Wednesday was another driving day for Scott and me. Shirley allowed Scott to drive her and they got along famously. This leg was from Platte City, Missouri, through Iowa, into Nebraska, and ending up in Wall, South Dakota. Iowa was just as flat as you would imagine. Our route did not include Nebraska but we jogged into South Sioux City just to say we were in the Cornhusker State. South Dakota was also very flat, miles and miles of prairie. At Chamberlain we crossed the wide Missouri for the last time on this trip. I got to see some major rivers on this trip; the Colorado, Red River, Mississippi, Susquehanna, Hudson, East, Ohio, Allegheny, and Missouri so far. Still ahead is the Snake and Columbia. These rivers make the mighty Sacramento River look like a creek. Another thing we saw in Chamberlain was a very dark horizon directly ahead of us. Before we got to Wall we stopped at a Scenic Overlook which overlooked exactly what we could see from the highway. I guess we missed the point of the overlook. About three miles from Wall we hit the rain. Luckily it was a pretty significant downpour because Shirley’s windshield had performed vector control on almost every insect in the state of South Dakota. The rain did a good job of cleaning the windshield and the front end. We arrived at the RV park just as the rain stopped and had an uneventful evening.
Nature called at 3:00 a.m. Thursday and my brother offered birthday wishes as I emerged from the bathroom. Wow, 63 years old and not feeling a day over 37. A stack of birthday cards greeted me on the kitchen table. My sisters gave me very nice cards, Robin gave me a smart-ass card, as usual, and Shirley gave me a special card.
We got a good start this morning and set Missoula, Montana as our desired destination. As we headed west the scenery improved and became quite beautiful as we entered the Black Hills near Sturgis. Strangely, we did not see a single motorcycle in Sturgis. I know it is not time for the annual bike fest but one would think there may be someone who still hadn’t sobered up enough to get out of town or one who failed to get the memo with the 2010 dates and showed up a few months early. It was like going to Cooperstown and not seeing someone wearing a ball cap.
We moved into Wyoming and were treated to the sight of many pronghorn antelopes along the way. I noticed there were no carcasses of antelopes that made it partway across the interstate. That got me to thinking about the Eastern religious philosophy of karma and reincarnation. What if the land terrapins of Missouri (did I mention them yet? They don’t do well crossing the roads either) are the mammal starting point for the quest for the perfect life. Let’s suppose Terry Terrapin lives a good, moral life and banks the requisite number of positive karma points. One day Terry decides to cross the interstate. He gets about five feet onto the roadway and “Pow!,” he meets an 18-wheeler. Terry’s life in his current incarnation is over. All is not lost. Terry has enough karma points for reincarnation and returns to this world as Andy Armadillo. Andy is a good armadillo and after he meets the Volkswagen he comes back as Petey Possum. Then Petey meets the Ford F-250 and comes back as Walter Woodchuck. This leads to a life as Rachel Raccoon. Then Dora Doe Deer. Dora meets the Prius which comes back as an Acura, unless the Prius’s accelerator has stuck which is bad karma and causes the Prius to start all over again and come back as a skateboard. When Dora finally meets her end she is finally rewarded with coming back as a pronghorn antelope and never has to worry about crossing the road again. I proposed this theory to Scott who pondered it for a bit then threw a wrench in the works by asking how I would explain the pronghorn antelope heads adorning the walls in thousands of dens across the US. Hmm, I guess the answer is like so many other religious answers, “Because that is the way it is meant to be and when the time is right the reason will be revealed.”
As we neared Gillette we could see the snow covered Big Horn Mountains. When we moved into Montana a series of mountain ranges appeared, all of them with snow. Montana started out as a plains-type state but evolved into some very beautiful mountain country once we passed Bozeman. Most of the southeastern part of the state is a Crow Indian Reservation. We stopped for lunch at the Little Bighorn Battlefield Museum. It is easy to imagine Cavalry and Indians still roaming the area. We pushed on to Missoula for the night. Between Scott and I we drove a record 778 miles. When we called it a night the sky was clear and the sun had been out for a while. About 1:00 a.m. it started raining and didn’t stop all night. I am very tired of this daily rain. I planned this trip to be an early summer trip with little rain and moderate temperatures. I think the last day it did not rain was in Chicago. Enough already.
The rain stopped long enough Friday to get a walk/run in before we left Missoula. I made arrangements to meet Cap and Wanda, Phyllis’s Mom and Dad, in Spokane for coffee and pie at Marie Callenders. It was a 180 mile drive and one time zone change to get to Spokane. We finished with Montana and hit Idaho. On the west side of Lookout Pass the rain started to become visible and have ice crystals in it. For crying out loud, it is not supposed to snow in June. We passed through Coeur d’Alene, birthplace of Phyllis, and made it to Spokane, birthplace of Robin. Cap and Wanda were waiting for us and we had a very pleasant visit. They understood we were on a tight schedule to Seattle so we didn’t have a lot of time to spend with them.
