Riverbrian

Sometimes I was.

I wanted 3 arms... I got 3 arms. I would have like a power bat rental like Mancini or Bell. I'll be OK. Kudo's to the front office.

I understand why this is a conversation but I really don't understand why this should be a conversation. As long as the front office and Rocco are on the same page... He isn't going anywhere. Insubordination is the only thing that would cost him his job. If you have a complaint about Rocco's managing... Identify the proper target and that would be his immediate supervisors... the front office. They are not keeping a manager who isn't reading and executing from the same playbook. They are not going to hire a rogue manager... I'll bet with anyone that Rocco isn't rogue. Personally, I have no problems with the front office. This decision belongs to them.

I have never been to a spring training. Hope to on my next trip. Angel stadium appears to be my most shocking ranking. I can only say that I had a great time. ?

I don't know about absolute joke...viewpoints are personal but as I stated earlier, I admit that the ranking for Angels stadium was probably influenced by the seats I had and the beautiful night to enjoy them.

Petco has more of those quirks. A park inside the park, A beach inside the stadium, Flora in the concourse, great food choices, the atmosphere in and outside the stadium, I like that it wasn't a circular concourse which produces more nooks and crannies and that building in left field is such a unique feature. Plus the Weather and the city itself. It's not a knock on Target Field... Anything in my top nine is a clear step above the rest in my personal rankings.

I am going to order that. I just wrapped up posting all 18 days of my recent road trip over in the Sports Bar Forum.

Thanks I do the Walk Do the Walk of Life

It was probably around 15 years ago when I saw Seattle. Sat in left field, that train frightened the **** out of me. It was a good experience. I consider it ranked high, The first 4 tiers are tough nuts to crack.

It's subjective and that's the beauty of it. There isn't a right answer, When my in-laws come to town they always want to go to a restaurant that I don't care for that much. Also... Like IndianaTwin said... the experience that you had will influence the rankings and I agree. I was loving life with the seats that I had.

You both have stumbled upon the next trip and that is Florida. I've never been to Spring Training so I'd like to spend at least a couple of days in Fort Myers, I want to drive the Keys and I want to time it all for Miami and Tampa opening at home so I can knock those two stadiums off my list and I would like to snag either Truist or Cincy on the way back. I have thought about a flight for this one because it would reduce the amount of time off needed. It would really depend on the logistics of the plan. All things being equal, I would choose car over air every time because in planes I just wonder what we are flying over. Washington, Philly and Yankees will be the next trip. St. Louis will be the last trip because I can make that a ceremonial day trip to put a bow on it.

Working on it. I need to figure out how to forward them all to my PC.

For me it was San Francisco, Apple, the Pacific Coast Highway and San Simeon. How that day rose from the ashes of the hotel startle u in Modesto was perfect.

Besides the old Yankee stadium and Turner Field... I have also seen Tiger Stadium, Comiskey, The Old Globe Life and of course... The Metrodome.

I believe that I typically rank Citi Field higher than most. It's a nice park but those planes flying low over the stadium one after another, is unique enough to raise the stadium up the list. It's an added bonus to be able to watch the belly of a jet flying over your head. I won't argue with Miller Park... I love that park... but in the end... I can't separate it from Houston. I left Oakland almost angry. I don't even know why they are trying to negotiate with the city for a new park. Start negotiating with any other city. I think Angel stadium is high on my list because It was a great night with great seats. The experience will certainly influence the rankings subjectively. I loved Angles stadium... others don't. With Oracle, it's the sight lines. That Park was built for baseball and you can see what pitch is thrown from RF. It took some architecture to achieve that. Dodger stadium is the only stadium with that mountain back drop and the Stadium itself was fantastic. It would have been much higher on my list but... the difficulty getting to the park is too great... it must be punished for that. ?

Did you have a favorite day?

