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Road Trippers. Minnesotans. Currently on The Great Baseball Ride, a game with every MLB team Spring/Summer 2019.

23/06/2019

Well over 12,000 miles since April 14th and we are finally getting the hang of packing properly. •
We were floor to ceiling stuff in the initial three legs of our trip, and then realized we wear the same three outfits over and over again anyway.
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Just the essentials now!
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Our road trip across America to see a game in every MLB stadium continues!
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23/06/2019

Sunset over Lake Mille Lacs.
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23/06/2019

Our second town ball game of The Great Baseball Ride brought us to Dundas, MN for the Cannon Falls Bears vs the Dundas Dukes.
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As mentioned in our Miesville post, town ball is one of the best ways to enjoy baseball as it is cheap and the competition is very good.
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Dundas has a population of around 1500 and considers itself “The town of baseball.” It shows as the town really seems to care about this team.
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There is no admission to get into the game, but they “pass the hat” in the fifth inning for anyone that wants to contribute to the operation.
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There is a playground back of the left field line, but most kids hang out just outside of the stadium from home to first in hopes of getting a foul ball; they are worth $1 at the concession stand.
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The stadium is beautiful, built along the Cannon River.
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The team has a long history of success and is made up of mostly ex-college players. •
One of the pastors of our church in Minneapolis previously played minor league ball with the St. Paul Saints, and now plays for Dundas. He was also a high school teammate of my cousin; small world.
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The food and drink are cheap, very cheap. I can highly recommend having the Dukes Ale from local brewery Chapel Brewing.
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This experience is a treasure for baseball fans, and a wonderful night out for all.
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22/06/2019

My Northwoods League (NWL) visit to Duluth was everything I had hoped it could be. •
As mentioned in yesterday’s post come the NWL is a college summer all-star league and has a number of great MLB players as alumni.
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My trip was to see the St. Cloud Rox vs the Duluth Huskies. We always cheer for the home team on The Great Baseball Ride, and it was easy to cheer for Duluth as both Keke and I spent part of our college careers there.
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The town itself sits right on Lake Superior and it’s beautiful.
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The talent on the Huskies is real as they have players from all over the country on the team. Major schools like USC, Texas, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, UCF, Michigan, etc are repped.
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The staff are fantastic and as they found out what I was doing, they gave me access to some restricted areas like the locker room and the TV production area (all NWL games are viewable online).
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The tickets were $10.50 at the gate and two bucks cheaper in advance.
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The food was reasonable, as was the beer. The NWL has their own beer called Five Tool Ale (A five tool player is considered one that can do it all, complete, the best).
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I didn’t get to try the beer as it was education day and there were kids everywhere. Evidently, they don’t serve beer at the main concession areas on kids day. Bummer, because it seemed like the perfect day for the non-chaperoning adults to have lots of beer. 😄 Kidding, the kids were great.
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They did serve in an adult only area called the Kennel Club. Normally this a special ticket, but was open to others this day. Cash only there (I had none). They did have local brewer Bent Paddle on tap, which I can recommend since I’ve had it before at their brewery. They are just down the street and a great pre/game spot.
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The best part of any baseball game are the people you meet. Outside of the wonderful staff, I also met a couple of gentlemen who had some team affiliation but were there as fans. Jon is an IT guy and Bill is a local artist (who made the Randy Johnson figure shown - Randy’s parents were from Duluth). We spent most of the game talking Duluth baseball (and football) history. They were absolutely wonderful!
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Huskies won in extras!
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22/06/2019

Game 17 (3rd non-MLB game) of The Great Baseball Ride brought us to Duluth Minnesota for the Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods League(NWL).
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The NWL is a college all-star summer league with teams all over the upper Midwest.
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They play a 72 game season from May through August that is designed to give the kids a sense of what it’s like to play every day like the pros do.
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The baseball is legit. There have been numerous alumni that have gone on to the majors, such as: Max Scherzer, Matt Chapman, Ben Zobrist, Chris Sale, Curtis Granderson, Kole Calhoun, Paul DeJong, Drew Smyly, and Mark Melancon.
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If you find yourself in the Great Lakes region this summer, find a team. You will have a great time!
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11/06/2019

10/06/2019

While we are exploring the Minnesota component of the Great Baseball Ride we are staying at a cabin in northern Minnesota.
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Soren gives us his thoughts on fishing.
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10/06/2019

