Roadtrip - July 24, 2013

Beginning odometer: 56,417

Ending odometer: 56,656

After a quick breakfast, we drove to the Missouri state capital and took a walk around.

We walked to the Lewis & Clark Trailhead Plaza.

The Husband wanted to be part of the action.

He'd be a great explorer.

We found a perfect spot for a photo of the two of us. 

Here's The Husband setting up the shot with our little tripod.

Why, yes, we are dorks. Thanks for noticing!

After leaving the state capital, we went to a couple of antique malls. 

I walked into the Missouri Boulevard Antique Mall 

and the first item I saw was a beautiful Wilendur roses tablecloth.

I have a couple of cloths in this pattern already, but needed another one 

so I can layer them over my dining table when it is fully extended.

I've been watching them on eBay, but they can be very pricey.  

I picked this one up for $12. 

Yes, $12! 

I was doing a happy dance, I must say.

We also shopped at Yellow Moon Antique Mall.

We didn't purchase anything there, even though the place was full of goodies.

After shopping, we got in the car and headed to Burlington, Iowa.

Here I am waving to a tour bus full of people. The driver waved back.

I couldn't see in the tinted windows to know if any of the passengers waved.

And, here's my posed photo!

The Husband picked Burlington, Iowa as a stop on our trip,

so we could attend a Burlington Bees game!

He loves baseball and makes it a point to see games at stadiums, 

large and small, during our travels.

The mascot was greeting fans at the gate.

It was a perfect night for the game.

We had awesome seats.

The weather was pleasant.

The beer was cold.

The crowd was enthusiastic.

Unfortunately, the Bees lost.

Other than that minor detail, it was a great night at the ball park!

Road Trip #2 - 2012 - Day 19

Monday, September 3 - San Francisco

Beginning odometer: 45,081

Today's destination? Oakland!

We started our day at a neighborhood joint, Home Plate Restaurant. We had an excellent breakfast and were highly entertained by the numerous cute babies that were there.

Our hotel was not located adjacent to BART, so we took a cab to the closest station. What was our destination, you ask? An Oakland A's game at the O.co Coliseum.

The A's are the only MLB team that still share a stadium with a NFL team.

The A's have some baseball credentials.

The Husband was excited to see the stadium. It was really strange to us that most of the fans brought in their own beer and food. I mean, six packs of chilled beer and sacks of home-made food! We saw some mouth watering fried chicken being passed amongst one family. Made us want to ask for a piece!

It was a beautiful day for baseball.

Really, dude? I didn't pay for a ticket to see you half naked. The A's fans are some of, if not the, loudest fans in the MLB. On this day, they were in rare form.

We had a great time, but opted to leave the game early to take BART back across the bay. We cabbed it back to the hotel and started discussing the eternal question, "What's for dinner?" Somehow we ended up at Perry's again. Third night in a row. What can I say? They have a varied menu and it's all good food. I became a big fan of their chili.

Ending odometer: 45,081
Miles driven: 0

Road Trip #2 - 2012 - Day 12

Monday, August 27 - San Diego, CA

Beginning odometer: 44,390

This day was our 18th wedding anniversary. Where did the time go?

Near our hotel was a public transit center. We purchased a day pass and hopped on the trolley to San Diego's Old Town.

After our walk around Old Town, we hopped on the trolley again and headed to Petco Park.

After the game, we took the express trolley back to the transit station and then returned to our hotel. 

We stopped in at Zack's Bar and met Zack. We enjoyed our conversation with him and the other patrons.

Ending odometer: 44,395
Miles driven: 5

Road Trip #2 - 2012 - Day 7

Wednesday, August 22 - Phoenix, AZ

Beginning odometer: 43,711

We had breakfast in the hotel lobby and returned to our rooms to read and generally be lazy.

The Husband went to the Diamondbacks afternoon ball game. He bought a $7 ticket and this was his view from the seat.

I opted to visit the second Brass Armadillo location. Once I found it, I realized a laundromat was located nearby. Because we had been on the road a week, our dirty clothes bag was full. I took the opportunity to do our laundry at the Clean Livin' Laundry.

Once I finished my chore, I walked the entire antique mall. This vinitage maxi skirt caught my eye. Oh, to be younger and thinner! If I were both those things, I would definitely wear this skirt. Ain't it cool?

I left the mall to drive back to the hotel and it rained on me almost the entire way. What's the deal with us visiting the desert and getting rained on?

The Husband enjoyed his afternoon, just as I enjoyed mine. You don't have to be together 100% of the time to enjoy vacation!

Mario, the hotel shuttle driver, drove us to the Blue Hound Kitchen & Cocktails for dinner.

We walked in and I felt tragically unhip and old. Everyone was YOUNG and TRENDY and oh so COOL. Oh well, we were also back in the day!

We shared the following dishes:

Cheddar Scallion Biscuits: bacon jam with sunny side up quail egg 
Sopes: caramelized onion, pork belly and pasilla chile jam 
Kentucky Fried Quail: foie gras cornbread, red beans, sausage gravy 

They were all very tasty, especially the quail. Foie gras cornbread is rich!

