Xtreme Tour Days 10 & 11

Yet again I am late...WAY late in updating our trip. We concluded our great journey over a week ago, but memories are still very fresh...so here's the wrap-up:

We took our "suite" time getting up on the 10th day of our trip. Our goal was to visit the St. Louis Arch...located in the Thomas Jefferson Westward Expansion Memorial site. The museum, with theaters, is located under the Arch. We made our way from the hotel to the Arch...a pretty good walk considering how HOT it was. Once there I waited in a bit of a line, but we nabbed tickets for a show on Lewis & Clark, and a tram ride up the Arch. Getting to the top is a unique experience with visitors shuttled up in egg-like, claustrophobic contraptions that take about 4 minutes to rise to the top. Once there the view is amazing, but the area a wee-bit tight. They let you stay as long as you want, but there's not a lot to see - especially with the small windows - but well-worth the visit. We left, and soon headed north to Normal.

The drive went well, and after finding our hotel we made our way to the "Corn Crib" to check out the Cornbelter's - an Independent team in their first year. Can't say I liked the stadium that much - pulled back from the field, and the scoreboard was pushed back as well. The foul territories were HUGE thanks to this. I made arrangements for Sam to shadow a reporter, who was in an unused, but air conditioned suite...THANK GOD! It was totally hot, humid and zero wind...by far the worst weather at any game we experienced. The funny thing was the Cornbelter's were playing the Evansville Otters...and so we made our way to their broadcast booth were we found Mike once again...this time sweating it up since no air was in the press boxes (???). After that Sam settled in with the reporter, Randy, and followed what turned out to be a great game by the Cornbelter's pitcher. Here's a guy who had a woeful 0-2, 8.5+ ERA but goes seven NO-HIT innings. He comes out for a reliever who takes the no-hit into the 9th. Sam is going CRAZY at this point, but alas the Otters' first batter slaps a single. Fantastic way to finish the last game tho. When we got back to the hotel, we found out the pool was closed, but he gates were open and the lights underwater on. Hence "Operation Cool Pool" began as we snuck in for a good hour + swim while no staff noticed...NICE!

The final day of our trip was spent at a children's museum in Normal. Not sure what to expect, we actually spent a good 3 hours at that place while Sam interacted with other kids, climbed stuff and splashed around in the water exhibit. More good times :) From here we hit the road for home, but not before an unplanned detour for gas north of Normal where a monument to the old Route 66 was erected next to the station. This monument consists of several hundred feet of the actual roadbed of the 66, with signs alongside guiding visitors to significant places on the road in that town. REALLY COOL!

Then it was finally off for home. As I pulled into our driveway I noticed that we covered 2700 miles in our 11-day jaunt - an amazing trip that Sam called his best ever. I have to say the Lord was VERY good to us throughout...and we both thank HIM for bringing us through safely...with a HUGE pile of memories to cherish always!

Xtreme Tour Days 7, 8 & 9

Ooookay, I guess I'm not keeping up so well. Let's see, last time I checked in we had arrived in OK City. That day we visted the site of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995...where 168 perished in a terrorism attack. At the time it was the worst attack on US soil...eclipsed by 9-11. There was a monument where the building fell, and an incredibly moving museum across from it. This was an amazing display vividly capturing this sad episode and focussing squarely on the people who were victimized by this act of cowardace. I was especially pleased to have Sam experience this since he had no idea it had happened.



From there we drove our longest stretch of 5+ hours to Kansas City, MO. There was a spectacular vista as we drove thru Kansas called the Flint Hills. This looked like a scene from Dances with Wolves...just stunning landscape. Well we needed to go straight to the game, and thankfully we made it in time. BEAUTIFUL STADIUM! Probably the best I've ever been to. Just something about it made it feel really comfortable. A CRAZY MASSIVE scoreboard didn't hurt either! I mean this thing had to be at least 10 stories tall...just colossal! The game went well...KC won on an 8th inning homer - and then we went to our hotel. This took FOREVER though horrible traffic, and then a hotel which was booked with a bunch of party rats. Anyways we did enjoy the pool, then retired for the night.



