Game 12: Seattle Mariners 4 @ Colorado Rockies 6

We got to the ballpark not long before the gates opened two hours before the game. More on what we did this morning later. Right before they were to open the gates for the game it started to rain and they let us in and corralled us in the stairwell/elevator area before taking our tickets. We then were let up into the park, but they really only open the bleacher section 2 hours before the game for batting practice, which there was none of since it was pouring by this time. We just waited a half hour for the main concourse to open and go to the Team Shop before going to our seats.

By the time we got to our seats the rain had stopped and the sun came out again. There were a few sprinkles during the game, but mostly pretty good. As soon as we got back to the car, though, it started raining steadily again. Good thing it did not go to the bottom of the 9th or we would have been walking back to the car in the rain or waiting it out with Mik probably yelling at the stadium. Both ends of the game came close to a rain delay, but we got lucky and totally avoided that at least for one more game.

The game was pretty exciting with the Mariners taking an early lead and then the Rockies slowly battling back to go ahead and end up winning. It was also nice to see the Rockies starting pitcher go all nine innings. The past three games of our trip we have seen the Rockies win and the Rockies themselves are on a really hot streak now having 9 wins in a row. Mik kind of wanted them to lose since their hot streak has put them ahead of the Dbacks, but as far as the trip goes he is always happier for the game to end faster and hence the Rockies winning without needing a bottom of the 9th was just as good. I was kind of rooting for the Rockies just because I do not really care about the Mariners and the Rockies were the home team this time. Of course, I liked them beating the Cardinals and Brewers, too, since those teams are in the Cubs division.

Now it is still raining as we are driving back to the KOA. Boy is it nice we have a kabin tonight, too. Hitting the road for Kansas City tomorrow. I am looking forward to Sunday and going to a game that the Rockies are not playing at. It is getting a little boring seeing them when they are not one of our favorite teams. Although, they do spring train at one of my favorite ballparks (Hi Corbett in Tucson)

Day 23: Living in Luxury

Okay, so this KOA has totally redeemed itself at least in customer service versus not the greatest tent accommodations and amenities. The staff her have been some of the friendliest throughout. Today it rained as I mentioned previously. Well, the tent area totally flooded to ankle depth and hence why we ended up with some water in the tent. The water was mostly gone by the time we got back and we just thought it was because we left the tent windows open. All the other tenters moved to cabins earlier this evening and I just assumed they did not want to deal with it, but it turns out some actually complained and even got refunds. As we were getting ready to bundle in for the night and tough it out and it was beginning to sprinkle one of the staff came over and gave us a key to one of the little kabins (its KOA, so everything that starts with a c starts with a k around here). We would have toughed it out and probably moved to the car if water began to get in the tent again, but we sure were not going to pass up a free upgrade.

The kabin is awesome. I love the little front porch swing. We even have electricity. There is a bunk bed and one double bed. I get to sleep on top, Dad is sleeping on the bottom and Mik gets the big bed since he is afraid of falling off and there really is not room for him to be on the floor like he prefers. Mik is happily watching and charging his iPod while sitting at the little built in desk. The WiFi actually works from in the comfort of the kabin. Oh, this is surely living in luxury or at least kamping without the motor home wise it is.

The tent is still up since it was already raining when we got upgraded, but we can get it down tomorrow morning before heading into Denver to try to see the Disney Carol Train Tour before the Rockies game. Then packing up before we leave for Kansas City will be way faster.

Day 23: Target, Tornadoes, and More in the Denver Area

Today started as quite a boring day, but it got more interesting. We got to the KOA near Denver around 5:30am this morning. We then set up the tent and Dad and Mik went to bed. I then tried to go to the laundry room and use the Internet. Well, it was not working with my USB thing since we are in the middle of nowhere and we later learned the WiFi at the campground was slow because of the thunderstorms last night, which by the way we did drive through some last night, too.

This whole KOA has been a big disappointment with the tent sites put in this little area and not clearly marked. Plus, this little area is right next to the I-70. Why cannot they at least have a row of motorhome spaces and then the tent area. Anyways, just a rather unimpressive campground for something that is supposed to be civilized. I have been disappointed in the last few for various things that I have come to expect if I am going to be paying for a civilized place. Not to mention one to the bigger reason we went with KOA all the way was for better accessibility and that has not been all that great either. I guess we were just spoiled with some of the best KOAs early in the trip. At least the Internet thing was fixed and they have an ice cream parlor here, which is very handy considering we are literally at least 15 miles from anything.

Around noon we headed to town. Yeah, we have mostly been staying outside of places, but I have never felt like we were actually going to town for supplies like this time. It started pouring on our way. We gassed up at a Safeway and then went to Target and it had let up a little. We get into Target and they are making everyone go to the middle and back of the store because of a tornado watch in the area. We ended up slowly browsing Target, but it was also a Super Target, so we accomplished our grocery shopping waiting for the warning to pass. Mik was annoyed at the delay mainly because the food counter at the front was closed and that was why he chose to go to Target to get a mouse for Mom's laptop that she gave us last weekend to borrow and now suddenly the mouse pad stopped working. Crazy kid that he is was disappointed that in the end the warning passed and he did not get anything at the food place and there was no tornado right there at Target.

