I left Los Angeles at 6 p.m. Tuesday and drove 800 miles. I stopped in Vegas at 1 a.m., got a little rest and then had breakfast with my sisters. They are on a girl’s-week-out in Sin City. They had to see Shirley and she appreciated the attention. She is such a good girl and my sisters are too!
I am glad to have left California. I don’t miss the traffic and potholes. I took I-15 out of Vegas this morning and was stunned by the Virgin River Canyon. I was driving smack into a mountain and the road suddenly curved to expose this canyon with sheer sandstone walls. OMG, it was spectacular! I turned onto I-70 and drove through the heart of Utah. The mesas and buttes were gorgeous. All of this is new country for me so it made the drive very enjoyable. Tomorrow I head to Denver on I-70 and apparently go over Vail Pass at 10,000 feet (Yikes!).
I didn’t get to post a story from the front yesterday so you have to accept day-old news. The drive to Dodger Stadium was the usual LA miserable, 100 miles in a little over 3 hours. It was Opening Day for the Dodgers and their fans were fanatic. I figured discretion is the better part of valor and did not wear my Giants hat. I think I was the only person not in Dodger gear. My seat was way up on the top of the stadium and actually pretty crummy from a social viewpoint.
Lots of rowdies in the section. I did meet the “Character of the Day” though. He was in his late 30’s and sat in the row behind me. He had a radio tuned to Vince Scully and it provided a nice tinny backdrop to the noise of the crowd. He was dressed head to toe in Dodger stinkin’ Blue. His hat was totally covered with pins. The bill had 6 or 7 figurines on it. He had a couple of blue bead necklaces and a chain with 10 or 15 Dodger dog tags on it. The 5 bracelets on each wrist were Italian charms, all with a Dodger theme. Each hand had 10 or more Dodger rings. Before the game he was very social, flitting about having a grand old time. About the sixth inning his seat mates started talking about work and asked him what he did. SURPRiSE! Come to find out he was on disability for psychological reasons. He hadn’t worked since he was 18 and was put away due to a mental breakdown. He explained all his trials and tribulations and gave a complete run-down of his meds. He was quite proud that he had gone 18 years without a breakdown. His dissertation lasted until the middle of the 7th when he invented new, nonsensical words to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” The young lady who was sitting right in front of him looked at me and I know we were both hoping he would make it to the end of the game before he had another breakdown. He lived way out in Apple Valley so he left in the 8th, much to my appreciation.
The game was a mini-blowout with the Dodgers beating the D’Backs 9-5. I guess I bring offensive juju to the games because all five games have had six or more runs scored by the winning team.
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