Arziona Spring Break

Not too many people have green lawns out here, because it hardly ever rains. So there are plenty of rocks and cactus, because they are the only things that can survive in this harsh environment. Other plants found the will to survive, but not many of them looked as sweet as this cactus on Jim and Kathy's front "lawn".

Today we were going to see the Brewers play the Indians at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, AZ. It is one of those up and coming suburbs on the fringes of Phoenix. It was about an hour drive from their house in Tempe, and when we got there we found out that the ballpark was in the middle of nowhere.

The mornings around here are extremely nice, because the sun is still low enough in the sky to make the temperature stay in the 60's. By noon, it would be in the 80's. So my Dad and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took a walk around the neighborhood. We got a little lost, but in the end we made it home.

Jim and Kathy have 2 Sheltie dogs, and Sam wandered in the room to bother me, so I did the only thing that came natural to me - I took a picture with him. Sam totally didn't get my intent, cause he is looking at me like I am crazy. Now I often get crazy looks from people, but dogs are new to question me. But it will happen again.

The thing that I liked most about Goodyear Ballpark was the parking. I'm sure that the Cleveland Indians and the designers/engineers of the stadium would take offense to that, but remember that I'm from Milwaukee. From County Stadium to Miller Park, besides the team that is on the field, the parking lot is without a doubt one of the best experiences because of tailgaiting. As you saw yesterday, we had to park in a Auto Repair shop's parking lot for the game at Maryvale, whereas here there was this great big grass parking lot for me to chill, drink a few beers, and smoke a cigar. My Dad wasn't feeling the greatest, so I was drinking alone. But then again, that's no different that any other day.

There was an Airport right next to the field, and you can imagine how much space even a small airport takes up, so you that gives you an idea of how much open space surround the ballpark and it's facilities. Across the street there were multiple other practice fields and batting cages, but since it was across the street, the players needed to be bused around this gigantic complex. Compared to Maryvale Park, where everything is very compact in the allotted space, this place just seemed to be too big for comfort. But I still liked it, because it was baseball.