10, 15, 10

Well we did it!  While in Mesa for spring training we saw all 10 training sites, we saw all 15 teams that train in the area and we did it in 10 games. Planning was key.  So we have now seen all 30 teams and all spring training sites in Florida and in Arizona.  Even better news is the Oakland A's are getting a new site beginning in 2015.  So while we are back in Mesa next winter we need to go see that facility.

 

 Our next ball game will be in San Diego.  We have 8 stadiums to see before we will have seen all 30 big league parks.  Plan to get the west coast this summer.  But in 2017 the Atlanta Braves get a new stadium.  What about the Richmond Flying Squirrels?  How is that stadium coming along Richmond???

Road Trip!!

Yeah, yeah, I know every body thinks we are on a full time road trip.  I really can't argue with that...But sometimes we leave the RV and take the Jeep on trips.  This time we went to;

The main reason we went was to visit our friends Ben and Carol D'Arrigo from Midlothian.  They were in Las Vegas for a vacation.  We made arrangements and drove the 5.5 hours to see them.  First of all the drive was beautiful.  If you look on a map we basically took 93 from Mesa to Las Vegas.  This is all desert driving.  The land scape, while all desert, changed from flat to rolling hills to up and down thru mountain passes and to rocky boulders and sharp buttes and rock formation.  The flora changed from shrubs and low growing cacti to  Suguoia cactus.  The changes happened slowly but noticeably.  It was beautiful.

While the visit with Ben and Carol was definitely the highlight, the 2 shows we saw were amazing.  We saw Menopause the Musical.  It was absolutely hilarious.  We also saw cirque du soleil; Love.  It is an amazing performance based around the Beatles music.  Awesome.

This is why we like to know if any of you are taking trips.  We may be able to get together.

Bicycles

We have been debating about buying bicycles for awhile.  There were 2 main questions; could Diana's knees handle biking, and where would we put them while we are on the move from campground to campground?  To address the first question we decided to rent bikes while we were in Mesa.  Sounds simple enough!  As we checked into it it was going to cost $100 a week to rent each bike.  So then we thought we could buy 2 cheap bikes at Walmart or Target.  But then we looked on Craig's list.  We each found a bike we liked and together they were less than renting.  Naturally we have upgraded a few things so the bikes have now become money pits!  Who would have thought that?!

We have been on a few rides and the knee issue seems to be OK.  Of course we are in Mesa, AZ and it is pretty flat here.  We'll continue to ride regularly and build up some leg strength.

The bikes do fit in the back of the Jeep so that is where they will be as we travel.  We are hoping that as we get to state and national parks we can ride

Abandon the plan

After we left Llano State Park we moved on to Balmorhea State Park, also in Texas.  We were going to be there for one night then move on to Carlsbad, NM then to Roswell, Albuquerque, then toward the Mesa, AZ area.  We had planned to be in Mesa for 5 weeks to see spring training baseball but we had 2 more weeks before we got to Mesa.

It had been cold for several days and it was cold when we got in to Balmorhea.  Because of the cold and wind we just stayed in.  The next morning we woke up and the outside temperature was 15.  We looked at the forecast for Carlsbad and points along out route and the 10 day forecast remained cold, windy with a good chance of snow for the entire time.  We were tired of cold!  We also had been checking weather in Mesa and saw warm temps and sun.  So we called the campground in Mesa and asked if we could come in 2 weeks early.  Sure, they had space, come on in.  We called and cancelled our other stops and made tracks to Mesa.  It took two longer days and we saw some beautiful scenery.  We also had some difficult stretches thru mountain passes.  But when we got here it was 75!  NICE!!

While checking in we were invited to the weekly happy hour in the club house.  Very nice.

So far temps have been in the upper 70s or low 80s with full sun.  It is a wonderful gift to be able to just abandon a plan and make a complete change.

Isolated

While in Llano State Park in Texas we were in one of those places where you get no internet, no cell phone service and no TV.  It was very cool.  We did see a herd of about 20 deer walk by our site while we were sitting outside.  We saw an armadillo wonder by.  And we both realized how quickly we reach for our smart phones to check weather, Facebook, what armadillos eat and all sorts of things that don't really matter that much. 

Wind

From Austin we went to Corpus Christi and spent a week in a campground right on Corpus Christi Bay.  This could have been a great place but the weather was poor much of our time there.  One day was about 73 degrees at 3 in the afternoon.  But the forecast was for a big cold front to come through mid afternoon and cool things of considerably.  About 3:30 the wind came out of the north and we had sustained 30 mph wind with gusts to 50 for the next 10 hours.  The temp the next morning was 31 and a slight rain made the bridges in the area freeze.  A big change.  But what we were most concerned with was the wind.  The RV was rocking back and forth and being buffeted by the gusts.  I was concerned we might have some damage to the protective awnings over the slides but there was none.  So even parked with all 4 levelers firmly on the ground we are rocked by wind.  It was a little nerve racking but we did just fine.  Let's call it a confidence booster!

Austin

In Austin we wanted to see the LBJ library.  Neither of us had been to a Presidential library and having just been to Dallas where LBJ became President we decided that this would be a good place to see.

We both enjoyed the tour.

From there we went to the state capitol.

 The rotunda floor

The rotunda ceiling