Night Game
Peoria, Arizona: A glorious
sunny day in Arizona! DT and I drove over to
Peoria High School (Home of the Panthers) to jog on their track. It is
Spring Break in Peoria, so the school parking lot was empty and the track was
ours alone. Though the track needs resurfacing, the facilities at the high
school are amazing. Huge school, performing arts center, baseball fields,
basketball arena, indoor pool, and a large track/football stadium.
We had visitors upon our return to the motorhome. Long-time Readers Joan & Don
live nearby and brought a big bag of lemons from their tree to welcome us to
Arizona! Joan reminded us they won smoked salmon from a contest we held last year from
Astoria, Oregon. (Which reminds me... it must be time for another contest! I
will get right on that!)
Joan & Don
I asked Joan how in the world they found us, as I did not give the name
of the RV Park at the end of my column last night... only a description
- run-down RV park behind run-down motel. Joan said from that
description, they knew exactly where we were! Thank you, Joan &
Don, so much
for stopping by and thank you so much for the gorgeous lemons!
Our pathetic situation in Peoria.
I know a little bit about RV parks. We've stayed in worst places. I
think. We have a 50-amp site, water, sewer and that is all we need.
Plus, we have an empty dusty field behind our bus that is obviously some
sort of wildlife sanctuary.
Quail
In the afternoon, DT and I headed
out in the Honda for a reconnaissance mission. I had
found a supermarket yesterday and we had found a
place to run. We needed fuel for the Honda, a taco
and an ATM - don't forget, I was down to my last few
cents after generously donating everything in my wallet to the
Mandalay Bay Charity Casino.
Our GPS told us where to find everything. We had a taco
at Filiberto's a fairly large regional chain). It was just okay, but I was hungry and
managed to down two chicken tacos. No rice. No beans. No drink. Tacos at Filiberto's are only $1.99... but the $2.05 tacos from Roberto's are
much, much, much better. This is the second time we have tried
Filiberto's and we won't go there again. Life is too short to eat "just
okay" food. And... I am a well-known germ freak, but I just can't
enjoy eating in an establishment that reeks of Pine-Sol. Gross.
We had tickets to the Mariners v Texas Rangers baseball game tonight (and several
more games all week) so we also scouted out a route to the
Peoria Sports Complex. It is only three miles from our campsite!
Super-duper-fabuloa facility! It is shared by the Seattle Mariners and
the San Diego Padres during Spring Training.
Before heading out tonight, I made myself a drink with
one of Joan & Don's lemons. Here's to you, Joan & Don!
When Readers give you lemons... make yourself a drink with sparkling
water.
(There is a slight possibility of Absolut Citron being in the glass as
well.)
Believe it or don't... but this is the first time we have ever attended
Spring Training! It was so wonderful. Being so close to the players,
wonderful fans in the stands, a great facility and the temperature all
evening did not require a sweater. Perfect!
Here we are - enjoying Mariner Spring Training - Dad, me & DT.
The Peoria Sports Complex at night
Mary asked that I take a photo of her favorite Mariner, Franklin
Gutierrez:
The elderly ladies seated in front of us - on a bus tour from Everett,
Washington - called him "Frankie". Step it up, Mary. From now on, he is
Frankie, okay?
The score was not turning out well for the Mariners. We left in the 8th
inning and went for a snack at one of the 7,312 dining establishments
across the street from the baseball field. But, we are not the cleverest
of travelers at times. We forgot it was St. Paddy's Day. Most of the
"restaurants" were in the process of becoming "bars". At ten o'clock the
kitchens closed, the DJ started spinning tunes and you had pay a cover
to enter the joint.
Not for us.
Finally at 9:50p, we found a nice place -
Fire Birds
Wood Fired Grills, a chain from Colorado - with a quiet bar, no DJ,
no cover-charge and a kitchen that promised to remain open until 10p in
order to feed us. We chose snacks off the bar menu and found the food to
be really good. DT ordered smoked chicken wings and I must say, they
were absolutely delicious - smoky, meaty and the perfect snack to end
our day in the sun.
Jay
Buhner was seated at the bar with a few of his cronies, and Dad was
quite excited to see one of his favorite all-time Mariners.
It was a good day. Guess what? Tomorrow we will go to another game. This
time, it is a day game and I will bring the big guns and snap - just
maybe - a few shots of Ichiro. Do you think?
Until my next update, I remain, your Spring Training correspondent.
RV Park: Valley of the Sun RV
Park. Bare-bones facility behind the Ramada Inn on
Grand Avenue near the 101 Ring Road. $230 for a
week. Our site is one of the few with 50 amp
service. Back-in site over quickly-collapsing
asphalt. Bath house and laundry and it seems RV
guests can use the motel pool.