We woke up on our 8th day by visiting what is called the College Basketball Experience (CBE) which was in downtown KC. I had NO idea this existed, and big kudos to Sam for finding it in a guide. Simply put, this place ROCKED! Talk about interactive-overload! This place was decked out with a working basketball court, and many other areas to test your shooting, free throws...whatever! There was small part for a hall of fame, which was also well-done. Sam was able to get a pick up game with some other kids, and came away stating that this was his favorite part of the trip. Nearly 5 hours at this place testified mightily to his feelings.



After just about dragging Sam out of there, we headed off to Springfield, MO for a minor league game. We arrived (after being bombarded by Branson billboards and "Fantastic Caverns" ads), and made our way to the stadium. Very new and very nice field...home of the Cardinals AA squad. Sam as usual took a walk around and made fast friends by the lawn area. I just enjoyed the game, which the Cardinals won. Back to the hotel for some more swimming and sleep.



I planned to awake on Day 9 by going to Fantastic Caverns. However I felt suspicious about an attraction I never heard of, and one that was being blitzed in every ad around us (seriously). I took a look online on reviews, and sure enough they were lukewarm at best. Apparently it also cost $20+ each. No thanks. I convinced Sam to visit a Civil War site...and so we did. It's called Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, and we were both impressed. We took a leisurely drive thru the site (for $5!), and met with some National Park folks at an old house regarding the history of the place. Good stuff. We stopped several times to get out and view the battlefield. We topped it off with a very well-done movie at their visitor's center. Oh yeah, we were DRENCHED after all the stops...it had to be near 100 degrees. The theater was a Godsend, and we were then off to St. Louis.



The journey to St. Louie went well...but getting to the hotel was a bit tricky, and I did myself no favors by losing the camera...in the car. We needed to get to the stadium by 6pm so Sam could get a tour of the press area. Well thanks to the camera issue, we ended up just about running 6 blocks from our hotel to the game. We did make it up to the press area (wasn't easy), and our guide Melody escorted us through the press area and broadcast booths. GREAT experience for Sam once again. We exited into the snazzy club area, where we found some seats and stayed put. Another new and gorgeous stadium with the rabid fans to go along with it. When the game concluded we made our way back to the hotel, where we found out we had a suite. SWEET!

Xtreme Tour...Days 5 & 6

Didn't get around to updating last night, since, well, it was just one of 'dem days. Started out nice enough at the Old Arkansas Capital, but once we got to Texas...oy. First, we hit some traffic at the state line (bad omen), then we barely got to the Ballpark at Arlington by gametime since I had to juke and jive around a bunch of mean downtown Dallas traffic jams. Once there we hustled to our seats in the upper deck - with a great view of the park. Nice place...but the scoreboard is really small compared to the size of the field. I'm sure they'll fix this soon. Besides that LOTS for the kids to do, and the ticket prices were very decent. Great experience.

....EXCEPT for the fact that my NEW glasses broke at the start of the game. I was able to wear them, but they were askew and giving me fits all game long. I did enjoy the game, but the thought of now having to run to Lenscrafters in the morning really boiled my lid. Sam enjoyed the game from the outfield playground areas, where we met some natives and hit it off (of course). Oh yeah, my phone was also giving me fits by not linking online for the longest time...and also that I didn't plug my phone in and the battery went south. BIG fun when we got back and I tried to fix it with a kit from Walmart that of course didn't work...and I went ahead and lost the screw to the other arm...YIPPIE! Seriously...that was the SMALLEST screw I had ever seen!!!

Okay, enough of that...we got to our hotel (which took longer than it should have) and settled down. Sam was hungry though so we headed for Waffle House where we had midnight breakfast (wait for it...).

When we woke up today, the first thing out of Sam's mouth was "I have an incredible stomach ache". He really did...and promptly threw up to prove it. Well this was starting out all ducky, and of all mornings the day I was to visit downtown Dallas and the "hallowed ground" at Dealey Plaza...where JFK was killed for you history novices. Anyhoo...we left for the mall to get into Lenscrafters where after some discussion a very nice saleswoman named Porcia switched my busted pair with a brand new one! Also...Sam was beginning to feel better - no small thanks to the ton of Maalox he swallowed plus an Imodium for good measure (yep...THAT too!).