The Great Baseball Ride continues. We’ve completed 14/30 MLB teams so far this spring, one minor league game, and the Louisville Slugger Factory.
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A few days back we completed our first town ball amateur game. •
Town ball is exactly what it sounds like; towns will have a team and locals will play.
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Players have typically played high school ball, often college, a few will have played in the minor leagues, and in some instances will have played at the MLB level (All Star Terry Steinbach played for his home town of New Ulm for example).
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Our home state of Minnesota has the most town ball teams of any state in the U.S. with around 300 or so. At its height in the 50’s there were almost 800 teams in the state.
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Town ball is one of the best parts of baseball. •
There are many great ways to enjoy it, but nowhere is better than Miesville, MN.
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Miesville is 125 person town about 35+ minutes from the MPLS/St. Paul metro.
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There are a number of houses, two churches, two bar/restaurants, two tractor dealerships, a gas station, and a baseball stadium all surrounded by farms.
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We recommend a pre-game meal at Kings Place. Full bar and 85 different kinds of burgers.
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The town and surrounding area love this team and come out in full force to support them.
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The team is always good; mostly made up of collegiate players, and has some players that were ex minor leaguers. They have won a number of state championships.
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The stadium is built into a cornfield (they were planting during the game we saw).
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It’s cheap: $3 for anyone over 12, free otherwise. The food and drinks are cheap too. We like to try local beers at our games. They only have the mega brews, so it was the champagne of beers for me.
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They have bleachers, but we love the grassy areas along the foul lines. It’s a perfect place for kiddos to run around.
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Foul balls are worth $0.50 if returned to the concession area. My nephew had to battle an unruly adult for one but ultimately was the victor.
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We don’t remember who won, we just remember a great day, watching great baseball with people we love.
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06/06/2019

Stalking Blake Shelton. •
On the Great Baseball Ride, I (Cory) planned on going to every MLB stadium this summer. If we could fit it in we would hit up other levels of baseball.
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Outside of baseball I left everything up to Keke.
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Twice now she has had us stalk country stars, first Dolly Parton in Pigeon Forge, and now Blake Shelton.
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He has a restaurant in Tishomingo, OK called Ole Red (after the song).
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The town itself is +/- 3,000 people and is about 50 minutes east of I-35 not too far from Texas.
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He owns a ranch in the area.
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If you find yourself in the area (unlikely by accident, though a nice drive) we highly recommend the redneck tacos (brisket) and the fried green tomatoes.
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As we walked up we noticed the adjacent street blocked off with tour busses on it. We later found out that Luke Bryan was to be playing that night at Blake Shelton’s adjacent concert venue “The Doghouse.” Blake Shelton was to play the following night.
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This threw Keke into a country music stronghold where she proceeded to spend the rest of our meal trying to figure out how to go to both concerts.
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The venue holds 250 people, the concerts were $250 a piece, and they were both sold out.
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I found myself slightly happy they were sold out as I would have ended up spending $1000 on concerts that weekend.
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About five hours later while we were heading north, and in Missouri, Keke checked on tickets again. Some had been released and for a quick moment she looked at me like it was a no brainer that we’d pay the $500 for two tickets and head 5 hours back the direction we just came. •
Such is the charm of Blake Shelton I guess.
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05/06/2019

I’ve heard everything is bigger in Texas. It might be true.
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These limos were pretty cool.
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I’ve never seen gas stations so large. 80+ pumps at Bucees.
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The ballpark food was impressive; two foot chili dogs.
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The steaks were no joke; 72 oz at The Big Texan.
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We also went to the worlds largest RV dealership. MHSRV in Alvarado - $165 million in inventory over 200 acres (not pictured, because it’s impossible to take a pic of without a drone).
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I remember reading a quote in the book Rich Dad Poor Dad, “Texans have a saying, If you’re going to go broke, go big. You don’t want to go broke over a duplex.” •
We could see that attitude everywhere we went, and it’s awesome.
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05/06/2019

