Baseball Trip 2005
(day three & day four)

photos by handwashings (part 1 & part 2)
photos by listmaker (day 1 / day 2 / days 3 & 4 / days 5 & 6 / days 7 & 8 / day 9)

photos from day 1 / day 2 / days 5 & 6 / day 7 / days 8 & 9
Day three opened with a morning drive from Barstow to Las Vegas. Passing the casinos on the edge of Nevada brought a slight thrill to a few of us (well, to me). Before the gambling was to start, though, we pulled in early to the AAA home of the Las Vegas 51's. It was hot. Luckily, the misters above the home plate seating area were a welcome reprieve from the sun.
By 12:05pm, day baseball was being played in full force.
Jamie gives a thumbs up to...um, I'm not really sure why your photographer got the thumbs up. All the empty seats made for a comfortable time at the ballpark, though.
And I really do mean empty seats. This shot was taken in the second or third inning.
I bought a visor! I wore this visor one day last weekend while walking around Park Slope. New York is not a visor town. In order to get the proper amount of use from this headgear, I think I'll need to make another trip to the west coast.
A mascot from the planet Koufaxia!
Listmaker and Youthlarge take their afternoon dessert time in the direction of the sno-cone. Ice was a must in these conditions.
Perhaps melted sno-cone remnants were a must for the extreme heat? I do have a series of photos showing Jamie drinking straight from the cup. It's frightening.
Alex is the usher who dances to the stadium music in-between innings. He is a man marching to his own drummer and manages to do a fantastic job keeping the crowd entertained. Later in the afternoon I interviewed him for the podcast. This kid loves headbanging.
With a hopeful look on my face, I dig into the Polar Shots, expecting to repeat my Dippin' Dots experience from the game in Anaheim. After three bites I realize I've been duped. These frozen ice cream treats are but a pale imitation of Dippin' Dots. For the rest of the trip I refer to this frozen treat as Polar Bear Turds. Doing so amuses me to no end.
Unfortunately, I didn't warn Handwashings in time.
This manages to be the last photo I take in Las Vegas. Upon exiting the ballpark the group headed to New York, New York where a few of us chillaxed in the pool while the others napped or worked out. The gambling didn't start until after a buffet dinner. Being in a casino town is tough when you spend 10 hours letting the gambling fever build. After a trip to Sam's Town with the boys, I hit the strip alone around 2am. I skipped the initial craps playing at NY, NY and found myself at Bally's where I mixed up my play between the tables and the video poker machines. There's something oddly gratifying and mildly depressing about walking up to an empty craps table at 3am on a Monday morning and having the stickman ask the pit boss if they can lower the minimum bet to $5 instead of $10. The price was lowered and I stuck around for a little more than two hours - low stack, high stack, the full experience, really. When I left Bally's I hadn't lost too much money. And the money I did have was burning a hole in my pocket. I walked past a teenager in a top hat who asked me if I was on my way to work. He then offered me the finest chronic in town. My drug of choice that night was craps. I declined and found myself at the $5 table at NY, NY. I played there for two hours, finally losing all my money and returning to the hotel room at 8am. I had just enough time to shower, catch five minutes of shuteye, pack my bags and get down to the parking garage for the ride to Phoenix.
I slept during most of the ride. My eyes barely opened when we reached a Cracker Barrel yet I still ordered a double helping of mashed potatoes. Vacation, baby, vacation!
Before I knew it we were watching the Arizona Diamondbacks host the New York Mets. Youthlarge had ordered a margarita from a guy with a margarita back pack and I had forgotten to photograph myself eating a hot dog. I'd also eaten a dog in LV and failed to photograph the experience. I've never let myself down so much.
Group shot! On the way home I tried to get everyone to go to the casino we passed. They all encouraged me to take a cab from the hotel and spend another night trapped in a giant casino gambling away my spending money. How could I do that? There were visors to buy!
balgavy.com site index