I have seen 24 I have 6 to go. Miami, Tampa, Washington, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and St. Louis. I just knocked off 8 of them this month so it's on my mind. Ranking stadiums is like ranking a .275 hitter with a .270 hitter, the margins are thin so my ranking will be in tiers to reflect the slim differences. I have been to the Old Yankees stadium and I have been to Turner Field, I have not been to their replacements, therefore two of my 24 stadiums need to be eventually replaced by the newer versions but I will include the older versions in my rankings until I do. It has taken a lifetime to see 24, I can't chase that moving target because I'm sure there will be changes in the future. Tier 1 1. Petco Park - San Diego 2. Oracle Park - San Francisco Tier 2 3. Fenway Park - Boston Tier 3 4. PNC Park - Pittsburgh 5. Camden Yards - Baltimore 6. Citi Field - New York Tier 4 7. Kaufman Stadium - Kansas City 8. Target Field - Minnesota 9. Angel Stadium - Los Angeles Tier 5 10. T-Mobile Park - Seattle 11. Coors Field - Colorado 12. Turner Field - Atlanta Tier 6 13. American Family Field (Miller Park) - Milwaukee 14. Minute Maid Park - Houston 15. Chase Field - Arizona 16. Globe Life Field - Texas Tier 7 17. Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles 18. (Old) Yankee Stadium - New York Tier 8 19. Progressive Field - Cleveland 20. Guaranteed Rate Field - Chicago 21. Comerica Park - Detroit Tier 9 22. Wrigley Field - Chicago 23. Rogers Centre - Toronto Tier 10 24. RingCentral Coliseum - Oakland [NOTE TO READERS (added by Squirrel): this list was predicated by a recent 18-day, 8-stadium trek the author took this summer. Those daily reports of that trek can be read in the Sports Bar forum. Start here with Day One.]

