Day 15: Bismark to Minneapolis Area

We did not get to Bismark until almost 5am this morning. It seemed a waste to put the tent up, so we just slept in the car at the campground. We then hit the road again around 10am. We pretty much drove straight through again, except the hour and a half stop at the mall to see the Roger Maris Museum.

We got to the wrong campground around 5:30pm and then ended up having to drive another hour to the south side of Minneapolis to get to the one we actually had the reservation at. I meant to get the reservation at the one we first ended up with, but apparently I accidentally clicked the wrong KOA when I made the reservations. At least this one is still about the same distance from the ballpark and I did not have it mixed up the other way around or we would have been backtracking to the one we first stopped at.

We set up camp and had mac and cheese for dinner. Mik is excited about tomorrow being the first night of the trip we are staying at Mom's apartment in Chicago. Right now he is bugging us to go to bed, so I am going to take him back to the tent and let Dad stay here in the laundry room on his computer.

Baseball Museum 3: Roger Maris Museum

Today (Day 15 of the trip) we visited the Roger Maris Museum located inside a mall in Fargo, North Dakota, as a stop along to way from Bismark to Minneapolis. The museum is a rather simple display of Maris artifacts and memorabilia and a small theater with Yankee Stadium seats from the era Maris was a Yankee. The artifacts on display include uniforms of the four teams Maris played for, Maris' Golden Glove Award for 1960, Maris' two Sultan of Swat Awards for Outstanding batting achievements in 1960 and 1961 (this was the year he hit 61 home runs and broke Babe Ruths 1926 single season record of 60) and several of the home run balls from the year Maris hit 61 including the 60th (the 61st is in the Baseball Hall of Fame).

There really is not much to the museum and it is kind of tucked away in the mall, but it was worth stopping at. Even Mik seemed to enjoy it as he actually turned his PSP off and watched the movies about Maris that were constantly showing in the little theater. He definitely overall enjoyed the stop because he got a Pretzel dog at Pretzelmaker, which he rates the best hot dog he has had on the trip so far and even better than the Wetzel Pretzel one he had at Downtown Disney.

Mik’s Food Scrapbook: Safeco Field

Like at pretty much every game so far Mik started his eating at Safeco Field with a hot dog. He rates it one of the better ones he has had on the trip so far. By the way he got a hot dog at a gas station in Montana on the way to Bismark and he said it was the only hot dog worse was the Dodger Dog at least so far.



Dad found a Japanese food place and got me Summer Rolls, which turned out to be okay, but they were mostly filled with lettuce and were very skimpy on the shrimp to the point it almost seemed liked it really was just lettuce. They also came with a spicy sauce that was actually quite flavorless. At that place he also got me some edamame, which was as good as usual, although it would have been nice with some salt. Mik tried the edamame and thought it was too boring and tasteless.



About midway through the game I sent Dad to get Shiskaberries (chocolate covered strawberries on a stick). Dad got this for me and I just had Mik hold it so I could take a photo. At first he said I needed to make sure I noted that he did not actually eat it, but then he ended up being too tempted and had to try it. He through the chocolate was too much and overpowered the strawberries, but that did not keep him for continuing to eye it as I ate it and having several more bites.



The last thing we had at the game was Tropical Tye Dye Dippin Dots. Mik thought it tasted too much like kiwi, which he dislikes, and only had one bite. I thought it mostly tasted like orange. I thought it was good, but rainbow ice is still my favorite Dippin Dot flavor.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Safeco Field

Finally at the Mariners game I got another ballpark baseball for my collection. There were several other interesting balls including a Ken Griffey Jr and one that was colorful and had baseball terms on it like safe, strike, out, etc. Since they actually had a Safeco Field one, though, that is the one I choose. It is a similar look to the one from Dodger Stadium, but it has a better view being of the infield rather than the outfield. It also has the S logo on one side and the circle Mariners logo on the other.

Mik's Mini Bat Collection: Mariners Logos

The mini bat selection at the Mariners was pretty good. Mik ended up choosing one that has the three different Mariners logos on it. It includes the S logo, the Mariners logo, and the circle Seattle Mariners logo. It has a natural wood finish.

Car Stickers Update: Seattle Mariners

The sticker options were pretty sad at the Mariners. Most had players on them and that just would not do with the logo theme. We ended up settling on a white Mariners logo one. It is way bigger than all the other team ones. Actually, probably takes up the same amount of space as the four stickers currently on the National League side. At least the American League has two less teams than the National League. We just hope we do not have to settle for too many more big ones. Tomorrow with a sticker from the Twins game the sides will be even for the first time and the American League will end up ahead for the first time after the White Sox game on Friday.

Smashed Pennies: Safeco Field

The Seattle Mariners have a penny machine in their Main Team Shop. It had the normal amount of four designs to choose from. Since this is a ballpark trip I choose the one that says Safeco Field. Mik choose one of the Seattle Mariners logo ones for his collection.