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                                        MLB ROAD TRIP 2001
                                        2001.4.23  <VOL.8>            Days 5-8

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*We are in Lone Pine, California (near Death Valley)

Index

1. Day 5 - Tacoma->Portland
2. Day 6 - Portland->Klamath Falls, OR
3. Day 7 - Klamath Falls->Carson City
4. Day 8 - Carson City->Lone Pine, CA

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Day 5 - Friday, April 20 - Tacoma to Portland

It was rather cloudy when we awoke, and the weather forecast said that rain 
was expected, so we left our hotel wondering if the game would take place
in Portland that night. How ironic that the weather had nothing to do with
whether the game would be in Portland or not, but more on that later.

A normal drive from Tacoma to Portland is about 2 hours straight down
I-5. But we are trying to avoid the interstates wherever possible in order
to see some of the natural beauty that the country has to offer. Today, we
planned to take SR 512 east to SR7 south which was a scenic drive through the
foothills of Mount Rainier, rejoining I-5 about an hour north of Portland.

The drive is quite beautiful, with scenic views at places, deer on the highway,
and Mount Rainier visible on a clear day. It was only 2 hours through the
countryside, but it was much better than another hour on I-5. Check our website
for some pictures.

After rejoining I-5 and grabbing lunch at a nice little cafe, we continued on to
Portland, arriving at 2:30. The game was scheduled for 6:00 pm, so we
relaxed for a bit, and updated our website.

Before leaving for the stadium, I decided to confirm the game time and gave
the Portland Beavers a call. Here is the conversation:

Lady: "Portland Beavers, how may I help you"
Ignorant Guy (Me): "Yes, what time is the game tonight"
Lady (clearly surprised at my stupid question): "Um, the game is already over"
IG: Huh?
Lady: Yes, sir, the game has already finished.
IG: OK, thank you.

I was so shocked. I checked the website - sure enough the posted starting time was 6:00.
The nerve of these guys, to change the game time and not tell me. I decided to head
to the stadium to see what was up. On the way, I stopped at the rent-a-car shop to
add Aya as a driver on the rental agreement. While I waited, I noticed a local sports
paper and had a look at the baseball section. There was a report on the Beavers - yep,
game time was at noon. So we had missed the game. But then I read a little further.
The game was supposed to take place in TRI-CITIES, WASHINGTON!!! Where the hell
is that. I asked the rental-car guy, he tells me it's three hours away! So not only
was I late for the game, I was in the wrong city, in the wrong state, even. You really
can't screw up more than that. Anyway, it turns out that the Portland team was
renovating their ballpark, so their first homestand was taking place in Tri-Cities. I knew
that a new ballpark was on the way, but didn't realize that it was just a renovation.
When I got back to the hotel and rechecked the website, it did indeed have "PASCO"
as the site of the game. Of course, I did not know that Pasco was, in fact, a small town
in Eastern Washington.   

Well, after 3 straight nights of baseball, I wasn't particularly disappointed by this turn
of events. We decided to tour Portland, and went up to Washington park, which is also
where the zoo is located. It is a very nice drive up there with scenic views of downtown
Portland as you come back down.

We ate at an Italian place near the hotel and spent the rest of the evening updating the
web page.

Aya has decided that since I seem to do one stupid thing every day (keys in trunk, can't
start car, go to wrong city to see baseball game, etc.), we should have a section on our
website dedicated to my foolishness. So please check our page out regularly to see 
exactly what I've screwed up lately. 

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Day 6 - Saturday, April 21 - Portland to Klamath Falls, OR

Beautiful weather as we left Portland, heading down I-5. The plan was to drive about
2 hours on I-5 and then take highway 138 inland toward Crater Lake National Park.
However, the park's northern entrance was still closed due to snow, so we
decided to drive straight through to the hotel.

There wasn't really anything of note on this day - the drive was great, through
mountain passes, with lots of scenery and almost no traffic. Aya finally got a
chance to drive, and let's just say that I'm glad there's not much traffic.