I have recently completed a solo 18 day road trip covering 8 ballparks, 9 games, 14 states, national parks, normal tourist traps and not so normal stops. My fairly new 2022 Kia Seltos had 6,400 miles on it before the trip and the journey tacked on 8,522 additional miles. Some of you may find this interesting and some may say what's the big deal, it's a crazy man with a torture filled vacation plan. I was encouraged to tell the story here by individual day because it would be a very lengthy post if not broken down by day. Some days are not that interesting, some days were more interesting than others and some days need a new adjective, but each day was different and they were days that I couldn't experience in my living room. Feel free to comment, shake your head at my moments of stupidity or tell your own experiences of the places I experienced. This is hit and run tourism... I didn't have a lot of time to hit all the stops but I wanted to hit all the stops because who knows if I would ever be back in any of the areas travelled. I researched and scheduled the trip to the minute and followed the schedule to the letter. Day Eighteen - August 15 - West Yellowstone to Home (Grand Forks, ND) Well Folks... This is it... The final day. It is going to be longest day of driving of all the real long days of driving. I spent 17 days just building up my stamina to complete this final day of 959 Miles and a projected 15 hours. The plan was a trip to Old Faithful and then up through Big Sky to Bozeman and then 800 plus miles of interstate the rest of the way. There was a shorter route home though Cody, Wyoming and up to Billings that would have saved me an hour but I wanted to drive Big Sky. I felt I could do the 15 hours so I kept it as the plan but I was always ready to grab a hotel if I couldn't. Old Faithful was the wild card, the random raffle drum draw that would determine if I would be home at Midnight or 2AM. My fate was in the hands of the disposition of a geyser that simply didn't care when I got home. Old Faithful goes off every 45 minutes to two hours. All I was going to do is just stand there... arms crossed... waiting for it to go off, then I am immediately back to the car and on my way home. If it goes off shortly after I arrive... I'm home at Midnight... If I have to wait the full two hours... I am home at 2AM. It's a unknown contingency that I faced while holding a schedule in my hands. I didn't mess around, I got up, showered, packed up my stuff, loaded the car and I was ready to hit the park. I was hoping for a continental breakfast so I could just grab a little something for along the way. They didn't have that... unfortunately they just had a FREE breakfast BUFFET. When I dropped the key off at the front desk, I saw the line leading to the room with the buffet. Nope... I got to get going and I take a couple of steps toward the door and I stop and think to myself... It's a FREE breakfast BUFFET. I walk toward the small line of people waiting to partake and then I stop myself... Nope... I got to get going and I head for the door again and then I stop at the doors and I say to myself... I should at least grab some coffee so I walk into the buffet room to get myself a cup of joe for the road. The buffet, looked great! Bacon, Sausage, Scrambled Eggs, Ham, Pancakes, Waffles, Those Triangle shaped Hash Browns. maybe 6 different types of fresh fruit. It had an Omelet station. All I had to eat yesterday was that terrible Arctic Circle Burger so let me tell you... It took incredible will power to walk past that FREE Breakfast BUFFET. The entrance to Yellowstone was just a couple of blocks from the hotel. Yellowstone traffic really slows you down. Not because of the amount of cars but because you are heavily influenced by the pace of the lead car in the many miles of solid yellow line no pass roads. In Yellowstone, the pace of the lead car is always slow because THAT IS HOW THEY BECAME THE LEAD CAR IN THE FIRST PLACE. They have to see the line of cars piling up behind them in the rear view mirror, they don't care because they are worried that a mountain goat is going to fly across the road. Eventually, that lead car will find something they want to see, they pull off and everybody following goes "Hooray" and the entire line picks up speed until it reaches the next lead car just drifting down the road. I reached the parking lot, I could see the massive gift shop but I wasn't sure what direction Old Faithful was at, There was an open area and that was my best guess because I figured it would need an open area so I started heading that