2,600 miles on a Honda - part 3

I stayed in Amarillo the night before so i only had 30 miles to ride to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. My plan was to get there early enough to go hiking, then camp in the canyon, which it turns out is the 2nd largest in the US after the Grand Canyon.
When i got there i still wasn't 100% sure if i wanted to camp out in 25 degree nights but after talking to some people standing by their tents who said it wasn't too bad if you have a good sleeping bag. So i went back to the main office and got a camp site to stay for the night. Long story short, they gave me a duplicate number as someone else, i had to move once for this old married couple, who were a bit snobby and almost had to move again for someone else but the park ranger straightened it all out.

I was so proud of myself at my first camp site. Finally using the knowledge from all those times watching Survivorman i made a soft insulated grass mat under my tent to sleep on.

I was so proud of my first camp site

After setting everything up i went hiking in the park to look for the Lighthouse Rock, which is what Palo Duro Canyon is known for. I took a shortcut, then left the trail to climb one of the fairly steep mountains to get a better view of where i was going. I kinda got lost but i'm glad i did. I had an awesome view and saw things i never would have seen, like big horn sheep. At least i think they were big horn sheep. They were at the top of the mountain, heard me and took off, down a rocky face that would have taken me 30 minutes to get down. They were a half mile away in about 20 seconds.


So after a few hours i finally got off the mountain and back to my camp site. That's when i had to deal with moving my tent for those people. It was a pain but i made an even better mat to sleep on and then started boiling water for dinner. Around that time is when the second family showed up and wanted me to move again. Luckily i didn't have to.

During the day the weather was great. It got up to around 75 degrees. But at night it dropped to around 25. I thought i would be the only one dumb enough to be camping out but a lot of people showed up. It was a cold night and i did hear some coyotes howling around midnight.

Time for a New Coach????

I went to my first football game in Ann Arbor to see UofM vs Wisconsin. Of course UofM lost.

(click to see full size)

The stadium was huge and i was amazed at then amount of people in the streets and at the game.

The best part was that all of the fans were cheering whenever they showed the score of the MSU vs Purdue game because MSU was down by 14. The reason is was so good was that MSU came back in the 4th quarter to win.

Here's what 20,000 depressed wolverine fans look like.

MSU - November

I went to the MSU vs Minnesota last week with John. First i parked in front of my old house on Gunson and Linden. It looks the same.
Stopped by Sparty.
Then watched the game. (click to view full size)

Camping in the Manistee National Forest

I went last weekend with my brother in law John who's walked the trail before. There were lots of other hikers, canoers and views of the river from high up.

Friday
we arrived at the trail at 6pm, hiked 5 miles then camped around 8pm

Saturday
we had all day to hike 15 miles, stopping for lunch and to fish in the river.around 2am it started pouring with rain and there was tons of thunder and lightning
it's hard to tell here but it rained so hard that my pack got a little wet, but was fine in the morning.
Sunday
woke up a bit sore but walked 5 more miles back to the car .

Typical part of the trail along one of the hills




Panorama views (click to enlarge)

Detroit Tigers - Comerica Park Centerfield

At the start of the season Karrie bought 2 tickets for $9 each for Detroit Tigers vs Seattle Mariners. We sat in left field, section 149, row 1.

(click to enlarge)

Being right behind the bullpens, we got to see all of the pitchers warming up, including Max Scherzer, the Tigers starting pitcher.

He pitched ok, but gave up a lot of hits and the Mariners scored a few runs.

Here's video of him warming up.

http://youtu.be/HSdf6wzVIMQ

The funny thing before the game was the rookie pitchers for the Mariners walking to the bullpen with their cartoon, little kid, backpacks.

It was a little cold and windy. But for the middle of April i wasn't expecting it to be 54 degrees.

Definitely the best part of the game was Miguel Cabrera's homerun.

It was coming right for us, flew over our heads and landed 5 rows behind us. You can't see our faces because right as the camera zoomed in, we turned around to watch where the ball went.

Jose Valverde warmed up a bit, but the tigers never came close enough for him to come in at the 9th inning for the save.
We got up in the 7th and walked around the stadium.

I stopped at one of the balcony's to try and get a cool picture of the ferris wheel. It sort of came out how i wanted, but not perfect. There was too much stuff in the way.

Here's the view from the upper deck. It's been a while since i've had tickets up here, i forget that they are not that bad of seats. But with left and right field tickets selling for under $15 dollars i don't see any reason to sit way up in section 238.

Anyway, it was a fun game to go to, even though it was cold and the Tigers lost.

Spring Training - 2012

This is the 3rd time i've flown to Arizona for Spring Training Baseball. Here are the pictures from my first 2 trips:

• Spring Training - 2011

• Spring Training - 2010

Here's a map showing everywhere we were planning to go.

John flew down on Thurday to watch the Cubs game with Adam. Karrie and i flew down Friday night.

When i signed up for the car rental it ended up being cheaper to get the Ford Mustang with the 1 day free rental coupon we had. Then when we got to the car rental desk we got to choose between that or the Dodge Challenger.

It was only a V-6 but it was a very smooth ride.


Day 2:
Game 1: Salt River Fields - LA Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies

(click to enlarge the panorama pictures)

This was the new Colorado Rockies stadium in Scottsdale. It was really nice and you got to see all of the players warming up in the batting cages.

Jason Giambi, on the far right of the picture, was on the team last year. I remember he hit a homerun in the game i saw, it cleared the wall by about 3 inches. This year he had a white beard and acted like more of a hitting coach.

Like last year, there was a car show in the parking lot outside the stadium. There weren't as many cars though this year.

Adam and John pointing toward home plate.

Here are some panoramic pictures of the stadium.



Game 2: Camelback Ranch - Kansas City Royals vs. San Diego Padres

Adam, John and I.

Cameron Maybin, the former Detroit Tigers number 1 prospect, was on the Padres. It was a good thing we got rid of him when we did, and got Miguel Cabrera in the process.

Players signing autograph's.



Day 3:
Game 3 (1pm): Peoria Sports Complex - Colorado Rockies vs. Seattle Mariners
Sunday was cold and rainy so instead of going to the game, we went and watched Michigan State play in the NCAA tournament.

Then afterwords Karrie and i drove around Scottsdale to look at the million dollar houses in gated neighborhoods. We saw lots of Orange and Lemon trees and finally stopped near an alley to pick some. There are tons of orange trees that grow there. I was the driver and on lookout duty.

It turned out that they weren't quite ripe. They looked fine but weren't that flavorful.

The view of the mountains with the rain clouds behind them.