Best Trip ever!

The Slamming Seven at Yankee Stadium

Dunkin Donuts at Fenway Park-My favorite ball park.

My dad, Bob and I (Cole in the background) at Comerica Park in Detroit.

We returned on Friday evening from our great baseball trip. We all had so much fun and I will never be able to thank my dad enough for such a great experience. We started off Sunday morning, Bob and I left Omaha at 4:30 am to get to Ames-we didn't need to leave that early but then we were able to leave Ames, 7 of us in the Suburban and headed out on the road. We made our trek and stopped Sunday evening in Erie, PA. Monday morning we loaded up again and made it to Cooperstown, NY for our first destination the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. It was nice to be back there as I did not remember much of when I had been there as a little girl. It was also great to see Bob, my brother-in-law Tom, my brother Pat, my nephew Cole and Dad like little kids so excited to go in. I don't think my sister-in-law was as excited as the guys but she did learn so much about baseball. We split up and made our way around the museum, we met up that evening late for some dinner together and talk about the great things we saw. I feel bad as my dad said he was a little disappointed as it wasn't as good as he remembered it.

Tuesday morning we took off early to drive into NYC. We drove to ground zero, it was so strange seeing this huge hole, and really surreal, especially as I remember going to the top of the World Trade Centers when I was a sophomore in High School. We drove by Battery Park and stopped to see the Statue of Liberty and then drove -yes drove around Times Square downtown Manhattan. It seemed like we kept driving in circles but we stopped and Bob and I got some real New York pizza and then my salute to Sex & the City by getting some Tasti D'lite Ice Cream. We drove up to the Bronx to go to the Yankees Rays game. It was great being around the history and being in the stadium. We had great seats, as former Mayor Giuliani sat in the same section as us! The game was pretty good. That night we drove up to Providence RI to spend the night.

Wednesday morning I was told to wake up early to leave again and I said I only was going to get up early if I was promised Dunkin Donuts! We drove into Boston and drove around the city again a bit. Boston has so much character and I wish we would have had more time to spend there. We were driving by the old North Church and my brother lifts himself out of the window and yells, "The British are coming the British are coming." Right around all these tourists. It was so funny and we all laughed so hard. We then went to Fenway and walked around the stadium and then inside too. It was fun to see some Twins fans and we were able to be pretty close to one of my favorite players Mike Redmond, where I proclaimed my love for him. We were really close to the bullpen where Livan Hernandez was warming up before the game. Just before he ran out on the field he threw me the warm up ball. I think that may have been the best part of my trip. Getting a ball at Fenway Park. The game started off good but hit a very low point and continued to be a blow out. It wouldn't have been that bad but it was so hot and we all just kept drinking "waaater!" After the game I navigated us out of Boston and we began our long night. We stopped at a service station and I was feeling pretty ill, it was a combo of the heat and car sickness but we got back in the car and headed out on the road again. Just when we were back on the Turnpike Cole started screaming and saying he had a bug in his ear. We all kind of thought he was making a big deal out of something until Tom saw it and was able to hold and somehow push out of his ear. It was really scary and I was so scared for my little buddy that I think my sickness went away. It wasn't even midnight yet and we had some major problems. We kept driving well into the night switching drivers and trying to sleep as much as we could-Ask Bob how much he slept that night! We drove into Cleveland around 4:30 and stopped at a hotel to check in at 5:00am.

Thursday morning we left the hotel at 8:30am. Mind you we had just checked in 3.5 hours before that! We drove 5 more hours and arrived in Detroit for the Twins game. We were looking forward to seeing our team again and were hoping for a better outcome than 24 hours before that. I got to proclaim again my love for Mike Redmond and he laughed at me. The game was exciting but we left early only to find out the Twins came back and won in 11 innings. That evening we drove to the other side of Chicago where we stayed, went out for dinner and got a good nights sleep.

We arrived in Ames IA around noon on Friday and we were all happy to be out of the car but sad the trip was over. I had so much fun bonding with Pat and Ashley, Tom & Cole, Bob and most of all my Dad.