sweitlik, is a bigshot in Wisconsin and he got me free tix from his company. Pretty cool.

OK. Here's pictures:

Wacky Wisconsin tailgaters.

Outside Miller Park.

From center field.

From left field.

Favorite sign:  Beef Village

Favorite Town Name: Wandawego, WI

More tomorrow.

Oh wait....me with Bernie Brewer, team mascot. Bernie shoots down a two-story slide whenever the Brewers hit a home run. (You can see the yellow slide in the second picture.) He used to land in a mug of beer, but not any more. They must have thought that was inappropriate. You know, for a stadium named Miller Park.

The Baseball Trip 2011 / Day 9

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Heading home.

Haven't had a root beer float yet so we must stop...

Bulldog Dairy Bar, somewhere in Indiana

Also, along the way, a claw car tearing up railroad ties:

...seems like this country has come full-circle.

Random observation from Randy:
Don't go down that road. No way I'm going to Akron.

Favorite signs:
The Lube: All You Can Eat Buffet
Grampa's Cheese Barn

Favorite Town Names:
Defiance, OH
Ruggles, OH

Final Tally:
Cash for Gold: 12
Shirtless Drivers: 2 (just an Indiana thing?)

And oh by the way: we did see two Grand Opening signs:
One was an insurance agency (go figure).
One was a bagel shop.


Nine states, thirty-five hundred miles, give or take.
Somehow, this sums it up: sign on the back of a truck in Ohio:
"Non-edible meat product. Not for human consumption."

Then what the hell is it?


What did we just see? A network of back roads and local folk, struggling farms and failing businesses but people determined not to give in throw what you want at us we can take it we still have our gardens and courthouses and ice cream shops and high school football games and high school sweethearts. Some of us are gone now and couldn't manage but most of us are still here, maybe just a shadow of our yester-selves some still working in the mill planting wheat pounding fenders carrying children across the parking lots some still walking hand in hand she still loves him and he still worships her and maybe they steal a kiss in the late afternoon. Maybe it's a waitress hell-bent on making sure you've had enough coffee. Maybe it's the college professor sharing his road stories travelling the U.S. on job interviews, finally found a job somewhere after two years out of work and saw the time as a blessing, he could be with his family. Maybe it's the lady who waved at us just because.

The Baeball Trip Blogs are dedicated to Shannon Jung, my niece and long-time pen pal.

The Baseball Trip 2011 / Day 8

Monday, July 25, 2011

Random observation from Randy:
Today is a Beatles day.

As we wind our way through hills and valleys to the Allegheny National Forest, we listen to Revolver, then Sgt. Pepper, then Magical Mystery Tour, and finally, Abbey Road. Perfect music for one of the most perfect drives on Earth. There are a couple of State Forests on the way as well. Climbing into the hills a storm blows up on us, high winds sideways rain. The elevation and the weather system combine to drop the temperature 23 degrees in about fifteen minutes. When the rain halts it's only two lane blacktop, tall pines and cool breezes.

But the Gods aren't done with us; yet another storm blows up winds rocking the car trees down driving on the left shoulder to pass wipers rocking overtime just to see ten feet in front of you. Take shelter. Sweden Valley is a nice little township and we stop for lunch at the Jiffy Pup to wait out the rain. Jiffy Pup is a hot dog stand/mini golf emporium at the bottom of the valley with a nice roofed porch, and we eat cheeseburgers and fried fish with a chocolate milk shake and watch the lightning fade out over the hills.

Hey! What's this? Why it's Granny's Motel! I have no idea what that means, but it's some kinda home for the homeless or what-not. Disenfranchised? Feeling like you don't have a friend in the whole wide world? Stay at Granny's, where you got a home.

Granny, orphan, and me. The fact that someone stole/chopped the head off the little girl's doll makes this especially pathetic. Also, is that really a girl?  More like a mutant Charlie McCarthy. There is something freakishly awful about this, but then I think that, somehow, someone found refuge here.

The forest has a history of over-hunting and over-foresting. Also: much of Pennsylvania's crude oil comes from mineral rights owned by individuals within the forest boundaries. They'll warn the campers to conserve water, respect the flora and fauna, and, oh yeah, watch out for trucks barreling down the highway. One such overloaded hulk slipped into the left lane (of an unmarked road we decided to explore), hurtled into the surrounding hillside, came back down into the road and slammed into another truck knocking them both wrong-side up. We had to turn around and go back out the way we travelled in. The other trucks weren't so lucky: they had to back out in reverse for a mile and a half.

The forest dumps out just southeast of Erie, Pa, our baseball destination for the day. The Erie Seawolves, a Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, plays here at Jerry Uht Park. You're asking, who is Jerry Uht? I know I did. He established an endowment to support the team and they named the stadium after him. But what about the mascot? His name is C. Wolf. Get it?

