The latest installment of our travel blog started when we loaded up the covered wagon, um, minivan and hit the road for Phoenix right after the kids escaped school for spring break on Friday. Unfortunately, we weren't quite as lucky in our efforts to get out of Dodge, um, Southern California, so our trek took more than an hour longer than usual. Ugh.
If you haven't guessed by now, this road trip will take us through the Old West (a.k.a. Southern AZ). Our pre-trip homework involved watching a lot of (laughably bad) Westerns. Among them: Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, 3:10 to Yuma, and The Lone Ranger. Does Cowboys vs. Aliens count as a Western?!
Our first stop this morning was to visit the Arizona State Capitol. Yep, I've found yet another way to feed my OCD -- collecting state capitol passport stamps. Two down, 48 more to go! And there is also a passport program for presidential libraries -- only 43 of those! Must. Get. Help...
The original capitol building has been turned into a museum. The boys were particularly interested in the exhibits on the USS Arizona and Pearl Harbor. Well worth a visit!
Then we headed back over to Mesa for the ultimate purpose of our stopover today...
...to catch a Cubs' spring training game at their brand-spankin' new ballpark!
Fun day, but we were pretty cooked from sitting in the sun all afternoon! After the 7th inning stretch and a huge baserunning error by the Cubs that eliminated a run at home, we couldn't take any more and decided to bail. (Good thing we left when we did. They gave up 3 more runs and lost 8-3! Long season ahead.) The boys didn't get any autographs like last time, but J did manage to score a ball from Wellington Castillo who was catching in bullpen during pre-game warmups!
For post-game dinner, we made a bee-line for...
...then hit the road for the drive to Tucson. Next up - a presidio, a mission, and a cave!
Our first stop this morning was to visit the Arizona State Capitol. Yep, I've found yet another way to feed my OCD -- collecting state capitol passport stamps. Two down, 48 more to go! And there is also a passport program for presidential libraries -- only 43 of those! Must. Get. Help...
The original capitol building has been turned into a museum. The boys were particularly interested in the exhibits on the USS Arizona and Pearl Harbor. Well worth a visit!
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| Gallery view of the House of Representatives |
Then we headed back over to Mesa for the ultimate purpose of our stopover today...
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| Cubs vs. Reds |
...to catch a Cubs' spring training game at their brand-spankin' new ballpark!
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| We watched from the berm in left center field, along with a capacity crowd! |
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| The boys got the beer guy to dump out some ice for them. Cooler heads = much happier kids! |
Fun day, but we were pretty cooked from sitting in the sun all afternoon! After the 7th inning stretch and a huge baserunning error by the Cubs that eliminated a run at home, we couldn't take any more and decided to bail. (Good thing we left when we did. They gave up 3 more runs and lost 8-3! Long season ahead.) The boys didn't get any autographs like last time, but J did manage to score a ball from Wellington Castillo who was catching in bullpen during pre-game warmups!
For post-game dinner, we made a bee-line for...
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| Portillo's in Tempe! Italian beef, baby! |
...then hit the road for the drive to Tucson. Next up - a presidio, a mission, and a cave!
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