Road Trip.

I'm baaaaack. Jenny and I headed out on our weekend adventure to Cincinnati on Friday after we got off work, and after I took my car to the 3rd shop of the day (more on that story another time ... ) so we took Jenny's car for the weekend. Oh what fun it is to ride ... oh wait, wrong song ... but oh what fun it is to leave on a Friday night at 6pm. We hit traffic, but it wasn't terribly bad since we went a back way to avoid the Beltway (affectionately known as the 'parking lot of life').

We made good time other than the traffic we had at the beginning. We also learned that we would be totally ok without ever going to Cumberland, Maryland again. We stopped there for dinner. We went to Chick-Fil-A ... pretty safe, right? Well we went through the drive-through and when we got up to the window, the girl took our money, handed us our drinks, and then said "your sandwiches are not quite done yet - we have been really busy tonight, it will just be a few minutes." Ok, weird ... but whatever. We got our change, and then she handed us a bag - our fries or something (yes, really healthy, I know), and then said that the sandwiches still weren't done, "so if you could just pull forward, someone will bring them out to you in a few minutes." We looked at her confused for a minute and then just as we were going to pull forward, she handed us our sandwiches and didn't say another word. Bizarre. We left Cumberland just about as fast as we could ... and we drove all the way to Zanesville, Ohio, where we camped for the night - ok not really camped, but stayed at the Fairfield Inn, which we'd booked on Priceline for $40 before we left (isn't Priceline great?!?)

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to grab yogurt and bagels from the hotel breakfast and get on the road to make it to the Columbus temple for the 9am session. The Columbus temple is one of the small temples - one that shares the parking lot with the stake center. The session was completely full - even overflowing - since they brought in folding chairs for some men. It was one of the first sessions I have ever been to that there were actually more MEN than WOMEN. And probably more single men than in any session I have been to in the DC temple in a long time. Weird? I think so. The temple was great - and then we hit the road headed for our final destination - Cincinnati.

Sarah & Eric were nice enough to let us stay with them while we were there. I think Sarah is my longest friend that I still keep in touch with ... she and I met when I moved to St. Louis in 1989 and have kept in touch ever since. Well, we were slated to be at Sarah & Eric's house at about 1. I learned the hard way that GPS is only good if the battery is charged. Unfortunately, the charger that I have was left in my car, which was at the shop - not doing me any good when I am halfway across the country!! Oh, and so was the map that I swear by. Smart, Shanna, really smart. At least we had directions to Sarah's from the temple though, so we were fine. Or we thought we were. We drove and drove, and then hit Cincinnati - downtown Cincinnati. I didn't know exactly where Sarah's house was, but I knew that they did not actually live IN Cincinnati ... so I called her and found out that we had driven right by it. I guess I just didn't get the directions out soon enough. This is why I bought GPS - I am directionally challenged!! Anyway, our little detour cost us about an extra hour or so - but we did get to go to Kentucky en route :) So we hit 6 states on our trip ... Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. Not too bad for a couple days.

We relaxed at Sarah & Eric's house when we got there and played with Abigail. She is adorable - walking around everywhere and screaming all the while. She was a little confused about these new visitors for a little while but then she warmed up to us and we had fun. Sarah made us a great dinner and then we headed off to Cincinnati (again) for the main reason for the trip ... Great American Ballpark.

For those of you that don't know, I have a personal goal to go to a game at every Major League Baseball Stadium. The game this weekend was #22 on my list. However, the problem is that teams keep building new stadiums, so some of those aren't actually active, existing stadiums anymore (like the old Atlanta Fulton County and St. Louis' Busch Stadium) - so I just have to keep going to all of these places! Jenny and I did make a list though on our way there (we had some time on our hands!) and this was a milesone for me ... Cincinnati was my #16 of the 30 active ballparks, officially putting me over the halfway mark :) Hooray!!!

Well - who would have guessed that a game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies would be soooo crowded that it was practically sold out?!? Neither team is good - so the only thing we could come up with is that it was a gorgeous day (first in a LONG time) and people wanted to get out and see a good ballgame (and as Sarah & Eric said - there really isn't much else to do in Cincinatti)! So ... we waited in the ticket line only to find out that the cheapest seats available were $32!! Crazy. But, since we drove all that way, we couldn't say no. The seats weren't bad though - we were right down the foul line in right field. They were prime foul ball territory - unfortunately, none came our way (wimpy hitters)!

The game was fun though - and the stadium and field were beautiful. It makes me realize (or rather remember) just how ghetto the DC National's RFK Stadium is (can't wait for their new ballpark next year)! Cincinatti has lots of team pride - of all those people in the sold-out crowd, I did not ever see one Philadelphia shirt. Sarah and I did notice an interesting sign though ...

In the 8th inning, I finally realized that the Phillies' bullpen was just to our right (below our seats). I guess I never noticed before since their pitcher pitched a complete game, so there was no action going on down there. I went to take a couple pictures, and some teenage boys also came over - to heckle the pitchers and catchers who were warming up. After the game, they went back, and we stood there for awhile watching. One of the pitching coaches threw a ball up, and this punk kid tried to catch it, but ended up swatting it back down to the bullpen. The coach pointed to him and said "this is for her" and threw it right to Jenny! Lucky for her :) That was about as close to the action as we got last night - it was lots of fun!

After visiting for a little while longer with Sarah, Eric, & Abigail this morning (and letting Abigail use my perfume, ha ha!), we went to a 9am ward this morning (and remembered how interesting it is to visit other wards...) and then hit the road. We made it back, despite all of our stops, in about 9 hours. Not too bad considering how much we were drinking and had to stop for bathroom breaks! Jenny even agreed to let me take a trip down memory lane by going to Waffle House to eat. The memory: that is where my family went to eat on our way home from my baptism in Atlanta (on Halloween morning). I am still not sure how that materialized ... Waffle House?? Mom, Dad, anyone?? I guess my taste in food has matured since then. Let's just say that I'll be just fine if I never eat there again. Not that it was bad - it was just that, a waffle house. But, all in all, it was a great weekend. Lots of travelling, lots of funny stories, and I am exhausted - but its all worth it! Next up on the baseball docket: Florida. Stay tuned :)