It took two full days and nights to get here from Oregon. I left Friday night from Eugene and traveled overnight to Sacramento. Getting into the California capital before sunrise, I boarded a bus to the lovely (being sarcastic, here) city of Stockton. I waited for about 45 minutes at the Stockton train station where I boarded the southbound San Joaquins to Bakersfield. In Bakersfield, I jumped on another bus to Los Angeles. After waiting about two hours at Union Station in LA, I boarded the Southwest Chief for one more overnight trip here to Albuquerque. Yes, I agree with your observation that the itinerary was wild and wacky. Bottom line is that I'm here safe and sound.
The Chief was about 90 minutes late coming into Albuquerque, so I was a little behind schedule to begin with. My original plan was to it up the Rattlesnake Museum and Natural History Museum, but considering I hadn't showered in two days and that I was pretty road weary, I wanted to rest a little. However, my hotel room wasn't quite ready for me, so I chose to go to the Rattlesnake Museum.
I boarded the city bus up to Old Town and the museum. The small museum is barely the size of a souvenir shop, and I was able to adequately tour the facility in about 30 minutes. However, that half-hour gave me the absolute creeps. Snakes aren't really my thing, and seeing rows and rows of highly venomous snakes separated from me by a simple pane of plexiglass just made me shiver.
Here's the thing: these snakes just sat there and stared at you. Some are three or four feet long, and they're all coiled up ready to strike at you. The essence of the Baseball Road Trip is the experience, but I think I might have nightmares about that museum. I have no regrets about going, but I was just way too freaked out.
I didn't really get a chance to see Old Town Albuquerque. I'll be sure to come back up here tomorrow and check it out a little more. It seems like kind of a touristy area, but it looks like a neat district.
After getting checked into my hotel, taking a much-needed shower, and an early dinner, I walked about a mile down to Isotopes Park.
Built in 2003, I had heard so many good things about Isotopes Park. All the review websites and some friends told me that this particular park was totally worth the two day trip down. Located next to the University of New Mexico's football stadium, I was immediately floored by just how big the stadium actually is. The exterior facade is more reminiscent of a Major League park with the light-up baseball decorations and public art. I was also surprised by how cheap the tickets were. $15 for seats four rows behind the home dugout!
There are a lot of neat quirks to Isotopes Park. On dead centerfield is a 15-foot tall hill that is in play. In fact, Isotopes centerfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. had an incredible catch up on the hill in the sixth inning. I was told this was put in for two reasons: first, since the ballpark is at such high altitude, the designers wanted to make the ballpark bigger without simply moving the fences. Second, in the original design, that was where the "drive-in" section was going to be. You could drive your car to the outfield fence and watch the game from the comfort of your own vehicle. It is a good idea, however after September 11th, the idea was scrapped and the designers had to amend their plans.
Out on deep right field, the designers put in a special section that reminds me of the "Roost" in Toledo. Next to that, there is an actual multi-tier berm seating that can bump up the attendance even more.
Here is a very important factoid: Isotopes Park is the 50th different professional baseball park I have been to since 2007. Isn't that crazy?!?!
After getting to my seat, I had to dodge raindrops for the first five innings or so. I am still in awe that I actually saw it rain in the desert, but I could deal without the whipping wind and booming thunder and lightning that I saw. It made watching the game a little difficult, but I always keep my little umbrella in my backpack, so at least I was prepared.
The Nashville Sounds got a big fourth and fifth innings scoring ten unanswered runs on Albuquerque Isotopes pitchers winning by the final score of 10-5. Nick Parker of the Nashville Sounds was a single away from hitting for the cycle.
After the game, I walked back to the hotel and just laid down. The game pushed almost four hours, so I was one tired pup.
As for tomorrow, I'm going to wake up and go to the Natural History Museum. My flight to Oregon leaves at 4, so I'll have time to tour the museum, go through Old Town, and grab some lunch at one of the little restaurants that are down there. I get into Portland at 6 and then I'm taking the late train down to Eugene. I should be back into town around midnight.
It's been a wild day here so far, and tomorrow should bring more of the same!
Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)
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