And the Baseball Continues...

Friday, 2 /27/09 has been a day off from baseball. I know you're thinking, how hard could it be to go to a baseball game everyday, but it is HARD work. Remember, it's double duty for ME, as I am not only watching the game but suntanning at the same time. It's the constant putting on the sun tan lotion, almond oil over that & try to keep from burning in this 90 degree weather! Trust me, I'm not complaining just telling you like it is and I LOVE every minute of it. Today was wash clothes early, take a 3 hour nap (gosh, I hate telling that to my friends who are still working) and then we went out to dinner (Chinese buffet) with our next store neighbors, Bob & Judy from Maine. It was a nice evening and they are lovely people.

Saturday, 2/28/09 was a baseball day in Peoria, the home park of the Seattle Mariners who were playing the SF Giants. The Mariners are the team that Ken Olson's son, (my former boss at FCC) Garrett Olson was traded to so we left early in hopes of catching a glimpse of him pitching in the bull pen. However, sadly to report, we did not see Garrett warming up nor did he pitch in the game that day. It was a good game as the Mariners beat the Giants, 6 to 4. The stadium is a one hour ride away from our RV park so by the time we got home we were beat, but of course you must remember Saturday night at our park is BINGO and we were not going to miss that. Not only do we have bingo markers, our neighbors, Bob & Judy, were treating us and buying our games. So after a quick shower we were off to the bingo hall to get our seats as it fills up fast. I am sorry to report we did not win again but we had a lot of fun and can't believe that next Saturday will be our last night of bingo here.

Sunday, 3/1/09 was a very special baseball day. Today is the official opening of the new LA Dodgers and Chicago White Sox club. These two teams are sharing this beautiful park in Glendale, a suburb just outside of Phoenix. LA moved from Florida (Grapefruit League) and the White Sox moved from Tucson, AZ (Cactus League) to this new facility. We left our house at 10 am that morning, with the gates opening at 11:30 am and the game starting at 1:05 pm. We had expected it would sell out as Dodger fans from Los Angeles have been waiting many years for this. The park holds 13,000 and they said the crowd was 11,500. This is the newest park in the Arizona area that has a huge lake, waterways, separate sets of practice fields for each team and a beautiful shared stadium. The governor of AZ & many dignitaries were there for the opening ceremonies and Tommy Lasorda accompanied Joe Torres, Dodger manager out to the mound. There were many Chicago fan that flew out for the game and lots of Dodger fans that drove up from LA, it was another 90 degree day and more opportunity for suntanning. The only thing I didn't like was the final score, White Sox 3, Dodgers 2.

We arrived home tired, as usual, then after a quick shower & I think we ate dinner, we headed off to the activity hall as the men's choir was giving a concert at 7:30 pm and our neighbor Bob is in the choir so we wanted to be there for him. It was a lovely concert and lasted only one hour so we could come home & fall into bed. Another good day in AZ.

Monday, 3/2/09 - I just can't believe it's already March and we plan to be home April 1st, this trip has gone by so fast. Will had made plans with Mike Cooley, the retired Kastner teacher who is now living in AZ, to come over and see the new RV and have lunch. I decided to leave them alone so I gathered up the dirty clothes and headed for the laundry room. By now you must realize this is one of my most favorite "chores" because as soon as the washing machines are going, I am laying out by the pool with the other sun tan ladies. After about 3 hours in the sun, and the clothes were really done I headed home and got to visit with Mike & Will for the rest of the afternoon. After Mike left, Will & I had our dinner outside, on TV trays and watched the evening news on our outside entertainment TV....that was a first for us and really fun. Well that just about catches everyone up with the "Lyon on the road again. " Oh no, I forgot, Will has been rating the baseball hot dogs on a scale of 1 to 10.....10 being the best, so here goes his official ratings:
Chicago Cubs - 4 - sitting to long & dried out
SF Giants - 7 - very good
Seattle Mariners - 7 - very good
LA Dodgers - 6, not a Dodger dog it was a Home Run dog & small
Will also wants me to mention......Costco rates a 9 in hot dog ratings.
Much love to family and friends.