Welllllll, of to Dallas finally. As we approached I could see glimses of the plaza, and my blood level was rising. You see, I'm a BIG JFK assassination buff. I've read about every known theory, which has brought me right back to the original findings that Oswald acted alone. He did. Anyhoo, I really was looking forward to this. Sam was groaning, but dealing with it. When we got to the Sixth Floor Museum in the old Texas Schoolbook Depository Building, we were greeted with headphones and guided on a great tour of the presidency, assassination and legacy of JFK. It was a very moving exhibit and well-worth the time to visit. Then the moment arrived to actually tour the hallowed ground at Dealey itself. After spending so many years reading and researching about this place, in all honesty, I felt like I've been there all along. I mean it was great to finally be there...but nothing really surprised me - either spacially or whatever. It's simply what I expected. This also included a slew of tourists milling around - many dodging in-and-out of traffic on Elm Street to get a picture next to the X where Kennedy got hit in the head. I found this to be quite surreal, and maybe a bit disrespectful if not dangerous. Maybe it's high-time just to shut down this road as a permanent pedestrian mall...but judging by the traffic...that wouldn't be easy. Anyhow, we made our way around, and then back to the car for our drive to Oklahoma City.

The drive to OKC was uneventful, save for a long traffic jam leaving Dallas (OY!). Once in Oklahoma things got better and we arrived at the Brickhouse Stadium in downtown OKC...home of the Redhawks. BEAUTIFUL new stadium, and we enjoyed the game as usual...with Sam making friends in the outfield...as usual. Day 6 in the books...and the bad karma of Texas WELL behind us!

Xtreme Tour - Day 4

Chalk this day up to needed R&R - slept in late...felt good! Sam got one more swim in at the Nashville hotel, then after we hit a Waffle House (yummm). We hit the road afterwards, and save for a brief tour of downtown Memphis, we drove straight to Little Rock - about 5 hours. We got to our hotel about an hour before gametime.

We arrived at the Arkansas Travelers stadium and enjoyed a good time with Sam getting a foul ball and a bat from a player afterwards. It was broken, but still in one piece so Sam was geeked. When the game ended, we took a walk over a big pedestrian bridge to the City of Little Rock, where Sam romped around a neat playground, and proceeded to hurt his back a tad and slip in a puddle of water. Yeah, not happy, so afterwards we got in our car, toured the city a bit and hit the hotel.

Xtreme Tour - Day 3

Another great day started out with a visit to the Evansville Science Museum, where we caught a show at their planetarium. We then took off for Nashville, and met up with my cousin Aeron who is visiting from London for about three months. He stayed with my mum and sister for the first two weeks, so it was great to reunite for this one day while he's in Nashville with friends.

We got to our hotel, and had a nice swim before leaving for our next game at Greer Stadium, home of the Nashville Sounds. The stadium was nothing special...save for a REALLY cool guitar-shaped scoreboard. We did meet some friendly fans...and a few from the Chicago area as well. We left the game early to get Aeron to his friends at a local bar.

From there Sam and I hedged about going back to the hotel, then at the last second we decided to visit the downtown. WOW - the nightlife was incredible...for a TUESDAY! I was attracted to this HUGE pedestrian bridge over the river, so I set out to park the car and visit. We did this, and walked up and over the bridge. It was an old railroad bridge which was converted to pedestrian only use. Amazing! After walking over and back, we bought some gifts then visited the Ryman Auditorium.

Another great day...and a long trip awaits us tomorrow.

Xtreme Tour...Day 2

What started out as a bit of a dud ended up simply amazing. We woke up in Indy, and tried to visit the Indiana Historic Society...CLOSED. Then the Indiana State Museum...CLOSED. Wow...so I thought, how about the Indy Motor Speedway? Why not...so we made the short hike west and walla...OPEN! We had a great time at the Museum and then a tour of the track...Sam loved it! They held the Brickyard 400 the day before, and it was quite a mess, but still cool.

After this we hit the road for Evansville, with a quick stop for food in Terre Haute. We arrived in E-ville, then proceeded downtown for a bit of sightseeing. I had made special arrangements for Sam to visit the pressbox at Bosse Field, and meet the announcers beforehand. We arrived and met them for a few minutes. Then we headed back to the game until the top of the 5th...where Sam made his radio debut!