Game 14 of 30 of The Great Baseball Ride brought us to Minute Made Park in Houston for the White Sox vs. the Astros.
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The stadium is funky with a short wall in left (short as in close to the plate not vertically challenged).
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High up that wall is a train...with a conductor...that moves when an Astros home run is hit.
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The stadium used to be even funkier with a hill and a flagpole in play in center field.
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Houston has pride. It seemed like everyone had Astros gear on, and those that didn’t were wearing Astros colors. One guy had so much pride that he skipped the gear and the colors and wore an astronaut suit instead.
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This is the second stadium where there was a shrine to Nolan Ryan (Texas had a sweet statue). The Ryan Express was a legendary pitcher and seems as Texas as they come.
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They told us Torchy’s Tacos was the spot to eat. They were right. It was probably a 20 minute wait in line, but my fried chicken taco and Keke’s fried avocado taco were epically good ($7 each). I was on the verge of waiting in that line again.
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Our local beer 🍺 selection for the night was the Eureka Heights Buckle Bunny ($13.25 in a souvenir cup). I was told it was a cream ale. I would recommend. Torchy’s supplied the suds in addition to the tacos.
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Tickets were about $10 a piece via Stubhub ($29 for two with fees).
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Parking was $20 for a surface lot one block from the home plate gate (saw up to $40 a similar distance other sides of the stadium).
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The Astros were the number one team in baseball as of this game, but the Sox took it to ‘Stros; we were bummed. •
A bigger bummer was that Jose Altuve, George Springer, and Yuli Gurriel were all absent. The Gurriel absence seemed odd as I don’t think he was hurt and the giveaway that night was his bobble head. •
I’m not sure Keke would have come with me had she known Altuve was out (I think she may be in love with him 😍).
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This is yet another great baseball experience; the food, drink, stadium, and energy were all fantastic!
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04/06/2019

Don’t mess with breakfast.
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Even hotel breakfast in Texas has Texas pride!
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The Great Baseball Ride
Howard Johnson
Arlington, Texas
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04/06/2019

A note about Keke’s beer choice from the Rangers game.
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As mentioned in a previous post, she got the Bishop Apple Pineapple Cider. Also mentioned was that she liked it. And yet again, I’ll mention that she got the cider in a mason jar.
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What was not mentioned was that Keke’s cider had a top.
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It was also not mentioned that the top had a hole to drink the cider out of.........like a sippy cup.
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Keke drank beer out of a sippy cup.
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25/05/2019

One of the more impressive things about CHS Field is the Beer Dabbler craft beer section in left field. •
Thirty-five local brews on tap in that section alone. There have been MLB stadiums we’ve gone to that don’t come close to approaching that (actually probably most of the 12 we’ve been to on this trip so far).
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The Saints offer a flight of four - 6 oz pours for $20. The deal is sweetened as you get to keep the wood paddle.
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Admittedly, carrying around the paddle gave me a weird “Dazed and Confused” vibe, but it’s pretty nice and Keke will make some cool artsy thingamajig out of it.
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We chose the Tin Whiskers Hard Seltzer (St. Paul, MN), Mankato Rhuby Sour (Mankato, MN), Summit Oatmeal Stout (St. Paul), and Castle Danger Cream Ale (Two Harbors, MN).
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All very different from each other, all very good!

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25/05/2019

If Bill Murray says it it’s probably true. •
(Never mind the fact that he owns part of the team😄)
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The Great Baseball Ride
12/30 MLB stadiums done, first minor league game
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23/05/2019

Ice Cold Baseball
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The first minor league stop on the Great Baseball Ride brought us to St. Paul, MN. It’s the first minor league stop if you don’t include our 15 hour out of the way drive only to walk into the Durham Bulls game to hear the last out.
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This is also the first stop of The I-35 Baseball Ride in which we’ll explore baseball in America’s heartland from Minnesota on down to Texas.
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Just my Mom and I for this one. Tickets were $6 a piece, but somehow turned to $8 a piece at the window. We parked a block and a half away at a meter for about $4.
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There was a band playing as we walked in. That was nice.
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It was Fighting Saints Night at CHS Field; it paid homage to the movie Slapshot. This seems appropriate in a hockey city in the State of Hockey. Even the Hanson Brothers were there. The fighting Slapshot ones, not the Mmmmm Bop ones.
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CHS Field is only a few years old and is fantastic.
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A pig brings baseballs to the umps.
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The Yankees have Monument Park to honor past Yankees. The Saints have Monument Pork to honor past pigs.
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The current pig is Daenerys Hoggaryen.
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Beyond center field there are a lot of things for kids to do including a playground and a rock climbing wall.
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There are lots of food options, especially for a minor league game, we were directed to Steakadelphia (cheesesteaks) and The Carvery (chicken of beef sandwiches) as favorites.
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There is a craft beer section that has 35 local beers on tap. I wish more MLB stadiums had this.
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You can sit on a grass berm in left for $5. It overlooks the bullpens. It’s cut well and clean. Cleanliness is next to godliness. This berm is next to sainthood. See what I did there? Because there are Saints in the bullpen. Moving on.
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We didn’t sit on the berm. We chose section 120. It’s next to the craft beer area. That was by design. You sit on steel bleachers in that section. That was not by design. It was 48 degrees the night we went. Sitting on steel was a bad idea.
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The Saints are fun, part owned by Mike Veeck, who’s father Bill Veeck was a legendary baseball executive known for outlandish promotions. Mike has followed suit. He wrote the book on fun. Seriously, it’s called Fun Is Good. •
The Saints picked up their first win of the three game old season, and I had a great night with my mom.