direction. There was a middle aged couple walking toward me so I pointed to that open area and asked "This way to Old Faithful?" the guy responded "Yes". I said "Thank You" and kept walking that way, from behind, I heard the lady shout back to me "It just went off". I swear there was NA-NA NA-NA tone to her voice when she said it. Yep, I reached into that Old Faithful raffle drum and drew the Home at 2AM Card". I shouldn't have taken the time to enjoy that FREE breakfast BUFFET, in my defense... there was an omelet station! I could choose how much cheese I wanted in that omelet. Bacon, Those triangle shaped hash browns, it had little bottles of hot sauce for the scrambled eggs. I'm not to blame here... the blame clearly belongs on those Sunday drivers crawling though the park on a Monday while ignoring all those signs saying that slower traffic should use the turn outs. Yellowstone is kind of an eerie place. Lot's of geysers, lot's of steam both near you and off in the distance. I'm no geologist but C'mon... It's obvious that this place is going to blow. Some day Yellowstone is going to be blasted up into the sky and it will rain down on West Virginia. I was just hoping to get out before it does, hanging around for two hours was really pushing my luck. Having some time to wait did allow me to walk the boardwalk system and get my personal affairs in order. There were signs saying that getting off the boardwalks was dangerous, there were stories posted for all to read on how tourists have died by getting off the boardwalk. Apparently the ground is soft in spots and it can/will give way on you as you fall into a geothermal feature below. I was thinking about the Bison who can't read... How many Bison have been lost by falling into a geothermal hot tub? Maybe it wasn't just the buffalo hunters collecting hides in the 19th century, perhaps they were falling in large numbers through the soft ground into these scalding waters which have to be at least Palm Springs hot. Old Faithful can sure draw a crowd. This place was packed for the 10 O' Clock show... I've seen less people at a U2 concert and there was multiple shows throughout the day. It will tease you before it goes off, it does a couple of head fakes of bubbling as the crowd prematurely "Woes"... before it finally decides to blow. When you are thinking about getting home at 2AM... those head fakes cause a justified response from me... Alright KNOCK IT OFF... Just do it! It finally does, the eruption takes about the same time as the world's longest car wash that I went through in Katy, Texas. It ends with a couple puffs a steam and the crowd leaves. I was part of that crowd and I beat everyone out just to make sure I was that lead car. The drive through Big Sky was nice. You see some pretty impressive peaks peaking out of the not so impressive ones. The Gallatin River rolls next to the highway for a portion and you see a lot of people out in Kayaks, I thought to myself that I'd want a motor on my kayak if possible. Once you hit the interstate in Bozeman, it's hammer down. The drive heading east through Montana was simply a milder version of what I call broadly "the western landscape" until you enter North Dakota and hit the badlands. The Medora area of North Dakota can hold it's own with all of the scenery that I saw throughout this trip. It Runs North/South and not much East/West so it is over quick as you drive past on the interstate but the canyon of different colors is undeniably beautiful, I've seen it quite a few times and it impresses each time. It was dark by the time I reached Bismarck. Not much else to report... wait... one more thing. Bugs... The stretch between Bismarck and Jamestown ND is bug filled beyond imagination. I don't know why there are so many bugs on this particular stretch of road but nothing on this trip compares to it when it comes to bugs colliding with your windshield. When it is dark, you hear them and it sounds like hail. It was the same thing when I drove through that area on Day 1 as on the way back on Day 18. I took the Kia through the wash the next day and it didn't get all the bugs off because they were caked on. I'm pretty sure that I personally changed the ecosystem by driving through that area twice. I was prepared to grab a hotel if needed, I didn't need it. I arrived at home at 1:30AM... I was on time for work at 8AM. I had 18 days of work piled up waiting for me. I was tempted to just take off again and go east this time. Hope you all enjoyed these lengthy reports of what was truly the trip of a lifetime for me. I have nothing more to report.