The co-host scooted over and then Sam put on the headset and was interviewed by their announcer, Mike Radomski. Great guy...as well as his co-host Bill. Sam was nervous but came across great! He even was asked to call a batter...which he did. He was beaming after the experience...and I can't thank the hospitality of the Evansville Otters staff enough for giving Sam such an amazing opportunity! The game itself was a nail-biter with the Otters winning in the bottom of the 9th with 3 runs. A former RailCat actually helped win the game. Sam rushed down to the ex-RailCat, Brian Kolb, to have him sign his hat.

Another treat was Bosse Field...the third oldest in baseball. They also filmed "A League of Their Own" at this site, and some artifacts from the filming still remain. Just for kicks I actually ran the bases with a bunch of kids...since I still am one.

After the game we took a quick walk along the Ohio River and then back to the hotel for a swim. What a fantastic day!

2010 Xtreme Baseball Tour BEGINS!

Today Sam and I embarked on our second "Xtreme" tour of major and minor league parks. In 2008, we hit 7 parks in 9 days, including Yankee Stadium, Toronto, and Niagra Falls. This year it's even more intense...10 games, 10 cities in 10 days. We began today in Indianapolis and caught an Indians game. Sam even got a tour of the press box. Good times. Since it was a day game we got to enjoy the pool at the hotel (yeah!). Back on the road tomorrow...catch ya then :)

Sam Party 2010

Last weekend I hosted Sam's annual birthday party. This is a pretty extreme affair since there are multitudes of kids involved who sleep over on top of it. My first party a few years back I believe 15 came over and proceeded to scare my sister to death. It was a pretty wild time, but I enjoyed it. This year I took my time planning it since a) I'm dealing with migraines and b) Sam's friends aren't getting any smaller. That last point is made more extreme since my house isn't getting any larger either!

Still, Sam really wanted the party, and to combine it with the start of the World Cup...so I obliged and planned a combo-party. We prepared by printing out the flags of all the countries participating in the event, and the usual decorations. I ordered a special cake that blew me away...I couldn't believe how well done it was! Tasted just as good as it looked too. In all about 11 kids showed up - about 8 slept over. Not sure of the number...you lose count easily. Thankfully my sister came over with her beau and helped with the dinner. After she left the fun really began for the kids who kept themselves busy with video games, floor hockey, indoor basketball, or crept downstairs to play air hockey or skee ball.

Unfortunately the basketball hoop became a casualty. It had survived all the other parties, but just couldn't deal with adolescents constantly dunking on it. Totally bent the plastic pole supporting the hoop. Anyways they frolicked well past midnight...I had them sit down for bingo about 1am. Around 3:30am I had enough and told them to go to sleep. Apparently most didn't (shock), but as least I got a few hours of z's. The next morning they were up and eventually we caught the USA v. England game, where afterwards the last of the kids were rustled up, and I was off to a wedding...barely awake.

Biking in South Bend

Yesterday boy and I went to church, and came home with little idea on what to do with a very nice day ahead of us. A bit hot perhaps (upper 80's), but I'm not one to let a good weather day go to waste. I first asked about riding bikes in Chicago, which he wasn't too keen on. Looking back, probably a wise decision since the Lakefront Trail is simply packed with folks and quite dangerous too. After a bit of thought Sam wanted to bike ride in South Bend. For some reason he likes this town...really likes this town. Maybe because it's small enough for his young mind to figure out. He also has an old friend (Griffin) who lives near there and maybe that's the attraction.

With the idea of visiting South Bend in our minds, I began the task of trying to fit our bikes into my car...which wasn't as smooth as I thought it'd be. Had to remove the front wheels off of both bikes...mine is easy...with his I needed tools. Anyway that was figured out and we hit the road about 2:30pm. Being late May we knew we had plenty of daylight left, and I wasn't too sure on how extensive the trail system is in South Bend. Although I am the "Trail Czar" of NW Indiana, I'm not all that familiar with systems outside my region...need to study up.