22/05/2019

10,818 miles
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34 days
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23 states
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1 dad
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1 mom
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1 five year old boy
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1 grandma (for part of it)
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1 high mileage Honda Fit
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12 MLB stadiums (8 - 4 cheering for the home team)
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1 - fifteen hour drive in traffic to walk in for the last out of a minor league game (Durham Bulls)
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4 particularly stunning roads (Route 66, Route 1, Hwy 101, I-90)
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7 beaches
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Many, many, many mountains •
A ridiculous amount of fun
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Every rest stop along the way because we MUST use every bathroom
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And we are only 3/8ths done
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Our goal of hitting every MLB stadium as well as many of the other levels of baseball (by the end of July) has been great, although far more work than we imagined. We can’t wait for the rest of the trip!
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On to Leg 4 - The I-35 Baseball Ride.
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19/05/2019

Done with the baseball for leg three of The Great Baseball Ride, but not done with all the great America. •
Deadwood/Black Hills/Mount Rushmore is a fantastic part of the country!
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If you go to Mount Rushmore check the weather (or maybe call). The fog moved in later in the day and you couldn’t see any of the monument.
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The monument is free, the parking is not; $10
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18/05/2019

Game 12 of The Great Baseball Ride brought us to T Mobile Park in Seattle for the A’s vs. Mariners.
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The stadium is beautiful and has lots of food and drink options.
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We stopped at Henry’s across from the main gate for pregame drinks and the best giant pretzel we’ve had.
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The drinks were important because I had one stadium food option on my mind, and it was going to require some liquid courage; grasshoppers!
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They serve grasshoppers toasted with a chili lime seasoning in 4 oz cups for $5. •
When Keke found out they were fully intact and not covered in breading, she was out. •
When I got to the stand a couple of innings in, I found them sold out. I knew they sold out often, but attendance was light, so I thought we’d be fine. •
I don’t actually want to eat a grasshopper, but this now a part of the Mariners experience and I was bummed to not get to enjoy it.
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I did sample some local beer. I had the Elysian Blood Orange. I’d recommend.
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They had some really good spots for kids; playground, batting cages, throwing areas, and a mini diamond that Soren loved running around.
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We sat in left field, section 193, row 1. I believe the tickets were $10 or so. Parking in a ramp adjacent to the park was $25.
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We were bummed when we didn’t get to see Khrush Davis in Oakland, and he showed up this game hitting two bombs. We cheer for the home team though, and they came back and won 6 - 5.
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This is a great place to see a ballgame!

18/05/2019

Probably the most unique stretch of road on our road trip!
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Also had the highest toll - $10 😄
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Leggett, California
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18/05/2019

Finished our Pacific Coast Highway drive from Dana Point, California to Leggett, California a few days back. That stretch (and much of the subsequent Hwy 101) was an epic drive. •
It takes for-ev-er, but driving along the Pacific coastline and through the redwood forests is an amazing experience. A definite recommend.
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16/05/2019

Game 11 of The Great Baseball Ride took us to Oracle Park for the Cincinnati Reds vs. the San Francisco Giants.
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We first hit the Baseballism store across the street. We met a family there that gave us the inside info on what to eat. They said you can get the best Poke outside of Hawaii at the stadium. •
Keke’s more into the raw fish thing than I am so she got it. She liked it a lot.
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We have a ballpark passport book that we get stamped in each stadium. While getting our stamp we actually met the founder of it. He was in town from Cincinnati for the game.
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There are a number of things for kids. The Coke bottle in left has a couple slides in it, but I really liked the wiffle ball field with the aquarium in it’s right field wall.
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I was sent on a wild goose chase to get Soren an ice cream sandwich; it did not go well. Their app had ice cream sandwiches at a few places. Only one actually had it, and the credit card system was down, and I had no cash. Sorry buddy, no ice cream tonight.
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I spent more time searching for a local beer from Local Brewing Company. There is a spot called “The Garden” in center field. It had food and a bar, and...a garden. Local Brewing Company makes a beer from the fruits from that garden. But they didn’t make it for me because once through the line, I found that the credit card processing crisis was widespread. Bummer.
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Soren was a bit off this evening. He has been as good as you could expect on this trip, but this wasn’t his evening. We ended up leaving in the 5th.
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It was too bad we had to leave early, but for the time we were there, it was not lost on us how spectacular this stadium is. It is beautifully designed, has numerous food and drink options, and is located perfectly overlooking the bay. The lower concourse is a bit snug, which is amplified by the fact that the Giants draw well, but that is a small issue in a beautiful ballpark.
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As of this night, we were 7 - 4 on the trip while cheering for the home team. Three of those losses, including this night’s loss were at the hands of the Reds. We’ll avoid seeing home games against Cincinnati in the future for the sake of the teams we visit! 😄

