Pat's Thoughts - Day 4

Some random observations from two long days on the road.

- I am very glad to see Denver. It is a long, LONG, L O N G drive from Los Angeles to Denver. The accumulation of miles on the trip will likely become tougher as we go along, but so far, it's been manageable.

- I don't wish to offend any readers from the Golden State. There is so much wonderful scenery in the state, and we got to see a lot of it. The majesty of Mt Shasta, the beauty of the Bay Area, even the quick sights of Los Angeles. Let's just say the trip on I-5 between the Bay Area and the outskirts of Los Angeles is not very scenic. Reminds me of West Texas, which we might see some later on in the trip.

- I do want to say I am very impressed with the recovery of Valencia after the nuclear device went off in season 6 of "24". If I didn't know better, I would have been hard pressed to find where the bomb went off. It was cool to see the area that Jack Bauer kept safe from terrorism.

- I suggested to the crew that we should have swung by the Staples Center to soak up the pre game atmosphere of game 6 of the Stanley Cup, but we didn't have that much time. Schedules have to be kept on a trip like this. Instead, we got to celebrate with most of the crowd when the Kings won the Cup. Very cool indeed.

- It only took us 3 games to get a very exciting, close game. The Angels beat the Dodgers with a run in the 9th inning. I think that Trout kid for the Angels might be a pretty good player. Dodger Stadium is one of the iconic ballparks from my youth. For a 50 year old park, it is in good shape. Plus we didn't get mugged in the parking lot, always a plus.

- I was channeling scenes from "The Hangover" on the drive between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. I broke into a rousing chorus of "We're the Three Best Friends That Anyone Ever Had". Nobody joined me. I blame Bin Laden.

- There isn't much between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but there is nothing to speak of between Las Vegas and Denver. The scenery was better than the trip between San Francisco and Los Angeles, but that may be due to it being dark for a lot of the trip.

- I knew that Steve was a very good driver. I can add Shawn to the list of good drivers. Well done by my nephew on his first time behind the wheel.

- The rest of the trip was uneventful into Denver. The mountains were nice, and it was good to finally see the city in the distance, as we are all pretty tired from an overnight drive. And after the game, a snooze in a hotel room sounds like something the doctor ordered.

- The Oakland - Colorado game tonight is not one of the high points of the trip, but the thing about baseball is that you simply can't tell. So we are anxious to see what happens tonight. Plus we will rank Coors Field in the list of the ballparks we've seen.

Tomorrow morning it's on to our next stop. I'll try to add some comments from wherever it is that we stop.