I love stories like that. I did see the letters on the hills. At first I was really curious what they would end up spelling but I eventually realized what they were doing when the vowels were not coming.

I have recently completed a solo 18 day road trip covering 8 ballparks, 9 games, 14 states, national parks, normal tourist traps and not so normal stops. My fairly new 2022 Kia Seltos had 6,400 miles on it before the trip and the journey tacked on 8,522 additional miles. Some of you may find this interesting and some may say what's the big deal, it's a crazy man with a torture filled vacation plan. I was encouraged to tell the story here by individual day because it would be a very lengthy post if not broken down by day. Some days are not that interesting, some days were more interesting than others and some days need a new adjective, but each day was different and they were days that I couldn't experience in my living room. Feel free to comment, shake your head at my moments of stupidity or tell your own experiences of the places I experienced. This is hit and run tourism... I didn't have a lot of time to hit all the stops but I wanted to hit all the stops because who knows if I would ever be back in any of the areas travelled. I researched and scheduled the trip to the minute and followed the schedule to the letter. Day Seventeen - August 14 - Reno to West Yellowstone, Montana This will be a pure drive day with very few stops and I'm taking the long way just to catch a glimpse of Salt Lake City and the Wasatch mountain range. 834 miles is on the agenda and according to the schedule it starts with breakfast at the Purple Parrot here at the Atlantis. Umm... Nope... Not Happening. I'm sure it's delicious but nope... not... happening. 49 tons of diesel locomotive couldn't drag me into any place serving food right now. I am still stuffed from last night's buffet, I went to bed in considerable discomfort, felt much better in the morning but I probably won't need to eat again until Labor Day. Besides, I won the exact amount of my hotel expenses last night, Breakfast expense would have ruined that beautiful symmetry. It's OK... I got a long walk across the parking lot and a long drive ahead. I should get going. This is as good a time as any to mention the Upside app. A friend suggested I download it for fuel savings on the trip so I did. At first, I was kind of loyal to it but on this trip that loyalty will wane. The Upside sponsored gas stations are never near an interstate in order to get that 4 cents of a gallon savings, you got to drive into a town for it. I bring this up now because I had to fuel up in Reno and the Upside led me down town to a place that wasn't open and the next place wasn't there. So... let's just say that the application isn't perfect. I will have to check the credit card bill for the final fuel expense on this trip but I probably spent around 3 million dollars in fuel give or take a little and I have a check of $11.94 from Upside just waiting for me to claim. When planning this trip, I was mentally prepared for the drive across Nevada to be a miserable experience. I had the impression that it was just a long drive of flat, unattractive, lifeless desert where nobody lives. I don't know how I got this impression but I was wrong. The Drive across Nevada, is hilly, gorgeous, lifeless desert, where nobody lives. I-80 across Nevada is a beautiful drive. It is a long long way between towns, Elko is the big city of around 20,000, I was thinking about how long the road game bus trips must be for the Elko High School football team just to put together a comparable sized school football schedule. It takes a while to cross the state, there is always a little mountain range in front of you that you can set as a goal to reach. The freeway has a rolling up and down to it but nothing steep as the road simply goes around the mountain range only to be greeted by the next one which becomes the next goal and this process is repeated across the entire state into Utah. It was beauty that I certainly didn't expect. If driving South Texas was like driving on the moon, driving across Nevada was like driving on mars. Keep in mind, that I have never been to the moon or mars but I did see that Matt Damon movie. The other awesome thing about I-80 through Nevada is this, it jogs North and South often enough and long enough that you are not driving straight east into the Sun the whole way. This was going to be the only time on this trip that I was Heading East in the early morning and I was expecting my eyeballs to be completely melted before Noon. Right about the state line into Utah, you do climb a little mountain and when you get over it, you are greeted by the view of the Bonneville Salt Flats off. As I drive by... them? or drive by It? As I drive by, I noticed regular old vehicles driving around on... them? or it? So, I assume that they are accessible to the public. I immediately wanted to exit and drive around on them but there was no exit in the east bound lane and by the time I found an exit I was probably 10 miles past that spot and I wasn't about to go back. I'll just wait for winter in Minnesota to drive my Kia around on a bunch of salt. I did manage to pull over to see the Great Salt Lake itself. This is the flattest looking lake possible, it looks like a single layer of water that goes on for miles. It looks like you could walk across it, I've heard that you stay afloat in it so maybe you can. I didn't try. The interstate system taking you northward doesn't get you that close to Salt Lake City but you catch a glimpse of the skyline in the distance and you can see that the city is pressed up against the Wasatch. The Entire metro looks beautiful and is pressed up against that mountain range. With mountains to the east and the Great Salt Lake to the west. The Metro really doesn't have much choice, if it's going to grow and it is going to grow... it will have to grow to the North or South. Look out Idaho, Salt Lake City is coming like a cannonball and so am I. I did have a stop at an Arctic Circle in Utah on my schedule. Honestly, I am still alright, I don't need food, I'm good and I haven't eaten at all today but I was going to stop at an Arctic Circle because if I don't... I never will. Arctic Circle is a fast food chain in the Utah region only. The fry sauce is supposed to be the greatest thing ever. Turns out, It's Sunday, It's Utah, they are not open today, i am not out of luck though because I found one that was open in Pocatello Idaho. This might sound strange for anyone who has been following my food choices on this trip but I am not a fast food guy. Not at all... McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's. Arby's... I have no interest anymore. However, when you are on a trip like this, fast food is the simplest thing to do if you want to keep moving so I did want to try the regional chains that I can't find in Grand Forks this put Arctic Circle on my list. I order a burger and fries just to try that fry sauce that the internet was raving about. The Burger was the same weak fast food burger that caused me to stop going to these places because of consistent disappointment. The Fry Sauce... Well... Back in the late 70's as a teenager, if I wanted to snack on some potato chips and if for some reason there wasn't any chip dip in the house, I would make my own. I'm not a cook by any stretch of the imagination but I used to mix Salad Dressing and Ketchup together as a poor substitute for the sour cream and onion that I really wanted. I dipped a fry into the fry sauce and I recognized the flavor immediately. I had to swat the memories of sitting at the kitchen counter watching Gilligan's Island reruns on that little kitchen TV eating Old Dutch potato chips. I think it is quite possible that I... Riverbrian... invented that fry sauce that they sing songs about in the reviews. I had another pretty big chuckle at the restaurant that I had to work hard to suppress because people look at you funny when you break into laughter for no apparent reason. I have always been a big fan of the movie of Napoleon Dynamite and I knew that the story was set in this part of Idaho. The high school age kid who was working the back kitchen of the restaurant... looked like Napoleon Dynamite! Tall, Skinny, Messed up curly hair and that same constant socially awkward facial expression. They were not twins but they were the exact same format and to take it a step further. the young lady taking my order, she would have been a reasonable representation of Napoleon's love interest in the movie... Deb I think was the name of the character. I wanted to take a photo of both of them so I could show others but I thought that taking a photo of them just might be a little aggressive and I've heard that Guns are required by state law in Idaho so I opted not to, but... it was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. Got to West Yellowstone, the hotel was decent enough but the outlets were hard to find. Actually had to move the bed to find an outlet just so I could charge up and this caused me to sleep slightly askew to the orientation of the room. I am scheduled to depart at 7:30AM.