We arrived in SB about 5pm EST, and located the north end of what they call the East Bank Trail. I glanced at an online map before I left and knew this route followed the east bank of the St. Joseph River for quite a few miles, so off we went. It turned out to be a great ride that took us downtown, although the path narrowed quite a bit (might as well be a sidewalk) towards downtown, and the lack of signage was annoying. Very unclear how to make out where to go when you got downtown, and the only reason I knew where to go was my familiarity with the city. We stopped downtown for an ice cream at the SB Chocolate Factory (yum), and toured some other sites that interested Sam. We did make it as far south as the IU-SB campus where we crossed a huge bike-ped bridge to some student apartments on the other side of the river.

On our way back we made another visit to downtown via another bike-ped bridge (impressive!), and then began to lose energy. We visited Covelski Field, where the minor leauge Silverhawks play baseball, and then wound up back on the trail to our car. Sam was getting quite worn out, and so was I. We got back and I read 12.9 on my bike odometer. On telling Sam that, he wanted to ride around the big parking lot until we hit 13...so we did :) Sam commented quite a bit on how much he liked the day, and I was very happy to finally take a bike trip with boy...something I have yet to do. After folding the bikes up for the ride home, I resolved to buy a real bike rack...and soon!

Before we left SB, we made a quick trip back downtown to kick a soccer ball around the College Football Hall of Fame. That was very enjoyable, and strangely enough we found a diploma left by a student who graduated a local high school that day. We took our time coming back home, and stopped in Valpo to catch a movie - Shrek 3-D. That was a very nice end to another great day with boy!

Wonderful day with boy!

I thought this would be a good time to write my first post. I created this blog site a few years ago, but in my typical ADHD fashion, haven't got around to posting anything. I've done a few posts in my written journal, but I actually type a lot faster than I write...so here it goes.

I am always fretting about engaging in my son's life. Today I finally stepped forward and enjoyed as complete a day as I've ever had with him. His name is Sam, and he's my 12-year old blessing. Being a divorced dad has but some pressure on me to be as a good a companion as possible. Maybe too much pressure, and I do need to relax more about that. However today just worked on many levels.

It started well enough by going to church together, then home where we had lunch, and then set out on a long bike trek. My neighbor Elmer was out vacuuming his new fishing boat, and when he's out you have to spend a few minutes to chat. When Sam and I finally did set out, we rode all the way to the high school and back...probably 10 miles in all...quite the hike. The day was clear and sunny...but with a bit of a chill and a strong north wind. We had to deal with that wind on the way back, but all went well. Sam was complaining at first on how tiring the ride was, but as we moved on, he became more "energetic" - probably excited that he could ride that far!

When we returned Elmer was still out in his boat, and I finally succumbed to Sam's insistence that we use the canoe (on load from a work buddy) in our garage and head for the pond behind our house. This pond has a tiny island in the middle, and Sam was enthralled with the idea that we could paddle there. I said why not and we both lifted the heavy aluminum sucker out of the garage, and only about 50 feet down the driveway before Sam gave out. We tried some more, but it was not looking good. Finally, with some energy based on raw interest, I lifted the front and hauled it by myself down to the pond's edge. I had Sam sit in front, and I got in back and then pushed away from the shoreline. We started floating out, but the wind was blowing us back to shore. We did make it past that, and eventually landed on that tiny island. We both got out, and lo and behold I found an old soccer ball in between some small pine trees. We put that in the canoe, and headed back. We wanted to go around one more time, but the wind was too much, and we took out. I dragged that thing back into my garage, with Elmer amused by it all.

After that we finally had a soccer ball...which was really cool since Sam was asking for one earlier and ended up kicking around some small plush ball. We used our swing set as a goal and took five shots each, over and over. That was pretty exhausting, but even so I was determined to get the most out of this day and so we walked to what I told Sam was a "magical place". The walk was long, and of course Sam kept asking about this "place". Finally we arrived at an old railroad bridge over a creek, and Sam was genuinely interested...although he called it "scary". He did have fun looking down at the creek below, and asked a lot of questions about the railroad, and of course, if the bridge might give way. We ended up walking back home, but not before Sam got himself some Arby's curly fries :)

Dinner was next to refuel, and we just enjoyed a lazy night at home. We wrestled a bit with a little football thrown in, and then ended the night with floor hockey. This was a really great day, and thankfully I was well enough to enjoy it. God is definitely GOOD!