Take me out to the ballgame...

Today is Friday, Sept. 12th. It has been 6 weeks since I left RRCC.
We are staying the night in a Super 8 just off the interstate in Salina UT. Tonight is our first night in a Hotel on this trip.

Friday, September 5th.

We awoke today to another in a long line of georgous mornings. Nice cool temps but not anywhere near what we'd call cold. Sun was shining brightly - a beautiful day in the works.
We got up at our KOA RV park in Kent Washington and ate breakfast that we had along which consisted of some cinammon rolls and fruit... yes the illegal immigrant fruit!!
Bambi and were talking that we'd like to spend another day in Seattle yet so she said, you decide what we should do today. What would be a perfect day in Ross' world. I think I got it pretty close as it turns out.
I decided to look into getting us some baseball tickets. We were in luck... the Mariners were in town tonight and they were just kicking off a homestand against the Yankees. I got online and looked at all my ticket options. Now, I could go Dutch and sit in the outfield bleachers. NAH - I found us some really great tickets 5 rows up from the grass and just past first base.
Now all we had to do was kill a few hours before heading back into the city as the game was set to begin at 7pm.
We began the day by getting the bikes out of the trailer. We were unsure of how far the trail went so I said that I'd go ride ahead a ways and find a trailhead with a map to see what it looked like while Bambi did some things around camp. With that, I took off. The trail runs along side the Green River and, it turns out, runs from somewhere south of Tacoma all the way into downtown Seattle. AWESOME!! It's a nice paved trail and it's wide and just meanders along the river all the way. I found the trailhead and decided to give Bambi some time to email for a while so I got in a quick 10 miler. I then got back to our camp and Bambi joined me for a 20 mile ride toward Seattle. The weather was great and it was really a nice trail to ride on. It was a Friday morning so there were a few people on it but it was flat and you could really fly. No problem holding a really nice steady speed.
We returned from our bike ride and took advantage of the showers. After getting cleaned up, I could tell that Bambi wasn't really excited about the baseball game. She was like, "we're not even baseball fans." I know, I said but there is nothing quite like sitting outside at a major league baseball game, surrounded by screamng fans in a city like this... on a day like this. She agreed and decided to give it a chance.
We headed in toward the city with a quick stop off at a Chipotle for some supper since we had time to kill. We arrived in the city at about 5:30 which gave us plenty of time to park and walk to the stadium.
We took our time walking to the park and just had fun soaking up the pregame atmosphere outside the stadium. There were vendors everywhere selling t-shirs and hats as well as every food known to man. Bambi had suggested that we wait to eat near the park but I wasn't sure what would be available, but now I'd wished I'd taken her suggestion (again!!).
Anyway, I was too full from supper but Bambi thought she'd have some room for carmel corn. There is always room for carmel corn I suppose. We bought a large bag and took it into the stadium with us.
We went up to the ticket agent and showed my ID. He printed off the tickets and looked up at me and said, "these are great seats, you'll have a good time here!" He was right. We entered the park somewhere near left field and started our walk around past 3rd base and home plate to the other side of the park. All this time, we were up on the third level. Once we got over by 1st base, we began going down to the first level and entered the park. We found our section and were becoming more pleased as we walked. Our tickets took us all the way down by the grass for a great view of the action. The players were just coming out of the dugout for some warm ups and we were on the side of the Mariners so we could see the players very clearly.

Just before the game, they gave away a car to one lucky guy. They had this contest all over the upper Northwest at the Dodge dealerships where people could register for a chance to win a new Dodge Challenger. They rolled the car out of Center field before the game and drove it over to home plate where 5 lucky contestants were holding key fobs. One at a time, they stepped up to see who could unlock their new Challenger. The first two were unsuccessful, but the third guy had the mojo. He hit the button and the horn sounded and the crowd just exploded. This guy was thrilled, as I could imagine... I'd be pretty excited too. He got to get inside and take a lap around the field as the whole crowd cheered him on.
Tonight they were playing the Yankees, so across the field, we could spot Derek Jeeter and Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees are not loved in Seattle. I imagine they get that response elsewhere too but especially A-Rod. Being that he started out as a Mariner and then moved to NY via Texas for more money, they held no love for him. Everytime he was up, the crowd just booed him terribly. I guess he's probably used to it... or maybe he just doesn't care. We didn't boo. Don't believe in it quite frankly. Maybe we just don't take it all very seriously. After all, he never did anything to us!

The game was great and we actually got to watch the Mariners pitcher throw a no-hitter all the way up to 8 and 1/3 innings, a feat in and of itself. Besides that, this was his first ever major league start and it was against the Yankees. It was fun to watch and by the time we hit the 7th inning, even at a fly-ball, everyone would stand to watch where it was going. At one point in the 7th, a Yankee hit a huge bomber of a fly ball to center field pushing the center fielder way back to the warning track where he caught it. While the ball was in the air, it was dead silence as we were all just holding our breath I guess. When he caught it, preserving the no-hitter, the stadium just erupted. You see, the Mariners really aren't very good this year and they apparently haven't had much to cheer about to this point so everyone was very excited to see this history in the making.
Unfortunately, after 8 and 1/3 innings, someone hit a long line drive to right center for a double that scored a guy who'd walked earlier. This broke up the no-hitter and was the end of the game for that pitcher. He left the field to a standing ovation though and the crowd continued to stay on their feet for most of the rest of the game.
I looked over at Bambi sometime after the 5th inning and she was all teeth. I could tell she was having a great time. She was hesitant, and up to tonight, we couldn't have told you one thing about the Mariners, but there we were, just cheering along with the rest of Seattle.

During the 7th inning stretch, we all stood up and sang "take me out to the ballgame." It was great and everyone was singing. (Hey Anne, I had to laugh during the singing because it made me think of Eliot and how you guys all sing this song at home. After we sang the song, in honor of Eliot, I yelled "lets go get some buns!!" Pretty sure people thought I was a little off but it made me smile.)

The only mishap of the evening had to do with that carmel corn. After the fifth inning, I looked over at Bambi and said, "how are you doing?" "Not so well", she said. "I ate that whole huge bag of carmel corn and now I have a bit of a stomach ache." I could tell that she was really enjoying it throughout the game but now she was feeling a little ill. This became known as "the great carmel corn incident." I still tease her about it. Since then, she's said things like "lets get ice cream" to which I reply... "will there be another incident?" We've been having some fun with it.
We left the field after the Mariners had won 3 to 1 and the scene outside the park was very festive. We had a great walk back to the truck among the crowd and decided that we really like baseball and could remember why it is such a great game.
We got in the truck and headed back to the KOA where we had a nice warm night, especially in the trailer where our little electric heater was just working away.
All in all, it was a great day... and other than "the incident"nearly perfect I'd say.