Almost all of the places that I saw... I feel Hit and Run was the way to do it. However, not the national parks or the Ocean. I left them wishing I could stay a couple more days.

I really enjoyed California... every bit of it. There really isn't a state that compares to it. However... The Central Coast is the only place that I could see myself living full time comfortably. The traffic would wear me down in the cities and the heat would wear me down in the deserts. Carmel would be just about right until the whole thing tumbles into the sea.

I have recently completed a solo 18 day road trip covering 8 ballparks, 9 games, 14 states, national parks, normal tourist traps and not so normal stops. My fairly new 2022 Kia Seltos had 6,400 miles on it before the trip and the journey tacked on 8,522 additional miles. Some of you may find this interesting and some may say what's the big deal, it's a crazy man with a torture filled vacation plan. I was encouraged to tell the story here by individual day because it would be a very lengthy post if not broken down by day. Some days are not that interesting, some days were more interesting than others and some days need a new adjective, but each day was different and they were days that I couldn't experience in my living room. Feel free to comment, shake your head at my moments of stupidity or tell your own experiences of the places I experienced. This is hit and run tourism... I didn't have a lot of time to hit all the stops but I wanted to hit all the stops because who knows if I would ever be back in any of the areas travelled. I researched and scheduled the trip to the minute and followed the schedule to the letter. Day Sixteen - August 13 - Beverly Hills to Reno This morning I am starting the long 3 day trek back home. I would have loved to have stayed to watch the entire Twins/Angels series but I got to get back to work. Arranging the schedule to include the entire weekend was not possible without losing Colorado, Texas and Houston so this is how it had to go. I've run a pretty tight schedule throughout this trip but today was going to be the tightest. There were a couple of moments during this trip where the clock made me slightly concerned due to things out of my control but I never started out the day nervous like this morning. I wanted to accomplish everything and still reach Reno in time for the Buffet and a little gambling when in Rome. I wouldn't fully enjoy myself if I pull into the Atlantic in Reno late at night, at the very least I was getting that buffet and this thought was on my mind from the very second I got up. Twinsdaily pal Ashbury had given me some great advice for this trip and he knows the area so I trusted him. He suggested that for ultimate Yosemite scenery, that I should drive the east side of the Sierra and enter the park from the east. This was the plan but, I kept thinking about it and thinking about it and if I was going that way, the route would be an additional hour and a half of driving time, plus there was a deli near the park entrance that he highly recommended that would add at least another half hour. I was about 5 miles before the exit I needed to take when I finally decided unequivocally that I was grabbing fast food on the way because I wanted those two hours... for insurance... to allow more time at Yosemite, Lake Tahoe and reach Reno at a decent hour, so at almost the last second I stayed on I-5 toward Bakersfield and Fresno. I haven't set an alarm clock in a couple of decades but I did last night because getting up late would have been problematic. Turns out I didn't need it, despite getting home at midnight and a plan to depart at 5:41AM... I was up at 4:30 so I was able to turn off that alarm clock before it woke up the entire place at 5:00. I was on the road a little after 5PM so I gained a little time. Leaving L.A. in darkness brought a new bit of welcome scenery that I had purposely avoided with my daylight driving... City Lights! As I took the 405 up the Santa Monica mountains, I was probably looking at my rear view more than I was looking ahead. Eventually I had to find a spot so I could stop, get out, look back and just concentrate on it. It's hard to describe, the L.A. basin was lights for further than the eye could see. I would rank this scenery in the top 5 of all the incredible scenery that I saw the entire trip. It doesn't take long before you break through the other side of the mountains and then the San Fernando Valley lights take center stage. They sure consume a lot of energy here in Cali. It made me consider that perhaps pulling into San Francisco at night was something that I should have done. No regrets though, it has been a great trip and today I'll get all the scenery I could ask for. I told myself that Bakersfield and Fresno would be a bonus of taking this way. You drive through on 99 but they are not much to write home about. Bakersfield is unimpressive but