Day 76: Back in Arizona

We just entered Arizona. We are almost home as today brings our awesome summer trip to an end. I still have 14 posts to get up about the past week, but the Internet has not worked at all on the drive today. I do have them all written though, so probably get them up by tomorrow night. I also have some wrap style post ideas.

Mik is excited we are not going to get home too late, so he can play in his room right away. I am sort of sad for the adventure to come to an end, but it will be nice to be back in Tucson away from the dreadful humidity. I cannot saying will be nice to be home because my mom and her friend worked on my house while I was gone and I have to wait until they can both be there for me to see it for the first time tomorrow. Thus I get the torture of being so near my house tonight and one of the main things I miss, my reliable fast internet, and not being able to go there until tomorrow. I guess one more night is not much after being on the road since May 21.

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Car Sticker Update: Tampa Bay Rays

We got the Rays sticker at the team shop before the game and Dad put it on the car in the parking lot before we got in line to go inside Tropicana Field. Since it was the last one for the American League side I took photos of him putting it on. The Rays sticker has the diamond Rays logo with a baseball in the background. The American League side filled up quite well with the stickers for the league’s 14 teams.

Accessibility Review: Tropicana Field

Parking at Tropicana Field is pretty easy and it sure is plentiful with it all around the park. The handicap spots were easy to locate sort of near the main entrance to the park. The nice thing is that they really enforce that the spots are legally being used. They had police actually checking everyone’s license plates and placards. For the placards in particular they were doing a lot of checking ids to match them up, I guess, but since Mik is still a minor they did not ask for an id just made sure he was in the car since we were using his placard.

Getting into Tropicana Field got quite crowded in the little plaza between bag check and the actual doors to the ballpark. We ended up in a line that was on the far edge that was supposed to be only for season ticket holders, however, they did not announce that until the crowd got ridiculous and there was no way we could have navigated to the back of the growing longer other lines with the wheelchair. Note we were also around to the side of the building in line and you cannot tell it is labeled for Season Ticket Holders until you get around to almost the entrance. Anyways they did not say anything about us trying to get in and it was not actually an issue, but technically they can enforce the policy if they feel like it (they do not ever seem to, though, even with it being a crowded Yankees game), so it might just be better to not end up stuck in the farthest right line.

We entered the park on the level that at many parks where they have their inaccessible to the public tunnels. Basically you are under all the stands and at field level. Thus to get to any section at all you have to go up an elevator or escalator. The elevator was not too hard to find and because the escalators were literally also right there only those that needed it seemed to use it. After the game it did take forever for it to finally arrive, but there were at least ushers outside of it making sure only those that needed it ended up on it.

The view from our seats in section 321 was good. The only obstruction was the bars to the right of the section, which slightly got in the way of seeing the home plate area if you did not look at the right angle. It was at least something I could deal with. The accessible row is at least raised a good enough amount about the row in front that those standing up did not get in the way. Only thing Mik did not like was that they did not have any cup holders, although the other regular rows also did not have cup holders, so at least he did not feel discriminated against.

Overall Tropicana Field is not too bad of an indoor park even though it is a dome. The accessible seating is at least the best of the domes. It is not perfect, but it is among the better ballpark set ups. Mik really does not like not having a cup holder, but at least the view was good if you were not on the end next to the bar hand rails for those going to rows in front.

Day 73: Mom Joins the Trip and Surprises Mik

A few hours ago we picked Mom up in Houston to join us seeing old family friends in Texas this weekend and then drive home with us. Mik did not know about Mom joining us until she opened the door when we picked her up at the airport. It was really hard to stall the three hours her flight was delayed, but turns out he is so oblivious when he is playing his games or iPod in the back seat that he did not even notice we drove in a sort of circle around Houston or even when we had to take the second circle around the airport pick up. He still would rather be home with all his stuff in his room, but he is happy to see Mom after almost 2 months. The two of them are yelling/singing to Billy Currington's "People Are Crazy" song in the back seat now.

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Day 73: Fluffy Learning to Play Animal Crossing

Mik has been snugging his lion (he named it Fluffy) a lot. I even just spotted him snugging it while playing Animal Crossing on his DS today.

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Kj’s Baseball Collection: Tropicana Field

At the Rays game I found a ballpark ball for my baseball collection. On one strip the ball has a view of the infield with a Tropicana Field logo on top of the image in the middle. The view of the infield is actually interesting because it was taken during the 2008 World Series, so it has the painted 2008 World Series logos in the foul territory on both base sides. The image is also with the Rays and Phillies players lined up on the base lines. The other strip has a diamond Rays logo and a TB logo.

Mik’s Mini Bat Collection: Natural Rays

At the Rays game Mik decided on a natural colored Rays mini bat. The mini bat as the diamond shaped Rays logo on it.