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! 

Royals, Road Tripping, and the Rockies!

Tuesday we were still in Kansas City. Our day began with a trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in the jazz district of the city. It was a great museum and as I wandered through the exhibit, I was reminded of my May Term last year when I spent two weeks exploring museums. Kansas City took a lot of pride in their role as supporting the Kansas City Monarchs, a team that was part of the Negro Leagues. The exhibit was full of photographs, quotes, fun facts, and even a few videos.

The Negro Leagues Museum sat on one side of the lobby and on the other was the American Jazz Museum. Our tickets got us into both and the jazz museum and the contrast between the two was large. The Negro Leagues Museum had the Americana theme running throughout, focusing on the timeline as a whole, both in the United States and for the league. The jazz museum was flashier and focused more on the greats, such as Louie Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald. However, both museums were proud of both their accomplishments and that these events occurred in the United States.

With facts floating in our heads, we walked a few blocks down to Arthur Bryant's BBQ. We couldn't be in Kansas without having authentic BBQ. The place was hopping and we all waited in anticipation for our sandwiches. There wasn't much talking as we ate, BBQ sauce getting everywhere. For me, eating at Arthur Bryant's was sentimental because my great aunt and uncle live in Kansas and every Christmas a Kansas Sampler would arrive with this BBQ sauce. It was neat to see the home of the sauce!

We headed back to Kauffman for game two. This time, we got a little closer to the action with seats on the third base line.

It was a beautiful night and an exciting game. The White Sox came away with another win against the Royals, 7-6. We saw yet another game when the bottom of the ninth was needed to decide the outcome of the game. Many of the Royals fans left early, so we kind of had the place to ourselves by the ninth. 

The next day, Wednesday (all the days are getting mixed together), we were up early to hit the road. We had about a 10 hour trip from Kansas to Colorado. It was our longest ride and by the end, I think we were all ready to stretch our legs and give ourselves some space from each other. The drive was pretty nice, up until about 40 miles from Denver. It started raining and then hailing. Dr. Bob pulled off at the nearest exit and we sat in a parking lot, watching the small balls of hail pile up on our windshield wipers. When it subsided, we made the final hike to Denver, arriving around rush hour. Finding $10 parking a few blocks from Coors Field, we piled out of the van, our legs happy to walk. 

It was beautiful both in the stadium and Colorado weather in general. Warm with a breeze that made everything right. Our seats were on the second deck, between the right and center fielders. 

It was a pretty view, although any long doubles or triples hit to to right or center field were obstructed by the balcony we were sitting on. The Rockies were unable to pull out a win, with the Giants taking the first game, 5-1. With the game over, we struggled through more Denver traffic to our hotel a little ways from the city. It was right to bed for us, the past two long days were catching up with us! 

"And We'll Never Be Royal..." Kohawks at Kauffman

Just for the record, I'm quoting a music lyric from Lorde's song, "Royals."



This joke was cracked several times during our trip today, especially once we got to Kauffman Stadium. Our hotel was pretty close to the stadium so we didn't have to suffer through Lorde jokes for too long.

It was a pretty good game as well. Some odd things happened (like when Chicago White Sox player Ramirez slid into first base, well actually he slid but missed the base by several feet) or when the Royals attempted a stolen base in the ninth only to be picked off as the runner made his way back to second base (although he had no hope of making it there). The Royals were up until the fifth when the White Sox brought in three runs with a homer from Konerko. It was definitely unexpected but hey, that's why you play the game.

The weather was also beautiful. No rain and no freezing temperatures made all of us very happy campers.

We also had a Coe alum at the game, Jordan. He graduated when I finished my sophomore year and I got to know him through the Writing Center as well as Coe Review. It was nice to see him and catch up.

Tomorrow, we are off to downtown Kansas City to see the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, eat some classic Kansas bbq, tailgate at Kauffman, and see the Royals and White Sox face off again. 

Back on the Road!

Arriving back in Cedar Rapids late Friday night, I had the chance to catch up on sleep, laundry, and even get some packing in. The weekend went by way too fast and suddenly, it was Monday morning and I was in the van ready to head west. I'm still struggling to wrap my head around the fact I'll be road tripping for three solid weeks. It's going to be fun no doubt, but also a lot of time in the car.