We got back on Interstate 90 and continued the final western leg of the odyssey. About the time we hit Ritzville the rain stopped. Things were looking up so I called the Mariners to find out about RV parking. Then I called the Parking Authority. Then I called the Regional Transit System.
We arrived in Seattle around 4:00 p.m. after 1885 miles of Interstate 90, and started the parking quest. After a few false leads we finally found a lot near Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. I was prepared to pay $40, the going rate for downtown parking, it seems. The gentleman at the gate said he had room but it would be expensive, I would have to pay for three spots at $10 each. I said “Deal!” before he could change his mind. I gave him a $30 bill and we found a nice spot for Shirley. She only took up two spots but the price was right and I did not quibble. The gates to Safeco Field were not open yet so we walked around a bit. We asked a few people where we might get a view of the Space Needle and were told we needed to get closer to the bay. We stopped in a sports gear/souvenir shop and asked about the Needle. They, too, said somewhere near the bay. We walked out the back door of the shop and marveled at the sight of the Space Needle against the skyline. We considered going back in the shop and telling the employees we could see the Needle from their shop but thought better of it; after all we were silly tourists and knew nothing about Seattle.
Safeco Field has a retractable roof and it was closed due to the rain earlier. It appeared the roof needed to be opened more frequently to allow some sunshine to hit the field because the grass was kind of sickly. There were bare spots where the outfielders and shortstop stood. You know I love the pre-game preparations and I was disappointed by a lackadaisical attitude by the grounds crew. The batter’s box was very poorly lined and had blotchy areas. Unacceptable. On the positive side, Safeco did have an excellent food selection, maybe the best of the trip.
Even though the park had a roof, the temperature inside was uncomfortably cold, almost as cold as Fenway. The game was not very exciting and the Angels beat up on the hapless Mariners. Seattle’s only bright spot was the play of Ichiro Suzuki, in my opinion one of the top three players in the game today.
After the game ended we left Interstate 90 for the last time and finally headed south on the last leg of the trip. We decided to drive south, find a rest area, get a few hours sleep, and press on to Penn Valley.
We had a great trip down I-5, leaving Washington, traversing Oregon, and cruising through northern California, Saturday. We turned off I-5 at Corning and took lesser roadways to PV. We arrived in PV at about 4:00 p.m. just as Phyllis returned from a car show in Lincoln. It was a joyous reunion for all and Shirley surely did make it across the nation, twice.
Friday will be the final game so technically the trip is still in progress. I will report back after the Giants’ game then do a couple of recaps.
Thanks for sharing my adventure.
I was overjoyed to have a great group of friends go to the final game with me. Robin and Scott who traveled with me, St. Michael Borelli who carried me through the first day disaster, my good friend George who stayed in Penn Valley and provided Homeland security, and Mark who has provided baseball companionship for years, including the dark ages of Candlestick. A last minute addition to the group was Scott’s oldest son and my nephew, J who drove up from Riverside for the game. We all converged at the Willie Mays statue in front of the park. It reminded me of the poem about why dogs sniff butts. The poem starts “The doggies held a meeting, they came from near and far; some came by motorcycle, others by motor car.” This refers to the many modes and routes of transportation and does NOT mean my friends sniff butts.
Sitting in front of us was a great group of fanatics. Rachel, Julie (fantastic shoes, Julie), Alison, and Brooke, a first-timer to Major League baseball. They were really into the game I had to be fast to see the big plays because they were on their feet immediately. A few rows behind us were a group who played Moundball, the first Moundball players I encountered on my odyssey. Many do not realize that I held the domain name for the National Moundball Association, but that’s another story.
You can call me a homer but AT&T Park is the most beautiful MLB park. Many parks were real nice, a couple were gorgeous. Minute Maid in Houston was quirky but no view. Yankee stadium had a great view but the playing field was pretty routine, Oriole Park was beautiful but the view was of warehouses. PNC in Pittsburgh was very nice and had a fantastic view of the skyline. AT&T had a quirky playing field and a spectacular view of the Bay and Oakland Hills.
My Giants played a great game. Tim Lincecum settled down in the third inning and pitched well until he left at the end of the 8th. Buster Posey played a top-notch first base, showing he is ready to stay in the Bigs. A hustling triple didn’t hurt him either. Newly acquired Pat Burrell and long-time Giant Benji Molina both hit homers. As usual, the bullpen took a comfortable lead and turned the game into a nail-biter before the G-men got the third out in the 9th.
I will make a few more posts before I hang up my blogging pen. I want to reflect on the parks, the cities, and the attractions I visited. I also want to give credit to the many wonderful folks I met on my journey.