The Husband phoned for Mario and he returned us to the hotel before 10:00 p.m. We were in bed early and I was startled awake by a big storm at 3:00 a.m. Thunder! Lightning! Rain!

Ending odometer: 43,741
Miles driven: 30

Road Trip #2 - 2012 - Day 6

Tuesday, August 21 - Phoenix, AZ

Beginning odometer: 43,674

We were a bit lazy on this day. We slept a little later and went to breakfast in the hotel lobby at around 9:30 a.m. After a leisurely meal, we returned to the room and checked e-mail and read on-line news. 

We finally got around and left the hotel headed to one of my favorite places, a local Brass Armadillo Antique Mall. Phoenix has two Brass Armadillos. We visited the Phoenix West location.

The Husband is a good sport about going to antique malls with me, but I did find him sitting in this area at one point during the visit.

It takes quite a while to walk through one of these places, but we managed to see the entire store. We did not, however, purchase one item. Not one!

We returned to the hotel and lazed around reading and napping until it was time to walk to the Arizona Diamondback's ball park. We purchased great tickets from a scalper outside the ball park. 

We had an entire suite to ourselves for the game. Can you believe that? And, the tickets were very, very reasonable. The Husband has had the opportunity to sit in suites at other parks, but I have never had the chance. It was great!

Fancy.

Hot dogs, peanuts and beer taste better in a suite!

This was our view of the field.

Guess who The Husband got to meet? A Diamondback named Stryker!

As is our habit when visiting a ball park for the first time, we walked around during the later innings (of which there were 10 in this game!) and viewed the action while seated in various sections. The game was fun and it was too bad the Diamondbacks lost in the 10th inning.

We exited the ball park and guess what? It was raining! In the desert! Pouring down rain! Remember, I said we walked to the ball park from our hotel? It was not a bad walk when it was dry. It was going to be a miserable walk in the rain.

The Husband still had the card for Mr. Joey, the shuttle driver who drove us to a restaurant the previous night. He called the hotel to ask if we could be picked up, knowing that the shuttle quit running at 10:00 p.m. and it was 10:15 p.m. when he made the call. Mr. Joey to the rescue! He agreed to come get us. We did have to walk a couple of blocks to a location where traffic was not blocked around the stadium, but that was okay with us. We were soaking wet when he arrived, but not as wet as we could have been.

It was a great day!

Ending odometer: 43,711
Miles driven: 37

Road Trip #2 - 2012 - Day 5

Monday, August 20 - Las Cruces, NM to Phoenix, AZ

Beginning odometer: 43,294

Departure time: 10:00 a.m.

Before we left the Big Chile Inn for the road, we had to take a few photos.

If you follow me on Twitter, you have already seen their official vehicle. 

What's that above my head?

Look! A sign!

How big is it?

Wow!

Aren't we cute?

In addition to us taking pictures of ourselves with the world's largest chile, there was a tour group organized through a British university doing the same thing. Their tour consisted of visiting US military test sites and UFO sighting spots in the area. As The Husband said to one of them, "Oh, just like we are doing!"

After saying good-bye to Innkeeper David, we went next door for breakfast. Our room rate included breakfast, but we wanted more than cold cereal and toast.

The Husband ordered one of the specials, which was described as two eggs, two link sausage and four MINI pancakes. Do those look mini to you? Part of the American weight problem, perhaps? He ate one of them!

After breakfast we took I-10 out of Las Cruces, headed west towards Phoenix, AZ.

We did not stop except for gas and bathroom breaks.

There were no fun "world's largest ______" to be seen.

Interstate highways get you were you are going faster, but take a good portion of fun and silliness out of road trips.

We did see a number of pecan groves in Arizona, just like in New Mexico. We also saw a sign for walnuts. We didn't recognize the walnut trees as we were whizzing down the interstate at 75 mph, but I'm sure they were there. 

We arrived at our hotel 2:30 p.m. Phoenix time. Arizona is in the Mountain Time Zone, but doesn't observe Daylight Savings Time in most of the state. How confusing! Click here for more information.

Our room is very nice and look what we see out the window! Why, it's the Arizona Diamondbacks Stadium. I think there might be a ball game in my immediate future, what do you think?

We settled into our room and rested. We spoke to the hotel front desk staff and received a listing of local restaurants. Fortunately, our hotel offers a free shuttle in the downtown area. Mr. Joey took us to The Arrogant Butcher.

Chuck, the bartender, made us great cocktails and served us good food. A nice evening, in our opinion.  The Husband phoned after we finished our dinner and Mr. Joey arrived to ferry us back to the hotel. Wouldn't it be nice to have a Mr. Joey to drive us around all the time? It would be like "Driving Miss Daisy" only it would be "Driving The Husband and Cindy!"

We were delivered safely to our hotel at 9:00 p.m.ish and we retired to our bed chamber.

Ending odometer: 43,674

Miles driven: 380