Spring (Training) Is In The Air

Spring brings with it warm weather and baseball.  This, of course, means a road trip to Arizona.  Wanting to be on the safe side, we kept our passports on us the whole time and left our rainbow flags at home.

After just a few hours, we made it to the border where we sprang ahead a couple days early as Arizona doesn't recognize Daylight Savings Time.

As soon as we arrived at our hotel, Ava wanted to go to the pool.  All told, she enjoyed four days of splashing and lounging including countless runs down the floating mats in the pool (aka Wipeout Junior), and many runs down the 165 foot waterslide.

Of course the main point of driving 400 miles (at least for Chris) wasn't just to soak up the sun, but to watch some baseball.  We started off at Maryvale Baseball Park - one of the most quaint ballparks in the Cactus League - to see two teams (the Brewers and Royals) that have no chance of making it to the World Series.  You heard it here first, folks!

What Maryvale does offer is a great, fan friendly experience, Leinenkugel's, and the Famous Racing Sausages.  

In addition to getting signatures from Hot Dog, Polish, Italian, Bratwurst, and (race winner) Chorizo, Ava got autographs from players you've heard of like Rickie Weeks and Alex Gordon, as well as a whole bunch of guys who will never see a Major League dugout.

In between games, we headed to Old Town Scottsdale with its wild west theme, touristy gift shops, and many bars and restaurants.

After baking in the sun for three hours, ice cream from the Sugar Bowl hit the spot.

Ava's favorite game experience was sitting on the lawn and watching the Dodgers (naturally) despite a terrible outing by Josh Beckett.

After a morning session at the pool, we headed to the brand new Cubs Park the next day to see watch a little pre-game training, during which time Ava got a ball from one of the coaches and got even more autographs.

At the game we got an autograph from Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins.  We had to pay for this, but the money (supposedly) goes to Fergie's charity foundation. 

Ava really enjoyed her time in the desert and hopes to come back next year for even more fun in the sun.