The Wrap

I am a stats geek.  Numbers interest me; they can tell a story and at the same time be completely meaningless.  It is all about perspective.  Some numbers from my recent trip.
 
Airplanes – 2

• SEA/MSP/SEA

Trains – 12

• Apartment to and from SeaTac
• MSP to hotel and back
• Hotel to and from ChiSox
• Hotel to and from Wrigley
• SEA airport terminal to terminal
• MSP terminal to terminal

Buses – 3

• MSP train station to hotel and back
• Seattle train station to home

Miles driven – 1,575

Speeding tickets – 1

Accidents – 1

Baseball stadiums visited – 7

Games seen – 8

• 7 Major league – Mariners/Twins could be classified as minor league
• 1 Minor league

Yoga studios visited – 1

Average hours of sleep – 7.5 – what a luxury

Pizzas eaten in Chicago – 2

Snobby hotel concierges – 1

• The Allerton, Chicago

Ribs eaten in KC – 12

Baseball hats purchased – 7

Average hat price - $24.50

Average hotel price - $90.38

Average star rating of hotels – 3.69

Airfare - $500

• Thanks to the assholes at Delta,
• $400 for ticket
• $25 times 2 to check a duffle bag
• $50 fee to fly stand by on same day
• Advertised price of airfare - $270
• Next time I fly Delta – NEVER
• Customer Service level of Delta Airlines – On a scale of 1 to 10, Zero

Bottles of Sobe vitamin water consumed while driving – 26

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups eaten while driving - 36

Target stores visited – 2

• Corporate HQ store in Minneapolis
• Western Iowa

States visited – 8

• States new to me – 6
• States left to visit for all 50 – Nine (AL, HI, WY, MT, VT, ME, OK, AK, ND)

Nicest people – Toss up – Minneapolis/Kansas City

Rudest people – Saint Louis (but only at the stadium, very pretentious)

Favorite stadium – The “K”, Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City

Hottest women – Toss up – Kansas City/Minneapolis

Coolest tourist attraction – Arch, Saint Louis

Magical moments and memories - countless

Number of complete strangers that touched my life – hundreds

Simply put, grateful.  One day I will try to put into words my feelings about this trip, but for the time being I am just going to relish the wonderful memories made possible by living a part of a small dream and being able to share it with so many wonderful people, strangers; but brothers, sisters and families of America’s game.

Milwaukee, WI - Day 8 - Brewing Up a Good Time

A few days late on the post, I am already home in Seattle, but I thought relaying the events in Milwaukee would put a nice finish on stadium tour 2013.

People in Milwaukee like to tailgate.  A lot.  And for anything.  I arrived at the park 2 hours early and realized I was 3 hours late!  The tailgate was in full swing, with all varieties of barbeque, kegs, open bars, music, two live bands - the works.  There are 81 home baseball games a year and my first thought was that the rate of alcohol abuse in this state has to be astronomical.  My second thought was, how cool is this!  I can't imagine what it is like for football.

The stadium itself is really cool, with a retractable roof that looks like a spaceship opening, and the roof was open for the game.  The game itself was a 4-3 Milwaukee win over the Phillies with a nice home run by Dominic Brown of the Phillies, who is just killing the ball.  Not much else really, I am tired and back in work mode. :)

As I drove back to Minnesota from Milwaukee, I mentally planned two more stadium tours for the next two summers which will encompass all of the major league stadiums except 5.  A Northeast trip is imminent and doable and a longer trek from Houston to Los Angeles.  Back soon with a statistical summary of the trip. 

Yes, I am that type of geek.