Midwest Meltdown

Russ and I are both big baseball fans so when we got to the Chicago area a few days ago one of the top things on our list was to catch a Cubs game at Wrigley.

I can claim a baseball connection through my grandfather who played semi-pro ball for his hometown team in Oklahoma during the Depression. He and the four of his brothers who were also on the team were each paid $5.00 per game. No wonder one  of my first memories of Grandpa is of him watching the Yankees games on his black and white TV.

 

Russ has liked baseball since he played it as a kid and remembers the time he saw Satchel Paige play at the old Tulsa Drillers Stadium back in the 1960s. He’s also a Yogi Berra fan. In fact, one of the few things we took with us to decorate the RV is an autographed photo of Yogi Berra with Babe Ruth. Not surprisingly, one of the upcoming must-see stops on our trip is at Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

We chose an afternoon game to get the Wrigley experience just like in the old days before the stadium had lights. Since this was my first trip there I decided to splurge on tickets just five rows back from first base so we’d be really close to the action. What I didn’t realize until we walked into the stadium at high noon was that we weren’t in for a balmy day in the ballpark like in Seattle but a blazing hot Midwest summer day without any shade.

Not long after we sat down in our stove-hot metal seats I was red, hot, and sweaty. Throughout the game I fled to the concourse where—along with other miserable fans—I tried to cool off out of the sun while watching the game on the TVs near the concession stands.

Meanwhile the Cubs were having a meltdown of their own. We knew the history of the Cubs but hoped that on the day we were there they’d play a good game and beat the Mets.  But it turned out to be a heartbreaker. Every time I braved the sun and went back to my seat the Mets had run the score up even higher until the final score was Mets 17, Cubs 1. At one point Russ joked that the umps were going to invoke the “mercy rule” like in kids’ games when they call the game early because one team is so far ahead. Unfortunately for the Cubs they had to go the full nine innings. Not the outcome we wanted but at least now I can say that I've been to a game at Wrigley Stadium.

Plenty of sun where we were sitting as Cubs phenom Rizzo was at bat

The Best Little Campground in South Dakota

Notice the cornfield across the road

One of the things I’ve been hoping to do on our prolonged road trip is to find some gem of an off-the-beaten-track campground. And we found one at Campground America just a few miles from Salem. No, not Salem, Massachusetts or Salem, Oregon but the small farming community of Salem, South Dakota. Our plan was to break up our long trip from the Badlands to the Winnebago factory in Forest City, Iowa by stopping at a decent campground just long enough to get some sleep and  then be on our way.

The campground we chose—Campground America—was a delightful surprise. It’s a small park set in a grove of shade trees surrounded by corn fields. In fact, it was so delightful that we decided to stay an extra day and just soak up the relaxing vibe. The price was right, the owner was a pleasure to talk to, and the swimming pool was deep and cold. 

Not long after we were back on the road headed for the Winnebago factory we had a scary moment when we got caught in a three-way dance with a Suburban in the lane to our left and a semi merging into our lane on our right. Thanks to some expert driving on Russ’ part—and a few “what the ??!!!”  comments—we got through it without a scratch.

We “dry camped” for the two nights we spent at the Winnebago parking lot while we toured the factory and had a little maintenance done on the RV. As soon as we got there we asked the man at the visitors’ center where we could get fresh water for our holding tank.  His answer sounded like it came straight from a 1960s psychedelic movie: “See the flashing light? Go past it.” Unfortunately, the traffic light he pointed to split in two directions. He didn’t say which way to go and we were too tired to think to ask. Net result—we took the RV on an unplanned joy ride through the streets of Forest City.

Right now we’re in Madison, Wisconsin for the weekend before driving over to spend a week in the Chicago area. We've already got our tickets for an afternoon Cubs game at Wrigley!

Sunset at Campground America

The Badlands and Beyond

Russ and D’Angelo in the Badlands. I assumed that the Badlands were named for outlaws who hid out there but learned that they earned the name for being such an unforgiving and inhospitable landscape. Just like at Yellowstone and Devils Tower, the stark rock formations illustrated the earth’s  dramatic geologic changes over the years. 

It was mind-boggling to think that early white settlers literally took apart their haying equipment, hauled it up to the top of the rocks to cut what little grass was up there, then hauled the hay and equipment down to their farms. 

Russ shot this photo of me in Art Alley, Rapid City, South Dakota. The Alley was covered in some fun and funky graffiti. With all the road time and sightseeing we've been doing I haven't had much time for my own art-making but I've been taking photos to use as references for the artwork I'll be making in the future.

The guys next to a T-38. Russ and D’Angelo share a strong interest in planes and aviation so they both enjoyed our trip to the South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB outside Rapid City. The museum had an interesting collection of older planes and artifacts.

D’Angelo’s favorite excursion while he was visiting was Bear Country USA. In addition to the adult bears, cougars, wolves, and deer, they had at least 18 baby bear cubs.

We had a great time with D'Angelo during his visit and were sorry to see him fly back to Austin. He showed us some amazing card tricks, won quarters from us when we played Blackjack, and kept us laughing.