15/05/2019

We’ve tried not to spoil him on this trip, but 31 days on the road deserves some treats; he’s been such a good sport about it all.
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He’s ready for the danger zone with his Navy Blue Angels plane.
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I guess if he decides not to be a SEAL, it’s an ok second choice to be going Mach 2 with his hair on fire.
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This is a great shot Mav, I should be a photographer. 😄 (...And now Keke and I will be saying other miscellaneous Top Gun quotes for the rest of the day.)
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14/05/2019

We stopped for some more beach therapy not far out of San Francisco at Stinson Beach. •
Route 1 winds around Muir Woods National Monument and through Mt. Talampais State Park to get there - it’s a fantastic drive.
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I think Stinson Beach is only 400ish people.
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I also think they were all at the beach the day we went. 😄
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It’s a cozy, charming place.
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14/05/2019

Game 10 of The Great Baseball Ride brought us to Oakland for the Reds vs. the A’s.
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We had a day game, and while I’m pretty sure the announced crowd was 19k, this was the quietest stadium we’ve been too. I’m sure the 12:30pm start played a role.
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This takes into account the fact that most of the fans seemed to be schools on field trips.
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The stadium staff was very friendly.
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We liked the lots surrounding the stadium and the opportunity for proper tailgating. We parked next to a group taking full advantage and their joy was contagious.
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A local establishment called Brown Sugar Kitchen has a spot in the stadium and their BSK Mac N Cheese is worth every penny of the $9 we spent.
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They didn’t have any Oakland based beer, but we had a Lagunitas “A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’.” If you like hoppy beer, give it a try.
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The stadium reminded Keke of the Metrodome without the roof. I believe they are looking for a new facility and I hope they get one.
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The A’s have done some remodeling to add fun spaces like the Treehouse (sports bar feel), and the Stompin Ground (kids area).
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As for the game, no Joey Votto (Reds) and no Khris Davis (A’s) had us bummed. We were further bummed when the A’s lost. It was a sad day in the bay.

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She heard her brother and his friend recreating this scene from The Sandlot. • Next her Grandpa hears her practicing in the bathroom • And we end up with this. • Our 3 year old niece is one part sugar, one part spice, one part Incredible Hulk, and evidently one part Sultan of Swat. • She is wonderful! • #thegreatbaseballride #thesandlot #sandlot #thegreatbambino #baseball #mlb #mlbnetwork #minnesota #baberuth #baseballroadtrip #baseballlife #baseballkids #kidsbaseball #captureminnesota #onlyinmn #thisismyminnesota #kids #roadtrippin #roadtrip #wanderlust #exploreminnesota #vagabond #nomad #travel

Lake Mille Lacs Lake Shark out for a shoreline swim. We don’t typically see these this close to shore except during early season spawn. • Taking a break from our MLB tour and focusing on other levels of baseball has afforded us a slow down and allowed us some much needed family lake time. • #thegreatbaseballride #kidsfishing #family #familyroadtrip #lakemillelacs #millelacs #midwestoutdoors #lakecountry #outdoors #lake #lakes #minnesota #water #captureminnesota #optoutside #thisismyminnesota #northcountry #roadtrippin #roadtrip #wanderlust #travelingjudges #onlyinmn #exploreminnesota #vagabond #nomad #travel #dothelake #fishing #northernpike #muskie

While we are exploring the Minnesota component of the Great Baseball Ride we are staying at a cabin in northern Minnesota. • Soren gives us his thoughts on fishing. • #thegreatbaseballride #kidsfishing #family #familyroadtrip #lakemillelacs #millelacs #midwestoutdoors #lakecountry #outdoors #lake #lakes #minnesota #water #captureminnesota #optoutside #thisismyminnesota #northcountry #roadtrippin #roadtrip #wanderlust #travelingjudges #onlyinmn #exploreminnesota #vagabond #nomad #travel #dothelake #minnstagrammers #minnstagramers #fishing

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