Cherry tree bursting from the top!
Apple tree, bursting from the side!
While we were gone, everything exploded!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Oh, and the trees!
Cherry tree bursting from the top!
Apple tree, bursting from the side!
While we were gone, everything exploded!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
And the travels begin...
...although hopefully not quite like last year. First real trip this year? To Scottsdale, Arizona, to watch the 2010 World Series Champions San Francisco Giants at their spring training camp.
Took a morning flight on Friday to Phoenix along with a planeful of other spring training fans (the Phoenix area is home to, oh, I don't know, something like six or seven baseball teams' spring training camps). Got to the car rental building (along with multiple planes-ful of spring training fans) and waited about 45 minutes to get our car. Because they were so busy and, apparently, over-rented, we got an upgrade from an economy car to a compact car, so we drove to the hotel in our Ford Focus. (Let me be nice and just say it's no BMW.)
Checked in, threw the bags in the room, then walked the 2 blocks to Scottsdale Stadium, arriving in the middle of the 4th inning, where the Giants were losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers (who suck, by the way) 2-0. The stadium has really been upgraded since we were there last in 2007. New seats, new paint, new training facilities, new Dugout store - the whole place has been refurbished and looks great. First stop before we even made it to our seats - the kettle-corn man. Best kettle-corn in all the places I've had it. He has the perfect blend of sweet and salty.
Because we booked our trip through the SFGiants Vacations, our seats were fabulous, almost directly behind home plate and - almost better - in the shade for all three games. Lovely. They even installed misters, so when it gets too hot (like it did Friday afternoon), they cool you down.
Best find of the trip? Le Cordon Bleu's student-run Technique restaurant. Normally, they are booked 2 or 3 weeks in advance, but we stumbled in around 8:00 on a Friday evening, and the manager (who's one of the school's teachers) said they could accommodate us at the bar. So we had fabulous food and a floor show - watching the students cook the food while being coached by the chef-teacher. And the food was fabulous. I had a saffron seafood soup with crab, lobster, and mussels, followed by a duck confit with crab, then a spinach salad (with a perfectly poached egg), and for the main course, a lovely salmon that was cooked to medium-rare perfection. Dessert was a poached pear with dollop of caramel ice cream.
Saturday we had the worst breakfast in a long time. Now, I know Denny's isn't gourmet food, but they usually don't screw up breakfast too bad. This one did. Ugh. Just ugh. We left there after only eating half our food and walked again to the stadium, where we watched the Giants beat the Kansas City Royals. We got to see Buster Posey, Cody Ross, and um... someone else hit a home run, and got to see the hotshot Brandon Belt play at first and give the bat a couple of good swings.
After the game, those of us traveling on the Giants Vacation package were treated to a buffet dinner, and were allowed to walk on the field and through the batting cages to one of the practice fields, where we ate at big tables. The cool thing about being on one of these packages, though, is that they get players to come and talk to the crowd. Last time we were on a package, we got to see Bruce Bochy, Dave Roberts, and Brian Wilson. This time, we were right up front to see and hear Cody Ross, Pat Burrell, Pablo Sandoval (Panda!), and Andres Torres. What a trip. They're all gorgeous, and oh boy are they built! Afterwards, they signed autographs; Kelly's cap is full of signatures now! We walked to Trader Vic's where we had some nice Mai Tais, then walked all around downtown Scottsdale (which is a great little town for art and walking).
Cody Ross and Pat Burrell, looking mighty fine.
Pablo Sandoval at the autograph table, blushing because since he's lost almost 40 pounds, everyone keeps calling him "hottie."
(And I did take a picture of Andres Torres, but it didn't come out good at all. It had to be operator error because he's really good looking.)
Sunday we opted for U.S.Egg, a local chain right across the street. Much better choice than Denny's; they had a really good protein waffle, very tasty. We walked to the stadium again, this time to watch the Giants play the Oakland A's. We knew we'd be leaving early because we wanted to take a drive around the area; it was just as well because the Giants were getting a heavy beating (although we learned they had a little come-back towards the end of the game).
We drove to Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural school/enclave/gorgeous location overlooking the Arizona desert. His structures (I've heard) can be hard to live in (poor choice of materials, leaks, drafts) and yet beautiful (using the land to its best advantage, lots of windows, lots of fireplaces). It's a lovely setting, but an odd thing... it's not really a 'house' as we mostly know it, it's more like a compound. Some bedrooms over here, the living room over there, the kitchen and dining area back there.
After the Taliesin tour, we took the loooooooong way around the city just to use up some of the pre-paid gasoline we purchased, and ended up at one of the casinos that ring the 101Loop. I forgot how bad the odds are at these casinos and quickly donated my $40 gambling money to the local economy. We ended the night with dinner at Don and Charlie's, a Scottsdale sports-legend landmark. Incredible collection of sports memorabilia all over the place. A sight to behold.