Fresno at least looks like a decent enough town. I reached the Yosemite park entrance a little before 10am. I have been told by many that Yosemite is the crème de la crème of the National Parks so my expectations were a high bar to clear and the anticipation during the 5 hour drive was not helping to manage this expectation game. As I entered and start the drive to tunnel view... the scenery starts slow. Slow enough that in consideration of the high bar set... I found myself thinking Ash was right... I should have entered from the east. Then the curves start to increase, the land exposes itself more and more and it improves every mile, then you enter a tunnel and when you come out of it, you have reached tunnel view and there it is! El Capitan and Half Dome and other formations that I'm sure have a name. Unfortunately, the Bridal Veil Falls was not falling, it wasn't the time of year for water fall viewing I guess but it was still a stunning sight without . I spent a little while soaking that in, as I drove on, I stopped at all the pull outs, taking my time. I walked to the creeks, the water is crystal clear, you can see the fish clear as day, mostly motionless, some in motion, trout I assume. That was an unexpected bonus because I didn't see any Trout last night at Angels Stadium. Even the scorched earth areas and there was a lot of that, had a beauty to it. I'm no expert, I certainly don't know the process of how the land restores itself after a fire but I assume that I was looking at the aftermath of fires that occurred quite some time ago. The grass was back, lush and green but the trees were mere black poles standing tall with the leaves and branches burned away, the skeletons of these black trees dominate the landscape for acres. I certainly don't know what I missed when I opted not to come in from the east but there were plenty of "Wow" moments coming in and out on the path chosen and I was grateful for the time to not rush through the park. I hadn't eaten a thing yet so lunch was a Del Taco in Stockton. I had never been to one before so I'm still knocking important things off my list. Just a couple of taco's to tide me over but still leave me hungry for the upcoming buffet. I've concluded that Del Taco is a Taco Johns, if given the choice, they would be interchangeable. I was going to see Lodi, California one way or another on this trip and the only reason... this may sound stupid... but the only reason was because I really like that CCR song. I had it loaded on my Spotify and I played the song at max volume over and over again through my Bose speakers as I drove through without stopping. I didn't stop in Lodi because... Oh Lord... I didn't want to get stuck. I also had Johnny Cash "Folsom Prison Blues" at max volume as I pulled into Folsom just to get a view of the prison and it's surroundings. Folsom is an eastern suburb of Sacramento, the prison is on the north end of Folsom and despite this metropolitan type description of it's location, it has an out in the country feel to it, residential and commercial activity is pretty light near the facility. I did not get stuck there either because I hadn't been to Reno yet, to create the events that led to getting stuck there. As you head north from the prison toward I-80, you run into the real prize of Folsom... and that would be Folsom Lake. A big beautiful lake surrounded by that golden western landscape. Thank You Johnny Cash for leading me here. Speaking of getting stuck, my trucker friends have told me many tales of getting stuck for days at Donner Pass. We know that the Donner party certainly got stuck there back in 1846. I've heard about it enough times that I knew that Donner Pass was a must on this trip just so I can see the area in my head the next time I am told a story about it. I'm really pushing my luck with all these famous getting stuck locations back to back to back... Lodi, Folsom and Donner Pass. Obviously, these are winter tales of Donner Pass but on August 13th, 2022 I had no problems at all. In hindsight, it was probably a little silly to throw chains on the Kia. Next stop was Incline Village, I have never been to Lake Tahoe and it was time to remedy that. It's not as busy as the Santa Monica pier but on a Saturday afternoon it is apparent that town obviously has a few out of town guests and I get the impression, at least in the area that I saw, that the businesses are geared for the influx of tourists. The only shopping that I did was an ice cream shop, just so I could slow down, have some ice cream and look at the lake while I enjoyed both. Lake Tahoe does not disappoint when it comes to scenery. It is heavily wooded and completely surrounded by mountains, normally that combination would be enough but what puts Lake Tahoe over the top is the water. I didn't see any fish this time but just like the creeks in Yosemite, the water is crystal clear and it is in use. Water Craft of all kinds all