C. Wolf and Alex.

Again, I'm not sure why I seek out the mascots. I believe it is some perverted compulsion to challenge my fears, much like G. Gordon Liddy facing his fear of lightning by climbing a tree in the middle of a fierce electrical storm. So I pose with this heavily sedated, overgrown cartoon character. Notice the look of apprehension in my eyes.

Jerry Uht Park

Also, here's a dramatic shot of our home plate umpire calling a strike on some unfortunate minor-leaguer. Umpires want to make the big show, too.

Look, it's Enrico Pallazzo!

Favorite town name:  Shamokin, PA

Favorite sign: Stuff For Sale

Tomorrow: home.



The Baseball Trip 2011 / Day 7

Sunday, July 24, 2011

The plan is to drive through six states in one day. Leaving Massachusetts, into Rhode Isalnd, across Connecticut, north of New York City, cut a diagonal across northern New Jersey and into Allentown, Pennsylvania.  You can do that sort of thing if you start in New England.

Breakfast at Margots Restaurant (no apostrophe), an old-fashioned diner in the middle of a modern strip mall. Good thing she got large billing on the sign. No air conditioning, but about 17 fans. Poached eggs on hash-browns with linguica (soft c, I learned), a spicy sausage that I'd never heard of. But it was good. Too bad the coffee was a little burnt.

It took a while, but we made it. A leisurely ride: father and daughter in their Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes walk up the drive to the First Presbyterian Church, lady in a black dress walking a black dog, men drinking coffee reading the Boston Globe or some other major paper. Weekenders driving back from the Hamptons with kayaks and bicycles strapped to the hoods causing all sorts of backups on the highways.

Our ultimate destination is Allentown, Pennsylvania, to see the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (that's right, they are the Iron Pigs. I don't know what that is.) Ryne Sandburg, former Cub great, is their manager. Our ride is so leisurely, in fact, that we don't arrive at the ballpark untill the fifth inning. I wanted to know what an Iron Pig was, but I was afraid to ask the locals. I decided to seek out the mascot. His name is Ferris (get it? ferrous: iron), but I couldn't find him anywhere. So I did the next best thing: I found his woman. That's right, he has a mate: Fifi. I've noticed that most minor league ballclubs provide their mascots with a female counterpart. Here is a picture of Fifi and me that some nice people took for me:

Fifi, the female Iron Pig.

She looks totally disinterested in me.

Random observation from Randy:
"She has a look as if to say, Why did I take this job?"

But there you have it. I think mascots are creepy and evil, and most of them look tranquilized.

Anyway, here's the ballpark:

Coca-Cola Ballpark in Allentown, PA.

Next stop, Erie, Pennsylvania.

Favorite Town Names:

Woonsocket, RI

Foul Rift, NJ

Southeast, NY

Random observation from Randy about Southeast:

"I think the founding fathers were tired when they named the town."

Favorite signs:

Beer Event Tomorrow!

Space Farmers Camp and Zoo

Visit the Havershaw Brick Museum

The Baseball Trip 2011 / Day 6

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Boston promises to be somewhat cooler, maybe only 95 for a high.

Random observation from Randy:
"I think I left my brain in a puddle in Little Italy. I'm going to put up signs in this hotel saying, 'Have you seen my brain?'"

On the way, more giant things. The Merritt-Wilkes Carhart work clothes store has a big steer out front in their yard, and he's wearing overalls:

Big steer with overalls

Favorite signs: 
Aroma Restaurant
Affordable Bankruptcy

Favorite towns:
Stormville, NY
Webatuck, NY

Since we have time, we take the scenic route through Connecticut: Homes with new age naive art wooden stars on the siding, wishing well mailboxes, wrap around porches. Boston is an easy in and easy out, at least, easier than last time all one way streets too narrow to navigate congested, claustrophobic. The only way in to Fenway park is through your wallet, cheapest seats are $55.00. But we splurged, having saved about two thousand dollars by passing up the Yankee game. Fenway is quaint, archaic, a throwback. But if people want to call Wrigley Field a dump, there's no need to consider Fenway a shrine. They're both old and decrepit. Tear them down and save the signature features. How many people have I just angered? Sorry.

The standing room area along the back wall offers a cool breeze. We do not melt like butter if we stay here.

Boston wins, 3-1. The Seattle Mariners lose their 14th straight game, which ties a franchise record.

The Green Monster at Fenway.

Outside Fenway.

Blocked-off streets adjacent to the park.

That night we camp and find dry wood. The fire lasts a while and the temperature dips to 80. The demons from the day before disappear slowly.