Monday morning we did the protein waffle again then headed to the airport for a leisurely trip home via San Diego.
I really like going to spring training. :-)
Took a morning flight on Friday to Phoenix along with a planeful of other spring training fans (the Phoenix area is home to, oh, I don't know, something like six or seven baseball teams' spring training camps). Got to the car rental building (along with multiple planes-ful of spring training fans) and waited about 45 minutes to get our car. Because they were so busy and, apparently, over-rented, we got an upgrade from an economy car to a compact car, so we drove to the hotel in our Ford Focus. (Let me be nice and just say it's no BMW.)
Checked in, threw the bags in the room, then walked the 2 blocks to Scottsdale Stadium, arriving in the middle of the 4th inning, where the Giants were losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers (who suck, by the way) 2-0. The stadium has really been upgraded since we were there last in 2007. New seats, new paint, new training facilities, new Dugout store - the whole place has been refurbished and looks great. First stop before we even made it to our seats - the kettle-corn man. Best kettle-corn in all the places I've had it. He has the perfect blend of sweet and salty.
Because we booked our trip through the SFGiants Vacations, our seats were fabulous, almost directly behind home plate and - almost better - in the shade for all three games. Lovely. They even installed misters, so when it gets too hot (like it did Friday afternoon), they cool you down.
Best find of the trip? Le Cordon Bleu's student-run Technique restaurant. Normally, they are booked 2 or 3 weeks in advance, but we stumbled in around 8:00 on a Friday evening, and the manager (who's one of the school's teachers) said they could accommodate us at the bar. So we had fabulous food and a floor show - watching the students cook the food while being coached by the chef-teacher. And the food was fabulous. I had a saffron seafood soup with crab, lobster, and mussels, followed by a duck confit with crab, then a spinach salad (with a perfectly poached egg), and for the main course, a lovely salmon that was cooked to medium-rare perfection. Dessert was a poached pear with dollop of caramel ice cream.
Saturday we had the worst breakfast in a long time. Now, I know Denny's isn't gourmet food, but they usually don't screw up breakfast too bad. This one did. Ugh. Just ugh. We left there after only eating half our food and walked again to the stadium, where we watched the Giants beat the Kansas City Royals. We got to see Buster Posey, Cody Ross, and um... someone else hit a home run, and got to see the hotshot Brandon Belt play at first and give the bat a couple of good swings.
After the game, those of us traveling on the Giants Vacation package were treated to a buffet dinner, and were allowed to walk on the field and through the batting cages to one of the practice fields, where we ate at big tables. The cool thing about being on one of these packages, though, is that they get players to come and talk to the crowd. Last time we were on a package, we got to see Bruce Bochy, Dave Roberts, and Brian Wilson. This time, we were right up front to see and hear Cody Ross, Pat Burrell, Pablo Sandoval (Panda!), and Andres Torres. What a trip. They're all gorgeous, and oh boy are they built! Afterwards, they signed autographs; Kelly's cap is full of signatures now! We walked to Trader Vic's where we had some nice Mai Tais, then walked all around downtown Scottsdale (which is a great little town for art and walking).
Cody Ross and Pat Burrell, looking mighty fine.
Pablo Sandoval at the autograph table, blushing because since he's lost almost 40 pounds, everyone keeps calling him "hottie."
(And I did take a picture of Andres Torres, but it didn't come out good at all. It had to be operator error because he's really good looking.)
Sunday we opted for U.S.Egg, a local chain right across the street. Much better choice than Denny's; they had a really good protein waffle, very tasty. We walked to the stadium again, this time to watch the Giants play the Oakland A's. We knew we'd be leaving early because we wanted to take a drive around the area; it was just as well because the Giants were getting a heavy beating (although we learned they had a little come-back towards the end of the game).
We drove to Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural school/enclave/gorgeous location overlooking the Arizona desert. His structures (I've heard) can be hard to live in (poor choice of materials, leaks, drafts) and yet beautiful (using the land to its best advantage, lots of windows, lots of fireplaces). It's a lovely setting, but an odd thing... it's not really a 'house' as we mostly know it, it's more like a compound. Some bedrooms over here, the living room over there, the kitchen and dining area back there.
After the Taliesin tour, we took the loooooooong way around the city just to use up some of the pre-paid gasoline we purchased, and ended up at one of the casinos that ring the 101Loop. I forgot how bad the odds are at these casinos and quickly donated my $40 gambling money to the local economy. We ended the night with dinner at Don and Charlie's, a Scottsdale sports-legend landmark. Incredible collection of sports memorabilia all over the place. A sight to behold.
Monday morning we did the protein waffle again then headed to the airport for a leisurely trip home via San Diego.
I really like going to spring training. :-)
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