Karmagators

Headed north to St. Petersburg via I-75, Alligator Alley. Not happenin’. Not a single alligator. I did drive through the Sawgrass National Recreation Area and the Everglades. Both were very impressive. The ‘Glades are huge, even from the highway. It was only a 250 mile day so I goofed off a bit this morning and left Pembroke Pines late. I got to St. Pete about 3:00 p.m.

I set up camp at Robert’s Resort, a combo RV/mobile home park. It is very nice and another urban park. Tropicana Field was only twenty minutes away so I treated Shirley to a ballgame. She loves to go to the parks. She is such a good girl. I followed the signs to the parking lot and an attendant waved me down a road outside the lot. I followed his direction and ended up at a dead-end protected by two cops. I was directed to backup and enter the Do Not Enter area going the wrong way on a one-way street. WTFO? The cops had said “Go up that street and park,” so I did. I looked for officers with drawn weapons but there were none. I looked for yellow-clad parking attendants closing in on me with money grubbing looks in their eyes but there were none. I said “Oh, well, I guess I’ll probably get a parking ticket but life is such,” and walked to the ballpark.

Tropicana Field is an indoor park and has the world’s largest cable supported roof. I can see why the park is covered, frequent rain and oppressive summer heat, but playing baseball on carpet just ain’t right. The park is very nice and well kept. The sound system is very good without causing headaches. The fans were very knowledgeable and really supported their team. The game itself was good until about the 6th inning when the Rays blew it open. The A’s mounted a feeble comeback but fell short and lost 8-6. This was the first game that had a runner picked off 1st base. The Ray’s pitcher had a very slick move to first and nailed the first baserunner the A’s had.

I sat with some die hard Rays fans (R to L in the picture) Keith, Paul, Chris, and Tara. I’m not sure who the tattooed bicep belongs to but it is a nice ‘tat. These folks were very nice and it was a pleasure to share their section. There was a nice lady behind me but she was playing hooky from work and didn’t want to be in the photo.

It is off to Hotlanta Wednesday and I have two days to drive 500 miles. It will be nice to have some relaxing time. I have a reservation at Stone Mountain Campground near Stone Mountain, the Rushmore of the South. I will meet Marty Huczek on Thursday or Friday and we will see the Braves at Turner Field. Marty is a Navy buddy I haven’t seen in 42 years. I wonder if he will have changed? I haven’t in forty years so I guess he will still be the teenager he was in ’69.

Oh, yeah, there were no tickets on Shirley so I parked for free. Hope that doesn’t generate bad karma. There was no intent to defraud so hopefully I will be safe. Karma is complicated and I hate to get cross-wise with it.