“Tangled” by Maroon 5
We left Phoenix at 6:15am local time and arrived home just before 4pm. LONG DAY!!! *Then* we had to go to Livermore to pick up the dogs. Ye gods!!!
SUNDAY
After breakfast (part of the stay at the Doubletree), we headed out to Papago Park, practice facility for the Oakland Athletics. Sunday morning was the first official workout for the pitchers and catchers.
Banners welcomed the fans… Zito and Harden and someone unfamiliar taking a walk… Billy Beane among the press folks… a player makes his way across the field…
I know these guys were there to do their jobs, but I was duly fascinated. I could have stayed there all day watching them and taking pictures. As it was, we stayed at least an hour, which was enough for the hubby. 😉 Since we didn’t stay too long, I only got pictures of the players. Alas, none of me with anyone. Another time!
(Although if Mulder had been there, I would have definitely hung out for longer. I cannot believe he’s not with the A’s anymore. I am still so sad!!!)
Spring training roster… Zito in the background, pitchers in the foreground… Harden ready to throw… the banner at the “official” team hotel…
Things I should have done:
- chat up writer Mychael Urban. Yes, I recognized one of the writers. And his book about The Big Three comes out in March. I’m such a goober!!! I was standing not three feet away from him but I couldn’t work up the nerve to talk to him. Bah.
- take a picture of the Duchscherer knocking off Blanton’s cap as the youngster tried to make it under the rope. After the funny, Duchscherer laughed and told Bradford what he did. Boys!
- taken more pictures of Harden! I was so stuck on trying to get Zito, I neglected the number two boy Richie.
- brought an umbrella! It rained a bit in the beginning, then the skies cleared up a bit and obliged us with some sunshine.
I guess previous years did not see as much media as we saw on Sunday morning. The Japanese player signed in the offseason, Keiichi Yabu, had more than few cameras following him. Good for business, eh? 😉
After the baseball stuff, we headed out to a couple of shopping centers before settling on Scottsdale Fashion Square. We bought stuff at Neiman Marcus, Dilliards, and Coach. No bargain shopping for us! LOL!
And then we checked out a couple of neighborhoods. I really liked Morrison Ranch in Gilbert. Lovely lovely place! But I can’t remember if the houses featured below were in Gilbert. We went to so many places!
The houses above were GORGEOUS from the outside. I can only wonder what they looked like inside…
The hotel was nice. Room service was great! The food was delicious, probably the best hotel food I’ve had in my room. 😉 It’s always nice when people bring you food, eh? Next time we’re in Phoenix, we’ll probably stay there again. I want to go to spring training!!! I want to see games and such and get MORE pictures of the players. 😀
AND TODAY…
As mentioned in the beginning, our day started EARLY. And the weather was once again CRAP during the drive. Arizona stayed dry during our drive, but once we hit Southern California, it was slow. I saw some areas of flooding. It was horrible! And when we finally stopped for some gas, the station only had regular. What kind of crap is that?! Oh, and their restrooms did not work. Bah!
When finally got home, we had to go back out and drive to Livermore. We had even more crazy weather. Saw some lightning. Got some rain.
It’s good to be home. Now I’ve got to unpack and go to bed…
