Raining Rockies

It was day two in Colorado and as I ate breakfast in the room off the hotel lobby, it seemed like a perfect summer day. The sun was out and the hotel's outdoor pool was being serviced to open up for visitors this weekend. While our group had seen the possibility of rain in the forecast, it seemed impossible based on what we could see out our windows. Nevertheless, I still threw my raincoat in my bag before hopping in the van.

We arrived at Coors Field about two hours before game time. Before going into the stadium, we had hoped to visit a museum about a block away from the field which featured different ballparks and items from these ballparks. However, the front door was locked and the lights were off -- apparently they weren't open today. We ended up in Coors early, which gave us the ability to wander around the park, snap some photos and enjoy the bright Colorado sun.

The game got under way and all seemed fine. Our view was from the third balcony, on the third base/left field side.

The game was slow. About an hour into the game, we still hadn't left the second inning yet. The group was groaning about the slowness, yet still enjoying the sun (and crossing our fingers we wouldn't get burnt too badly). We started to see clouds roll in, but thought little of it. Then, the wind picked up, the sun disappeared behind the clouds, we were all felt a chill. Must just be a little shade, we thought to ourselves, fully expecting the sun to reappear. 

It didn't.

Instead, the rain came and I was happy to have my raincoat to throw on. Lightning and thunder forced the third balcony to evacuate our seats and head to some shelter. As we left, the third inning ended and they threw a tarp over the field and the rain delay began. The group found ways to entertain ourselves until the rain eased up and we were told we could return to our seats.

By this time, the smart phones had been pulled out and radar checked. It appeared we were in a middle of a large storm cell, stretching farther than we could imagine. The rain was only going to stop briefly. Wiping the rain from our seats, we settled back in, hoping to see a few more innings. In the fourth, the Giants scored two and the Rockies couldn't answer until the bottom of the fifth to tie the score up at 2-2. By this point, the rain had started again, but nothing we couldn't handle. As the inning continued and went into the sixth, the rain got harder. The boys and Dr. Bob had abandoned their seats for drier conditions while the females stayed strong and held out. One by one, we got picked off until when there were two outs in the bottom of the sixth, I had to call it quits. As I was leaving, the third floor balcony was asked to leave and another rain delay began. By this point, the group decided to cut our losses, leave the game, and look for dinner. The game wasn't called until about 6 PM and they will start this game again when the Giants return to Denver in September. 

We ate dinner at a local pizza place and you could tell we were all a little tired from the all the rain and travel. An hour long class session followed dinner and we leave bright and early tomorrow to start our trek to California. We'll attempt about half of the 20 hour drive tomorrow and then the rest of it on Saturday. Never a dull moment here!