The Road Trippers

Here is a brief intro to the three of us going doing the All the Ballparks Summer 2009 Road Trip.


Kj

Nickname: "The Documenter"

Favorite Team: Washington Nationals

Collects: Souvenir Baseballs

Her/My Role: I am the doing most of the planning and trip documenting. I am making the route and will be putting together how we can do it in Mik's summer vacation once the MLB schedules are all released. I am also the one documenting the trip through things like blogging and taking photos.



Mik

Nickname: "The Taste Tester"

Favorite Team: Arizona Diamondbacks

Collects: Mini Bats

His Role: Mik is my little brother. He will turn 15 during the road trip. I am giving him the nickname "The Taste Tester" because over the years I have photographed him eating foods when we travel. It started as a him eating his way through Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and a Disney Cruise, but has now developed into him posing with different foods in his mouth on all our travels. He will be adding to his food scrapbook by trying different ballpark foods, especially things unique to certain ballparks. Also, he loves to narrate videos with his camera and may be entertaining readers with some video clips as we visit the ballparks. Lastly, Mik has cerebral palsy and, though, he is working on at least walking with his walker again, he will probably mostly use his wheelchair on the trip. Thus he will be helping to give accessibility reviews of the ballparks and other sites we hit along the way.


Joe

Nickname: "The Driver"

Favorite Team: Chicago Cubs

His Role: My dad is the one doing the driving. He is also the one who will have to call 30 different ballpark ticket offices to get wheelchair seats to the games.

All the Ballparks Route Outline

Here is the route outline of the ballparks and other baseball stops that I have come up with so far. Plus, a few natural places of interest I added because I figured we might as well hit them while we are near them.

Leg 1: Tucson, AZ to Phoenix, AZ
Team 1: Arizona Diamonbacks

Leg 2: Phoenix, AZ to San Diego, CA
Team 2: San Diego Padres

Leg 3: San Diego, CA to Los Angeles, CA
Team 3: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Team 4: Los Angeles Dodgers

Leg 4: Los Angeles, CA to San Francisco, CA
Team 5: Oakland Atheletics
Team 6: San Francisco Giants

Leg 5: San Francisco, CA to Seattle, WA
Redwood National Park
Team 7: Seattle Mariners

Leg 6: Seattle, WA to Denver, Co
Dinosaur National Monument
Rocky Mountain National Park
Team 8: Colorado Rockies

Leg 7: Denver, CO to Kansas City, MO
Team 9: Kansas City Royals
Negro Leagues Hall of Fame

Leg 8: Kansas City, MO to St. Louis, MO
Team 10: St. Louis Cardinals
International Bowling Museum and Cardinals Hall of Fame

Leg 9: St. Louis, MO to Chicago, IL
Team 11: Chicago Cubs
Team 12: Chicago White Sox

Leg 10: Chicago, IL to Milwaukee, WI
Team 13: Milwaukee Brewers

Leg 11: Milwaukee, WI to Minneapolis, MN
Team 14: Minnesota Twins

Leg 11: Minneapolis, MN to Detroit, MI
Team 15: Detroit Tigers

Leg 12: Detroit, MI to Cincinnati, OH
Team 16: Cincinnati Reds
Day Trip to Louisville Slugger Factory

Leg 13: Cincinnati, OH to Pittsburgh, PA
Team 17: Pittsburgh Pirates

Leg 14: Pittsburgh, PA to Cleveland, OH
Team 18: Cleveland Indians

Leg 15: Cleveland, OH to Toronto, Canada
Niagara Falls
Team 19: Toronto Blue Jays

Leg 16: Toronto, Canada to Boston, MA
Baseball Hall of Fame
Side Trip to hit Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine (to say we have been to all states except Alaska after this road trip, I guess we will then have to do the Alaska road trip we have always talked about another summer)
Team 20: Boston Red Sox

Leg 17: Boston, MA to New York City, NY
Team 21: New York Yankeees
Team 22: New York Mets
Sports Museum of America

Leg 18: New York City, NY to Philadelphia, PA
Team 23: Philadelphia Phillies

Leg 19: Philadelphia, PA to Baltimore, MD
Team 24: Baltimore Orioles
Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum and Legends Hall of Fame at Camden Yards

Leg 20: Baltimore, MD to Washington, DC
Team 25: Washington Nationals

Leg 21: Washington, DC to Miami, FL
Team 26: Florida Marlins

Leg 22: Miami, FL to Tampa Bay, FL
Team 27: Tampa Bay Rays

Leg 23: Tampa Bay, Fl to Atlanta, GA
Team 28: Atlanta Braves

Leg 24: Atlanta, GA to Houston, TX
Team 29: Houston Astros

Leg 25: Houston, TX to Dallas, TX
Team 30: Texas Rangers
Legends of the Game Museum

All the Ballparks Road Trip Intro

The idea for the All the Ballparks Road Trip began when my dad and I were driving cross country from D.C. to Tucson in May 2008 when we began dreaming about a real road trip where it was more about the journey than the final destination. That road trip dreaming involved visiting all the Major League Ballparks in a single summer.

Really you can trace this dream a little further back to a small scale road trip we did to the Midwest in the summer of 2004, which involved us touring Busch Stadium (the one they knocked down when they were still working on the current one), seeing a game at Great American Ballpark, and seeing a game at Wrigley Field. During that same summer we also did our normal going to Bank One Ballpark (now called Chase Field) when the Cubs came to town and seeing a game at the then very new Petco Park. Since that summer I in particular have dreamed of one day being able to say I have been to a then current ballpark for all the major league teams.

So, back to May 2008 when we decided we should do All the Ballparks in one road trip. By the time we got home on the D.C. to Tucson road trip I had made a tentative route to do it. As soon as we got home we brought up the dream to my mom (the financier) and my younger brother (the third road tripper). My mom's reaction was along the lines of "Sounds cool. Too bad its too long for me to come with." My brother also thought it was cool, but was like we are taking the motorhome, right?

Well, sure the motorhome sounds like a fun road trip way to go, but we are back to the days of roughing it. He was still on board with the idea, though, when we explained it was totally an unrealistic trip to take if we had to pay for gas for the motorhome. Instead we are going to take Dad's Yukon or do Dad's idea of buying a used Honda Element and selling it when we get home. We will mostly be roughing it by sleeping in the car and/or camping and maybe occasionally using Mom's hotel points to stay at a Hilton or Hyatt (yeah, that would not be roughing it, but it would not add to the trip expense).

So, by now (at least to my dad and I) the All the Ballparks Summer Road Trip 2009 is going to happen. I will try to keep this blog updated with our latest plans and preparations. When we actually do the road trip (may not be 2009, but we will do it one of these years for sure) I plan to post regular updates of our adventures.