Up and Running

Hey everyone.

No, we're not planning any ballpark trips in the near future, but we did want to let you know that, finally, the blog is up and running again.

It's been five years since our first MLB Ballpark Road Trip, and now the entire 2009 blog has been recreated here. We've also added content from our 2008 baseball trips, and we've added several "Blog Info" pages to combine all this information.

Feel free to check out all the old posts. You can click on the "Quick Starts" links on the right side to jump to a particular year's trip, or you can navigate through the "Blog Archive" below that.

Also, take a look at the newly-completed "MLB Ballpark Hot Dogs" and "Power Rankings - MLB Ballparks" pages (also on the right side).

Thanks and happy reading!

-Rich & Karyn

2011 Trip Summary (for those who care)

Total distance traveled: 4232.2 miles
Total gasoline used: 118.879 gallons
Average mileage: 35.6 miles per gallon (Thanks, Honda!)

Approximate route traveled (based on gas stops along the way):

--Karyn

Home Again

Final Odometer Reading - That's 4,230 total miles, if you're keeping track!

Back home again after a wonderful trip.  Thanks to those who followed along with us.  We hope to take you on the road again soon.

Ciao!

-Rich & Karyn

Knoebels Amusment Park

To enhance our multi-theme trip (featuring baseball, roller coasters, and historical monuments), we decided to swing by Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg, PA.  It was a very different amusement park experience for both of us.

2011 Road Trip Game #3 (PNC Park)

2011 Game #3 Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates

Final Score: Pirates 7, Cubs 4

PNC Park, on the outskirts of downtown Pittsburgh, is a great ball park, no matter how you look at it.

Cheap Seats

So, we got the only tickets they had left... 31 rows up from the field. Behind home plate. For $32 per.

These would be more than $100 at the Fens... If you could get them.

Ok. Let's go Buccos!

-Rich

Roller Coasters!!

In between games in Minnesota and Pittsburgh, we made a few stops along the way.  First was a detour to Mount Rushmore, and the last two days we have been in Sandusky, Ohio, enjoying Cedar Point Amusement Park.

Highway Driving - I-90 East

Checked into a Chicagoland-area motel for the night.  The drive today was, for the most part, very scenic.  Most of South Dakota is very beautiful, as evidenced by these photos.  I look forward for a return trip there one of these years.

Off to bed.  Tomorrow, the rest of the drive into Sandusky, Ohio and Cedar Point park.

-Rich

Wall Drug!

One of the most exciting things we saw in South Dakota was the collection of "Wall Drug" signs along I-90 west.  The first sign we noticed for The World's Largest Drug Store said, "Only 355 miles to Wall Drug!"  And, according to the signs, anyway, there is a Wall Drug sign in Kenya.  No doubt about it then-- we had to go.

Mt. Rushmore National Memorial

In the three hours (or so) that we toured the Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, I must have said, "This is amazing" a half dozen times.