Cruising Arizona

My mom & I have recently taken some day trips around southern Arizona. It probably doesn't sound exciting to most people, but we love to see where roads go, and what various parts of the state look like. Last week we did the mining town tour -- San Manuel, Mammoth, Winkleman, Hayden, and Kearny. We liked Kearny the best. Yesterday we started out in the same direction, going through Mammoth and Winkleman, then up toward Globe before turning east toward Safford. We detoured through the town of San Carlos on the Apache reservation, then went to Coolidge Dam and along the south side of San Carlos Lake, then on to Pima, Bryce, Thatcher, Safford, then home through Willcox and Benson. A long day, but great weather, and beautiful and interesting scenery. Oh yes, and I learned that Pima cotton is not named for Pima County, but for the town of Pima, Arizona.



beisbolfan at Coolidge Dam


actual Pima cotton in Pima, Arizona

22 years!

Yesterday Mr. Beisbolfan & I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary. We had a great dinner at Vivace, and reminisced about our fun wedding all those years ago. If we had been the beisbolfans that we are today, we might not have gotten married during the World Series.

While the cat's away

We always wonder what the dogs are doing while we're gone. I got a partial answer last night. Matt was gone, but I was home. Apparently Sand3aye missed Matt. Since she couldn't be with him, she did the next best thing, and snuggled up to his pants and sock.

Autumn in the desert

This is one of the times of the year when we're really glad we live in Tucson. I recently looked at the 3 day forecast, and every day was the same -- high of 85, and low of 58. Perfect, sunny days, and great sleeping weather at night.

Yesterday the Mr. and I went to the West University Neighborhood home tour. What a perfect day to be out and about! It was really interesting to see what people had done to preserve and rennovate their 100 year old houses. It made me wonder whether 80 years from now my 80s tract home will be considered a retro classic. You never know!

Unfortunately my Diamondbacks have not shown up for the National League Championship Series. Their lack of consistent hitting has really caught up with them. It's been a good ride, and even though they're not officially done, we'll be cheering hard for the Rockies in the World Series.

Take me out to the ballgame

It's all baseball, all the time now that the playoffs are here. Tomorrow I'm going back to Phoenix to see game 1 of the NLCS. Mr. Beisbolfan has agreed to go to the game, and I've finally realized that I can wholeheartedly root for the Diamondbacks. I've actually followed both teams since spring training in March, but as I've watched the hype the last couple of days, I realize that I'm really much more familiar and comfortable with our Arizona D'backs. So now that I know who to cheer for, PLAY BALL!

World Series, Baby!

The Diamondbacks and Rockies will play each other for the chance to go to the World Series! I'll be rooting for the AZ team, but I can't say that I'll be sad if the Rockies win. I saw my first MLB regular season game at Coors Field, and fell in love with baseball all over again (after watching the AAA Seattle Rainiers in my childhood), so I have a HUGE soft spot in my heart for the Rockies. I really feel like the Rockies and Diamondbacks have a lot of similarities right now. They have a lot of young, talented, energetic players, and also loose clubhouses and good team chemistry. Obviously spring training in Tucson brought them major good kharma. Not so for the White Sox, who have officially dissed Tucson and are moving to Glendale.

War NL West!

The Diamondbacks and Rockies each have a 2-0 lead in their playoff series. Woo hoo! The atmosphere at Chase Field for the 2 Diamondbacks games was great. We were afraid that there would be more Cubs fans than Diamondbacks fans at the games, but we were wrong. Last night we were sandwiched between Cubs fans, but they were pretty nice. All around us were vocal Diamondbacks fans. It felt bad when the D'backs went behind, 2-0, but that only lasted a short time until Chris Young's 3-run homer. That felt great! We had plenty of chances to cheer & jump up & down for our team, along with most of the other 48,000+ people there. The Cubs fans got quiet in a hurry. So now what happens if my 2 favorite teams end up playing each other for the National League championship? I can't imagine a better scenario. I honestly think I would be happy no matter which of those teams won. The Cubs and Phillies are LOSERS!

Too much excitement

It's almost too much to handle. Both of my favorite baseball teams are in the playoffs! Last night's Colorado Rockies' win was incredible. 13 innings of back and forth lead changes, errors, and heroics. My stomach was a mess. After close to 5 hours of play, the good guys won. It was a controversial play at the plate. Did Matt Holliday touch the plate? The umpire said yes, so he did. I can't help but point out that 25% of the 8 teams in the MLB playoffs do spring training in Tucson.

Ganga of the week

Here's an example of the things that make me happy. A couple of weeks ago I saw a microfiber cloth that I thought would be perfect for drying and cleaning my glasses. But I just couldn't bring myself to pay $17 for a little piece of cloth. Then a few days ago at Target I found (in the cleaning supply section) a package of 2 microfiber cloths for cleaning glass. Two for $5.99. These things are amazing. I've been using an old dishcloth, that I thought did a pretty decent job on my glasses. Well, this new cloth dries the lenses like magic, and doesn't leave any little pieces of lint. I swear I can actually see better. See how easy to please I am?