Pat's Thoughts - Day 5

Wow, we are now in Iowa for a well earned rest. Won't be a long one, as we have a special day ahead of us tomorrow. But to recap the past day...

- Iowa marks our 10th state in 5 days. Too bad we didn't get stickers for each state as we visit them and plaster them on the rear window. I'm sure the car rental folks wouldn't mind.

- The trip from Denver to Kansas City was about as expected - long and somewhat flat. Mike and I shared the driving. I got to drive into KC, as it brought back fond memories of my contracting work in downtown KC. The weather when the game started was around 80 with no clouds. Very, very nice evening to watch a good game.

- I find that I channel various movies while we're going along. I already mentioned "The Hangover". Today's was "National Lampoon's Vacation". I was looking for the sign in Kansas for the world's largest ball of mud, but didn't see it. Also was looking for Christie Brinkley driving a red Ferrari, but no luck on that one either. On the plus side, we didn't run into Cousin Eddie. Or Aunt Edna either.

- Before this trip, I had been to about a dozen major league stadiums, some in the long ago past and some still standing. One of my favorites is Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City. The fountains in the outfield, the closeness of the stands - it is a totally underrated stadium. I like it better than Dodger Stadium. It doesn't have the scenic background like mountains, but it's clean and doesn't show its age. It's one of the oldest parks in baseball. And they are hosting the All Star Game this summer. Well earned for a really well run place.

- It was a long day today, and tomorrow should be one of the highlights of the trip. I know Mike is conducting a guess where we are headed contest on the blog, so I won't give too much away. We have covered a lot of ground, but we still have some long days - and nights - ahead of us. We are having a blast and it's a lot of fun.

Might be a couple of days before I have a chance to give my observations again. So we'll see you from somewhere in North America.