over the place, including a healthy dose of sail boats full mast. I have always known where Lake Tahoe was on the map, but you don't grasp just how high up in the sky it is until you are there. If you want to experience just how high the elevation is for yourself, just take the road to Reno from Tahoe. It's a beautiful drive and it is straight down hill. I'm not kidding... I don't believe I used the accelerator once. Had to brake a couple of times because it was curvy and I was still gaining speed without use of the gas pedal. I had to resist the urge to go "Weeeee" as I made my way down to Reno. I absolutely loved that drive. I also had to resist the urge to drive back up just to do it again. It's about 40 miles to Reno. When I started my descent out of Tahoe my fuel monitor told me I had 100 miles left in the tank... when I got to Reno... I had a full tank of gas. I arrived at the Atlantic in Reno just a hair past 7PM. All the hotels that I stayed at, you are able to park reasonably close to the facility but this was a hotel/busy casino. I was told to park in the back. From the front of the building, you don't know that the back parking lot is massive and also full so I ended up parking a long way from the casino so I was slightly annoyed as I shlepped my luggage through the entire lot and the casino with a difficult to find elevator for a newcomer. If I had to do it all over again, I would have used the valet services that I was offered when I pulled up front to check in. The Del Taco and Ice Cream absolutely did not ruin my appetite, I've been keeping it light just to hit this buffet. I have been looking forward to this buffet the entire trip and thinking about it all day. I don't need a Golden Corral... I want a casino buffet with choices as far as the eye can see at this place called Toucan Charlies. The line is LONGGGGGGGGGGG!!!! Not quite Tijuana border size but comparable to the line that stretched around the block for Dim Sum at the Good Mong Kok Bakery in San Francisco. This line wound through the casino almost to the back doors of the facility. If I knew the line was this long, I would have considered skipping Yosemite. The line certainly wasn't moving fast enough for my liking. The website says that it's open until 9PM. I was in line by 7:15. I was gauging the line movement and constantly checking my watch and was able to spidee-sense that it was going to be close and certainly not guaranteed that I would get in. You do a lot of "Come on Already" in your head while you wait. I started thinking about the business operation of the hotel itself... the buffet was going to cost a little over 50 bucks and I could have lost a lot more than that at the Casino during the time spent waiting in line. You got time to think as you wait in near desperation, you think things like, "why don't they let us in and then come back out to the line to stand to eat" because I would have done that. Around 8PM you get close enough so you can see in the windows, you see a lot of un-bused tables and you think about volunteering to bus tables. You wonder if there was a Del Taco nearby just in case you don't make it... but mainly... you stand in line and you swear to heaven above that IF you get in... IF you indeed get in... you are going to crush this buffet to the point that you will have turned the house advantage on it's head and the casino bosses will have security escort you to a back room to suggest strongly that I take my winnings and leave the facility. Meanwhile, you look back and you see that plenty of new people were filling in the line as it's just as long as when you started. You KNOW they are not getting in. I reached the front of the line around 8:45, not many got in behind me. I tried a little of everything encompassing three trips with plates piled to the point that I had to walk slowly so nothing came a tumbling off and a 4th trip dedicated just for crab legs which required it's own sub-trip just to bring back enough melted butter. I was cracking so fast that crab strings and crab juice was flying into the hair of nearby diners covering about a 4 table radius. After the carnage had come to a stop, it was too late for sports betting because the rest of the world was in bed. I have to get up early but, I knew I should walk this off a bit before hitting the pillow. So, I spent a couple of hours at the slots and tables. I mentioned earlier that the buffet cost a little over $50. I ended up ahead $55 starting at the penny slots, the hotel was a little over $200 and I came out $200 bucks ahead at the Craps Table just playing the pass line. That was the perfect time to stop... Thanks to the Atlantis for the free hotel and meal. Got to bed about midnight. I'll admit that I wasn't exactly feeling comfortable because I may have over did it at the buffet just a little. The Del Taco and Ice Cream earlier in the day was clearly over the line. I am scheduled to depart at 6:30AM.