We also had our first McDonald's stop to enjoy? a "Big and Tasty". I am not
sure who came up with that name, but it was wrong on both counts - it was 
small and bland. But the good news is that McDonald's has a new game based
on the Who Wants to Be A Millionaire TV Show. On every box of fries
there is a question with four possible answers, of which only one is correct. 
If you scratch the correct answer, you then have six prize boxes to choose
from - on each card there is one cash box and the rest are useless prizes
like "Small Ice Cream Cone". Of course, I was unable to answer my question right
(seriously, who knows what 'scrimshaw' is?) but Ayako's question was much
easier and we got it right!!! It was time to scratch our prize - the anticipation was
overwhelming, but Aya managed to scratch.....Free Hash Browns! What a downer!
I mean, in order to get the Hash Browns, you have to show up for breakfast, which 
involves waking up early. Not going to happen on this trip.  Well, better luck next 
time, I guess. 

After overcoming our disappointment,  we finally got to our hotel and did some 
work on the webpage, uploading some of the pictures that Aya has taken - have 
a look at the Seattle pages on our website for some examples (to get to the 
Seattle pages, click on the 'Cities' button, then click on Seattle).

Overall, today was our first scenic drive day, and it was quite refreshing to drive
through the mountains and forests with no one else around. Tomorrow is more 
of the same as we travel through Northern California before stopping in Carson
City, Nevada

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Day 7 - Sunday, April 22 - Klamath Falls, OR to Carson City

Another great sunny day as we crossed the Oregon border into California. Just south
of the border, off Highway 139, there is a National Park known as Lava Bed National
Monument. As we had all day, we decided to take a look, and it was definitely worth it.

There is a loop road that takes you through some very dramatic scenery that was
created by lava flows millions of years ago. In particular there is an area called 
Captain Jack's Stronghold, which is famous as a key battle site during the
Indian Wars back in 1872. You can take a 30 minute walk through the rocks and
enjoy the tranquility - it is so quiet that you really don't want to leave.

Nonetheless, we do have other things to do, so we eventually got back on 
the road and drove straight through to Carson City, stopping only for lunch
in Adin, California. After checking into the hotel, it was time to grab dinner.

Having eaten far too much in the previous couple of days, I wanted to
have a light meal, thus I ordered a small salad and some quesadillas.
When I received approximately 1 kilogram of assorted vegetables as my
salad, I realized that eating light is going to be more difficult than I thought.

After gorging ourselves,  we waddled back to the hotel and went to the casino
floor to cash in the $1 in nickels that we were given at check in. If you've ever played
nickel slots, you know that you can't find better entertainment. After blowing my entire
$1 in about 30 seconds, it was time to teach Aya about slots. And I must be a pretty
good teacher because she won $4 on her second spin!  Well, we were so caught up
in the excitement, we immediately lost $1 and we knew it was time to stop before 
gambling fever took over. We loaded up a bucket with those 60 nickels and went 
to the cashier right away - we're not sure what to do with the windfall,
but we are sure that we will think of something.

Tomorrow is more driving, down to Lone Pine, CA, just west of Death Valley.

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Day 8 - Monday, April 23 - Carson City to Lone Pine, CA

Not much to report today - we just drove straight down US395, stopping twice
for gas and food. Our hotel has a nice view of Mt. Whitney, the tallest point
in the contiguous United States.

I suppose the only news from today is that I almost got a speeding ticket - I passed
a cop on the left and after pulling in front of him, he pulled up beside me. I thought
I was busted, but he just game on the speaker and said "Speed limit is 65. Please
slow down. This is California." He then pulled in front of me, but didn't stop me. I
can only guess that my Canadian license plate had something to do with it.

Tomorrow we head through Death Valley before hitting Vegas for our 4th game of the
trip. 

That's all for this issue, hope you enjoyed it. Talk to you again soon.

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