Sunday, March 18:

Last Spring Training game of the 2018 season for us. After breakfast while we were getting ready, I pulled out the tickets and looked at them and realized they were not in a wheelchair accessible area. They were in section 102 which used to have a chair section but we had noticed yesterday it was no longer there. Plus, the row was not a WC row. Uh, oh. I suggested we leave early so we could get to the ticket booth and see about getting them exchanged.

We left a little before 11:00 and headed down the road. By now, I had figured out the way to the freeway and then to the stadium without using Google maps! Yay! I also decided not to take the Bell Rd. Exit, the scene of my idiocy the day before, and to go on down to Thunderbird Exit and backtrack.

We parked and went to the ticket window where an extremely personable man listened to our dilemma then turned it over to the expert who found us 3 seats together in a wheelchair accessible section. Hooray for us!

We were down the third base line in shallow left field which was just great. It is also in the area where there are mostly Mariner fans and as a bonus, a bar right behind us!

After claiming our seats and going to the bathroom, I decided to walk around the ball park. The Peoria facility, like many of the parks at spring training, has a walk way all around the outfield and through the stands. The outfield has grass seating for those people who can stand to sit on their butts or lay down for the entire game.

The first thing I noticed was that there is now a big ‘Mariner ship’ playground for kids. It looked like a great place and there were a few families in there.

It was still pretty early and not many people in the stands yet so I was easily able to spot the girls in our seating area taking in the sun.

Pregame warm up with Motter and Haniger in the background. Not sure who was in foreground.

View from our seats of home plate

The game started off with Rob Whalen pitching. He gave up one run in the 1st inning and three in the 2nd but we got two runs in the bottom of the 2nd. Then the wheels came off in the top of the 3rd and Wheeler was out. The Indians got 7 and it was all downhill from there.

We still enjoyed ourselves as it was another sunny but not too hot of a day. There was an amusing beer sales guy who would yell out whenever he got a tip which, of course, insured him of getting more.

We also saw someone we believe to be Trump’s brother. He wasn’t as orange but had the hair for it and also thought he was pretty hot shit. We have seen him previous years and it is always the same routine. He comes in a tank top and immediately takes it off and then struts around the ball park taking pictures with people who seem to think he is a ‘star’ of some sort. I even heard someone ask him if he was famous and he said, “yes.” Sound familiar?

After I took this picture I headed to the bathroom but had to ask one of the ushers if he was someone famous. (Jennifer and Yvonne seemed to think maybe he was a WWE wrestler or something.) The usher said, “No, he is just a fan.” I said that we thought he was kind of gross and the usher said that there were others who agreed.

Notice he tucks his tank top into the back of his pants.

So after 7 pitchers had been in for the Mariners and the score was 16 – 3, they put in some poor guy who was so embarrassed he wouldn’t give them his name so it was just put up as UNKNOWN. Luckily, he got out the last of their batters in the top of the 9th and the Mariners weren’t able to rally to get 13 runs to tie it up. The game was finally over.

There is an awesome Mexican place to get tacos in Glendale that we discovered a few years ago. We never made it last year but had decided we would go straight there from the game since it was about 30 miles from the hotel. It is called Ta’carbon and has a big charcoal fired grill where they make carne asada and other grilled meats. Then they chop them up and make tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and other goodies. It totally reminds me of the street food in Mexico. Plus it has a big salsa bar with various sauces, limes, chopped onions, cabbage, and lots of other stuff.

We thought maybe since it was fairly early on a Sunday it might not be as crowded as usual. Ha! It was probably as crowded, if not more so than usual. We did find a table outside and I ordered for all of us while Yvonne got lots of little containers of salsa and Jennifer laid claim to the table. Notice it is all Mexican nationals except for us. That is the usual way it is. They have a pretty good system and get the food out quickly, however.

We stopped at a place close to the hotel and got gelato for dessert. It has just opened and is connected to the pizza place we went to the other night. Good gelato!

We came back and Yvonne ‘forced’ us to sit down and watch a movie together. We usually do but the hotel doesn’t have any premium channels and we hadn’t really looked for anything to watch. They do have the ability to hook up your phone to Google Chromecast. Yvonne was able to download the app and then figure out how it worked, then she found the movie she had been telling us about over the weekend, The Gifted. It was a cute movie, if somewhat predictable, and Jennifer and I enjoyed it.

Jennifer’s mom lives in the area so Jennifer was staying with her for the rest of the week. She wanted to pick Jenn up at 8:00 in the morning! Jenn packed up before bed so she could be ready to go. I helped her with her luggage down to the front desk and was able to say hello to her mom, Jessie, and step-dad, Bill.

Yvonne and I had breakfast and are now getting ready to go to the airport. So, until my next trip, I am signing off.