Today our trip was relatively easy: Cedar Rapids to Kansas City. It was fairly good weather (other than on odd rain storm near Des Moines). We had a picnic lunch at a rest area somewhere between Des Moines and Kansas City. I even got a nap in and I was *lucky* enough to have one of my peers capture my...gracefulness.

Let me tell you, it was a good nap. 

We arrived at our hotel and as we stepped outside, the temperature had increased. It's sunny and 80 some degrees. #glorious 

Currently the group is relaxing and soon we'll head to Kauffman Stadium. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll end up on TV game like we were at the Cubs game.

Can you pick me out in my red Kohawks hat?

Also, I want to direct your attention to two other Kohawk May Term blogs (you know, in case you get bored with hearing about baseball or just want a change of pace). My buddy (and avid reader of this blog) Bryce is visiting Serbia and fellow Writing Center consultant, Felicia, is with a group in Vietnam. Both have excellent blogs and are worth checking out.

All right, I should probably get some reading done. Don't forget to check out our group blog, we've got regular posts going and it's going to be an awesome addition to our trip! 

Nothing Like a Little Rain to Keep Things Interesting

Lucky for us, it does not take five hours to get from our hotel in Germantown to Wrigley Field. We actually got to sleep a bit, eat breakfast, and comfortably pack our bags before heading out. On our trip, we have three students from the Chicagoland area and they knew the route to Wrigley well.

Arriving a little after 10:30 AM, we had the biggest task of finding parking near Wrigley. After a few failed attempts (and Chicagoans politely telling us we couldn't park there), we found a street with parking regulations we could obey. And it was free! Since Wrigley didn't open until 11 AM or so, we ended up grabbing lunch in a McDonalds across the street from the stadium. The McDonalds was hopping, with Cub and Brewer fans. It was fun to watch everyone interact; each fan was more than willing to pronounce their love for their team (and for Cubs fans, they were more than willing to proudly say, "Next year is our year!").

I also might add that it was overcast, rainy, and only about 40 degrees outside. Our group was pretty well bundled up, and I know for me, the hope of warm sunny California weather in the coming week kept me internally warm (it will ALL be worth it, I kept saying to myself).

Our seats at Wrigley were in the bleachers in the outfield. The group decided that center field was our best bet. Since we were there early, we got good seats and had fun dancing to the pre-game music and watching the groundskeepers prep the field. Since Wrigley is celebrating 100 years this year, we also got Babe Ruth bobbleheads (another reason we made sure to come early).

As the 50-50 raffle man told us, "This isn't rain, it's a pre-game blessing." While the rain did stop before the first pitch, it wasn't quite enough of a blessing for the Cubs to win. The Brewers took the game 4-3, but the Cubs did put up a fight.

What was even more interesting was to listen to the fans around us. I knew Wrigley could get pretty rowdy and I know for a fact I did not see the rowdiest Wrigley. They loved to heckle the center fielder (especially Logan Schafer playing for the Brewers). Logan took the heckling all in good stride, ignoring the fans most of the time and when he thought about throwing us his warm-up ball, the largest grin spread across his face as he faked throwing it to us and then threw it back to the right field side. It was priceless.

Once the game ended, it was back to the van and then back to Cedar Rapids. Dinner was at Portillo's, a Chicago favorite. I had never been and I will say that the expectations set for this restaurant were exceeded. Good food and good atmosphere. On top of that, I even got to see an old friend. The Portillo's we stopped at was only a few blocks from my friend Krista's house. Krista and I were fast friends freshman year at Coe and I hadn't seen her since freshman year. I don't think words can express how wonderful it was to see her and attempt to catch up in a short period of time. We made plans for adventures in the near future and with one final hug, it was back to the van.

The group got back late Friday night and it was glorious to go back to my apartment and fall asleep. We have the weekend off. Lots of laundry, reading, blogging, and writing to do! We hit the road 9 AM on Monday, headed for Kansas City.