From Target we went to Panera Bread for a late lunch. We have a bunch of gift cards for there and finally we found one sort of convenient to go to. We did not linger much like we had originally planned because when we had left the campground the WiFi seemed back up and it turns out it is not too bad.

Back at camp we had to empty the tent out because water got in, but it was not too bad. Mik then took a nap with his entirely dry pillow blanket while Dad sat by the pool while I went swimming for a little. The pool was heated and actually not that great. I do not like cold water, but this almost seemed like swimming in a spa. I know it was not that hot, but it kind of felt like it since it was only warm outside if you are in the sun. Still enjoyable, though, since it is the first time on the trip I have been able to find a campground pool empty when we had free time at the campground.

Now we are all in the rec room with computers. Dad is on Facebook as usual (I swear it seems that is all he ever does on the Internet and boy does he do it a lot!!!). Mik is catching up on watching some television shows online (again someone doing what they always do online). I guess I could say the same about me since I am blogging and that seems to be what I mostly do online, but I have also been getting in some online game playing since it is hard to play JamLegend when we are driving even when the signal is good.

Car Stickers Update: Field of Dreams

We finally have a non-MLB ballpark sticker on the car. We had been hoping to have a sticker on there by now from Disneyland or the National Park, but the Field of Dreams was the first place we found one to put on the back of the car. It is a blue bumper sticker style one with the words Field of Dreams Dyersville, Iowa.

Kj's Baseball Collection: Field of Dreams Signed by Owner

They had the Field of Dreams souvenir baseballs as is or for a few dollars more signed by Don Lansing, who owns the land the Field of Dreams movie set is located. I chose the slightly more expensive version because it is kind of cool that it is signed. It is an actual signature, too, and not those fake ones you get on the souvenir balls at many of the ballparks that have the year's roster supposedly signing it.

Mik's Mini Bat Collection: Field of Dreams

At the Field of Dreams they had a black or natural color as the choices for the mini bats. Mik refused to get out of the car, but he did eagerly make the choice between the two options when I asked him. He went with the natural one, which he tends to lean towards often. The mini bat has a pretty simple design that says Field of Dreams Dyersville, Iowa in black lettering.

Accessibility Review: Miller Park

Miller Park impresses with its accessibility in the parking lot, but the accessibility soon turns not as great. The handicap spots are located in one of the Premier Parking lots, but you only pay $8 like in the general parking lots compared to $15. Be sure to mention this when you are at the pay person, as they were too distracted to notice that we had the handicap placard up, but as soon as Dad asked where the handicapped parking was she said parking was only $8 instead of the $15 she had first asked for. The parking lots are largely used by tailgaters and thus there are port a potties in several locations including at least one that is wheelchair accessible.

Getting into the park is also quite easy, as you can go through any gate and pretty easily be next to a turnstile at the end of the row that has a way of letting you pass to the side of the turnstile. So many parks have you go through a specific entrance or the rows of turnstiles are long and require major walking around if you accidentally end up in the middle, such as we have done several times at the Dbacks in the past.

The first thing that I found not very accessible was the Team Shop. It seems most retail shops do not care to make their displays far enough apart for wheelchairs, but this one was by far one of the worst team shops to navigate through and it certainly did not help that it was also one of the most crowded with people. We mostly just left Mik in one spot while we searched for things like the stickers for the car because it would have taken forever to try to do it with Mik.

The seats we had in 442 were not too bad handicap seating wise. Sure there is the issue of the stupid mascot clubhouse, but that is an issue for everyone in the section. The bar in front of the handicap row is at a good low height to not block the sight line. However, the bar is really close to the seats and even me with short legs felt crowded up next to the bar. Also, annoying was we had 1, 2, and 3 and the only way into 1 and 2 was to come through spot 3, which was where Mik had to sit in his wheelchair. Such annoying planning to have to move the chair everytime we wanted to get in and out. Not quite as bad as the Metrodome, but still annoying.

The worst thing about Miller Park is the ushers. The one in our section was mostly absent, but he would come back every inning or so to kick people out of the section next to us that had been closed off because of a roof leak that caused there to be water in the section. It seems like that is the sort of time they should have been more present in the section.

The worst, though, was when we were riding the elevator. When we went up to our seats it was not too bad and the usher was not too bad, but still he did not exactly stop a group of 8 just going to suites get on and almost having another wheelchair person have to wait for the next elevator. Those fans were polite, though, and we all squeezed in to accommodate the other wheelchair.

The ride down was way different. There was a crowd of people in front of the elevator and only us and one other wheelchair person. The usher allowed the very able people crowd on and did not care at all when Dad approached him and pointed out there were two wheelchairs that needed the elevator. He allowed us to squish in and then three more fans decided to squish in as well. The door did not close at first and he did not even care to ask them to get out, as they had rushed in after he said the elevator was full. They just squished in some more. The other group with the wheelchair was forced to wait for the next elevator. I do not mind waiting for our turn, but these people were rude and could very easily have taken one of the many escalators or staircases down. I just could not believe how the ushers did not even give the wheelchairs priority, which every other ballpark does including often them pulling us out from behind several other groups to be the first to get on the elevator. Sure, you get rude fans everywhere, but usually even the fans make sure that they do not get on before those that actually need the elevators. Basically it seem many of the ushers were rather lazy.