It Would Have Killed Me Had I Not Moved

I started the drive out of El Paso this morning. My plan was make-up a little time with my driving, especially since everytime I am behind the wheel there is no cops around -- only when my friend drives...HA! Mentally I kept judging the time trying to see if I thought we'd make it into Tucson in time for the 1 PM Cubs vs. Diamondbacks game. When we left the hotel I was thinking it was definiately a possibility -- that excited me! Then with gasoline stops and stops to take pictures at the state border lines, time seemed to be flying and the mountains around us seemed to keep taking longer and longer to pass by.

Then of course there was "The Thing". The Thing is a "mystery" that is located along I-10 about 30 mins east of Tucson; however, you will start hearing about it 230 miles before. Yes, that's right...the big bright yellow billboards advertising The Thing begin in the early stages of our journey in New Mexico...and then the billboards continue popping up every so many miles -- probably 25 to 30 boards over the course of the journey up to where The Thing is located. So when we made it there, we were anticipating not only ceasing our curiosity about what The Thing could possibly be, but getting a chance to walk around and get out of the car.

So once inside...I quickly picked out some souvenirs to remember, not only my first trip through New Mexico and Arizona, but also my visit to the one and only The Thing! Then as I paid for my purchases, we also got our two adult tickets to tour The Thing which cost us a whopping $2! All I can say about The Thing is at a dollar a person, everyone should stop, should you find yourself in the neighborhood -- they have got to pay for all those billboards somehow! ;)

So by this point, after taking pictures at two state lines, stopping for gasoline twice, and now to see The Thing, no pedal to the medal was going to get us to Tucson in time for the game, so the next 35 miles was to be spent accepting the fact we wouldn't make the game, but we still needed a food break, so we were going to stop in Tucson anyways -- and I still wanted to at least see the Diamondbacks Spring Training park, even if we didn't get to see the game. So that was the plan...

...until we pulled off I-10 and got within a mile of the stadium and realized there were lines of cars in front of us. According to our clocks the game had already been going for an hour and ten minutes -- or had it?

Yeah, so apparently Tucson and Phoenix don't like the Daylight Savings Time stuff, so they don't change times...so apparently we gained an hour and weren't aware of it...SO WE MADE THE GAME AFTERALL!!!! However, we made it with just about everyone else in Tucson -- or at least 11,452 of them. It was sold out. As we pulled in and paid the parking attendant our $5, we asked her if there were still tickets available -- "Standing Room Only"....GRRRRRRRRRRREAT! But we already gave her a Lincoln and the line of cars behind us wasn't going to let us turn around...so it looked like we were going to be standing. But that at least would compensate for the hours of sitting we'd had in the car over the past couple days...HA!

We get up to the ticket windows to see "SOLD OUT" on all the windows...SWEET! But we go up anyways and say, "So there isn't any lawn seats area, or standing room left?" He said, "Well, I JUST had two seats open up in the upper level under the covered roof -- $16 each. We look at each other and just say, "We'll take 'em!"

Now, please note that it was low 70s and warm in the sun, but under the roof in the shade and in the upper level in the breeze was...well chilly! HA! But it was still great seats and the people around us were so friendly and fun to talk too! We were actually in a POPULAR place for foulballs. Honestly, 6-8 foulballs came within 20 feet of us. One of those balls...probably #3 was looking really close. Really, REALLY close! About all I remember was thinking, "Wow, that looks like it's coming right here" so I got up...and I guess I moved over into the seat area next to me (which luckily was vacated) and the next thing I know I hear this loud THUD and the ball whacks my empty seat! Seriously, it would have killed me had I not moved! So by time my thought process kicked back in, I thought, this means the ball must be somewhere around here...so I look down and my friend is already scrambling on the ground below me and totally gets in a hand tug-of-war with this dude sitting in the seat next to the vacant seat that saved my life. Well, my friend won the battle -- got the ball pitched by Kevin Hart of the Cubs and hit by Josh Wilson of the Diamondbacks (yeah, we didn't know them either...HA!).

The game ended up being tied most the game; however, the Cubbies pulled it out in the end 10-7. But honestly, the last 2.5 innings my friend and I weren't as focused on the game as we were trying to figure out who the gentleman talking behind us in the section was. Apparently he is either a MLB writer, or he is a retired Hall of Famer, as he was talking for quite sometime about his voting experiences in the Baseball Hall of Fame elections. He was wearing a Kansas Jayhawks sweatshirt, but carrying a NY Mets jacket. About all else I can tell you is he did NOT vote for Mark McGwire for the Hall of Fame.

So that was our first Spring Training game. We got there late, but got there none-the-less! The rest of the trip on up to Phoenix wasn't too bad. Just another 100 miles. Now we're checked into our hotel...it's apparently only 9:50 PM, but our bodies are saying, "Hello, it's nearly midnight!"

Tomorrow's plans are tentatively set. The Rangers do not have a game tomorrow, so we are planning to visit the "other side of town" and hit up a practice and game from the teams in the East parts of Phoenix. We are shooting for the Chicago Cubs practice and then the Giants vs. the Angels game at 1:05 PM.

Tomorrow we'll probably not be in the shade at the game, so we'll probably be lathered in sunscreen because we are two very white women and the sun here is very hot! Supposed to be 82 degrees tomorrow!

BTW...I will continue leaving the "post date and time" on Dallas/Fort Worth time, as that's the "right" time...HA! Oh, and another "BTW"...my friend and I have been putting a lot of thought into how this time zone stuff works with people watching "Live" shows. American Idol....sporting events...award shows. These "poor" people on the West Coast don't get live American Idols...and the time difference is going to affect my coworker and myself watching our show The Biggest Loser "together". Lucky for me, she's going to DVR it and wait to watch it till 9 PM her time, so we can text back and forth about what is happening on the show! HA! You really gotta plan these things with the time zones mess with you! ;)