Adventure #16 - Diamondback vs Giants

Can you believe it!

My daughter won tickets to a Diamondbacks game!

Against the GIANTS as well!

I just love unexpected adventures!

Can you believe it!

We also had another adventure similar to what we experienced earlier in the beginning. Only this time it was because of an unexpected surgery. Once again my arm was the culprit, only this time it was for a surgery to remove extra bone that grew and fix a frayed tendon. Everything went great and as planned it didn't interfere with our already planned adventure at all. 

Though I was warned it would feel like I broke it again, I can honestly say it was NOTHING like that at all! 

As usual, our drive through the desert was pleasant and I had an easier time of capturing some photos of the Sonoran Desert National Monument. Each trip through I managed to capture different saguaro cactus'.  

Once we got checked into our hotel and changed our clothes, it was time to head downtown.

This is our first time to Chase Field and a Diamondbacks game. Not knowing the ins and out of their parking, unfortunately, we ended up parking kind of far away. Walking that far took a lot out of me!

Lesson learned!

However, once through the first gate, our seating section was just off to the left.

Perfect!

The "Grand" spent all of his time down on the fence line. Seems they do some pretty cool stuff for the fans there. He was a little discouraged when he was passed over, but we reminded him that others kids did too. His time will come, especially since we began talking about season tickets!

It was the anniversary of Yarnell's 19. 

Our son played his drum that day during the memorial at the stadium before a game. He's in the set of drummer off to the left, behind the Honor Gaurd.

Our oldest grandson LOVES baseball and was so happy he is here visiting for the month.

Look over his head.

It's a TGIF's!

He went up and put our name in for a seat.

Since we are originally from the Bay Area, do we root for our home team or our new home team? If we're going to do season tickets do we pick the games both our old and new teams play together? We grabbed some information on becoming season ticket holders but I haven't taken the time to check it out.

It wasn't long and his phone chimed our seats were ready!

We watched the remaining innings from here!

We did check out TGIF tickets. Though I was a bit confused, hubby and daughter understood it completely and they gave us a pamphlet.

Though the GIANTS won, and in fact, they swept the series, it was a great ADVENTURE!

We hope to attend more games in the future since three of our grandson enjoy playing. One even gets to have a Baseball Day Camp at the stadium next month. We'll just have to wait and see what develops. 

Adventure #15 - Tour of KQ Ranch and Lake Cuyamaca

At least it was supposed too!

Hubby scratched the enclosed card, and we are to receive an Android Tablet, $200 in gas, and 20 nights of camping for a year for merely listening to their presentation on why we should join.

Sounded good, so we scheduled our adventure for the 23rd.

We left town with plenty of time to spare, so we thought!

Immediately we were dealing with wind.

Once we got to the base of the mountain, we called ahead because it was apparent we would be about 25 minutes late. All we got was an answering machine, and we left a message. By the time we got there, we ended up being 35 minutes late, and they refused us entry. We explained we had called, but our call went to their marketing department who don't work weekends. I did get a bit bothered because we drove for 3 hours to get there with elements out of our control. On top of the weather, we also got caught up in traffic at the border check. They didn't care about our reasons for being late and just said we had to reschedule.

Which did not sit well with us? 

Since we make choices based not only on our feelings but also on our interactions and research, they pretty much convinced us their place wasn't for us by our first impression. Any establishment we have visited or viewed, the gate security person there wore a uniform and had a name tag. They always offered information and have yet been refused a drive through. Their person wore regular street clothes, nor name tag of any kind, and didn't provide any information for us. She never offered to let us drive through, and when we asked she just walked away. 

As we drove away, we were sure to let her know we were going to check out Oakzanita Springs RV Campground with Thousand Trails down the road. 

It's got to be better than that!

Before we even got back down to Oakzanita, we stopped at the main lake area.

Check out Lake Cuyamaca!

We first visited their campground called Chamber Park.

Fell in love with two spots. This is their view.

I was ready to stop looking at this point!

The only drawback, there is a 14-day limit, and they do not have full hook-ups. Water and electric only. The nearest dump station is a mile away.

The area below is the primary place where you check in, etc. They do have a few spaces available for dry camp only. Wouldn't be a bad place to stay for a couple days during the week. Weekends get really busy, reserving well in advance is required and only by phone.

There is also no swimming allowed, but they do rent boats. 

After our stop their, we checked out Oakzanita Springs RV Campground. Had a great conversation with the Gate Attendant who gave us all kinds of information. She even gave us membership options, and non-member can stay as well.

It wasn't a bad place. Some sites could be tricky to get our rig in, but we found a few we thought would work for us. We really enjoyed how spread out the campsites were. The mini golf area needs some TLC, as do some of the sites but in all, it was a place we could make work. Still doesn't cover my month desire but 3 weeks is better than 2 anad with full hook-ups. 

On our way home we stopped in Julian for some pie before heading down the mountain. Along the way, we saw this sign for Pinezanita and checked it out once we got home. As soon as hubby has our new guy up to par, we plan to take a weekday trip up and check this one out for a few days. 

They even had their rates posted as well.

All in all, it wasn't a bad adventure. It was a great way to spend the day before he headed off to Chicago on business and my upcoming surgery.

Adventure #14 - Our Hard Hat Tour

We finally had the tour we canceled when I broke my shoulder. Since November things have really changed.

I'll start with the drive up...

This is what it was like ten years ago, 2008.

This is what it looked like last November 2017.

This is what it looks like now!

Everything is changing. Come this November it will be done and will look so different.

This will be the new gate entrance we have always used. It completely changed!

This is what it looked like in 2012...

You can see the old Speed Canteen off to the left.  

Last November it looked like this...

What was the Speed Canteen became the Busch Garage Bar and Grill, and was still there. There were new gates with covers overhead, and the new addition was taking shape.

In March it looked like this...

The Busch Garage was gone. Now there is the Trackside Bar and Grill. We did wander into in March, but I didn't take any pictures. It was lovely though.

Our first stop on tour was a view of the work being done on the infield and a view of the new grandstands from about the middle. With that came a thought of "We should have gotten seats here!" Driver introductions will be right in front along with pit lane action.

Then we turned to see the view of the start/finish line. It's that white box way down there. We were given permission to go check out our seats.

Much better!

We sat in them for about 15 minutes. With the start/finish line right there, can't wait to see the cars come across!

The race off pit road is going to be fantastic.

There will still be a view of the action on pit lane, and with my zoom lens, I should get some good photos. I did comment we might need to move up a couple rows to be able to see over the people who stand up. We'll see how this first race goes.

Afterall, these will be the only steps I will have to climb. If we added a few more going up, it would be very possible. We'll see how this first race goes.

From our seats, we could see the new garages being built, along with the exit for the pedestrian tunnel. The new Fan Zone is going to be awesome! Our guide was awesome. He was able to answer the many questions asked.

Next up was the new entrance we'll be using. Due to construction, we could only view it from the promenade level. Remember one of March's adventures was being able to sign a beam. Well, here it is...

We'll see it every time we go to our seats since they are to the right and down a couple sections.

After that, it was time to cool off in the suites...

Our tour ended in the new Roll Bar.

We have the option to do another in August, but that would depend on the weather. They plan to have construction completed in October.

It was a great adventure to add to our list.

Next up a Diamondbacks vs. Giants game!