Our Trip To Arizona For Spring Training Baseball… And More

I’m finding that this “What I Learned” post each week is a great place for me to toss all of the random things that I’ve forgotten to blog about, as well as little tidbits & facts that I learned during the previous week.

Hopefully, it’s half as interesting for you to read about as it is for me to relive and remember!

A couple of this week’s “tidbits” are long enough that I should’ve posted them separately, but I’m pressed for time…

What I Learned This Week

#1… My 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee is configured such that you cannot lock your keys in your car, even if you TRY! Not only will the power locks not work if one of the doors is open AND your keys are in the ignition… The power locks also won’t work if you leave your lights on. Cool.

#2… As Kevin (aka The Homeless Guy) so eloquently stated, “there’s more to a homeless people than being homeless”… Take this guy, for example. THIS homeless guy is a pet lover! (Would that make the canine a “homeless dog”?) On my way home for lunch today, I noticed that this guy (who resides at the Charlotte Avenue overpass under I-65) was leaving “home” to go to “work” (at the corner of Charlotte Ave. and 14th Street). Trotting beside him (on a leash) was his ever-so-loyal dog. I’d spotted them a time or two before, but never up close like this. They were attempting to cross Charlotte Ave. when all of a sudden they found themselves in the middle of the road with cars coming at them in both directions. Though I was running late myself and was trying to be the last car to catch the green light, my pausing stopped traffic long enough to allow them to cross.

I did it more for the photo op, than the courtesy I’m afraid… I wanted to capture this classy canine in his new “digs”: a child’s size vest with a picture of Oscar the Grouch on his back, in addition to a hip & cool beret-type hat with a brim (like this) on his head, topped off with the jazziest pair of blue-lens aviator sunglasses covering his eyes. He was proudly trotting in perfect step with his owner. Too cool!

Hmmmmm… I got a very nice e-mail from The Homeless Guy (also from Nashville) the other day. Wonder if he knows these two?…

#3… Also on my way home for lunch today (it was a very eventful lunch…) I was surprised to learn that my “driver-to-driver sign language skills” are quite good! I managed to signal to a fellow driver who was pulling a trailer of lawn equipment down I-65 that his right rear trailer tire was FLAT. He immediately pulled over to access the situation. There’s MY good deed for the day.

#4… After our weekend trip to Arizona, I learned that Spring Training baseball games aren’t all about the Spring Training baseball games 🙂 For me, making a tradition of going to Spring Training games means experiencing a 1-week whirlwind vacation jam-packed into 2 and a half days!

#5… Who knew you could drive UP mountains made of ROCK… in a Jeep… and maintain traction the entire time you’re traversing 500 feet of an uphill climb? This is what we experienced on our 4-wheeling adventure side-trip in Sedona last weekend. The Broken Arrow “trail” consisted of pure mountain slickrock… as in “red rock” limestone formations. Our 2-hour drive consisted of more rock-climbing than trail riding — from what WE’RE used to anyway. Add to that the narrow passes and steep drop-offs, and we had ourselves one fun little adventure trip! AND… did I mention it was misty and raining part of the time? How those 4 little tires on our Jeep kept us upright, I’ll never understand.

#6… Jim LIKES to go shopping… when there’s something like “a new pair of hiking boots (or two pairs!) waiting at the other end for him, that is. Somehow, I managed to talk Jim into a spontaneous trip to his fav-o-rite outdoor adventure & sporting goods store (Blue Ridge Mountain Sports) last night to see if they had any:

• Hiking boots for me — I noticed on our trip out West that I was envious of others’ footwear
• Work boots for his new job — on the race track as part of the crew for Terry McMillen’s IHRA race team

#7… The highlight of any vacation — for me — is the thrill you get from going through all of the digital photos you took as soon as you get back home!