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Visiting Mickey

After leaving the Army last December, my son Mickey got a job with the Veterans Administration. He moved from Charleston South Carolina, where he had been working as a recruiter, to Lincoln Nebraska. That's a lot closer to Boise so I am hoping that I will be able to see him more often. It's still a long drive though, seventeen hours, so I was excited when a special opportunity came up. Mickey had to spend six weeks in Denver for training. That's definitely within a single day's drive so Mickey invited me to come for a visit over a weekend. With the travel that Sandy and I had planned in April and May there was only one option. It turned out to be perfect though. The Milwaukee Brewers were playing four games against the Colorado Rockies in Denver. I grew up in Milwaukee so I am a die hard Brewer fan and Mickey inherited a love of the Brewers from me. I couldn't pass up the chance to go to some Brewer baseball games with him.

It was a four game series, Thursday through Sunday. I did have some constraints. Sandy had a trip coming up the following week. She had to leave right away on Monday so I had to be back by then to stay with Abby. That meant driving home on Sunday. I originally thought that if I went to visit Mickey that I could stop on the way and do some hiking, maybe somewhere like Moab, but I ended up not being able to lengthen the trip.

It's about a twelve hour drive from Boise to Denver. I left midday on Wednesday and drove a little over half way, to Rock Springs Wyoming. I stayed at the Quality Inn, which was cheap and ok for just an overnight stay. There was an Old Chicago Pizza just across the street but when I walked over it was packed and I would have had to wait for a table. Who would have thought the place would be hopping at eight on a week night in Rock Springs? I settled for dinner at McDonald's and turned in early.

Next day I had an easy drive. Mickey was actually staying in Lakewood, far on the west side of Denver. I got there about two in the afternoon. The VA put Mickey up in some nice digs at the Home2 Suites. I stayed at the Hampton Inn across the parking lot. It was cheaper and since I'm an old retired guy I have to watch expenses. (It leaves me more money for buying wargames.) While I was checking in the lady at the desk asked me if I had special plans for the day. It's the standard show-interest-in-your-customer question that it seems every clerk is required to ask you nowadays. Sandy and I usually get annoyed when we get quizzed about our plans every time we buy groceries. I guess we must be grumpy old people who aren't into small talk with strangers. This time it came in handy though because when I told her I was going to the ball game with my son, she told me a good way to get to the stadium. She said that there was a light rail station only two blocks from the hotel and that we could take the train instead of driving.

After checking in I went out to find somewhere to grab a late lunch. The hotel was in a good location and there were a lot of restaurants in walking distance. Right next door was Le Peep, one of a chain that is Sandy's favorite restaurant in Boise for breakfast. Half a block away was an Old Chicago Pizza. They weren't crowded at two in the afternoon so I was able to make good after my failure at the Old Chicago in Rock Springs the night before.

After lunch I walked down and found the light rail station. I wanted to be sure that I knew where it was and how to get ticktes. Turned out that it was only a few blocks away. There were machines for buying tickets and the fare wasn't much. Since Coors Field is in the middle of downtown Denver, I had assumed that traffic and parking would be a hassle. This looked like a good alternative for us - easier, faster and cheaper. And riding the train is cool.

The VA office was just across the street from Mickey's hotel and I met him when he got off work at 4:30. We walked to the train and it was indeed easy to get downtown. From the train station it was only a few blocks to the ballpark, a pleasant walk on a nice evening. Mickey had inexpensive tickets for the ball game that he got from VetTix.org. It's an organization that allows teams, organizations and individuals to contribute to provide discounted tickets for various events to veterans. Mickey did two tours in Afghanistan so he qualified. We were way out in the left field bleachers but hey, the tickets were only six bucks.

Lorenzo Cain hit a home run on the very first pitch of the game and the Brewers led all the way for a 5-2 win. We got some excitement when Trevor Story of the Rockies hit a drive deep to left field. We were in the fourteenth row so I didn't expect any balls to even come close but my first thought was "Wow, that's right at us and might even make the stands". Then it was "Wow, that ball is carrying farther than I thought". Then it was "HOLY SHIT!!! IT'S COMING RIGHT AT ME." The guy in front of me made a nice bare handed catch but if his seat had been empty it would have been my play.

Turns out Mickey's aunt was watching the game on tv and so was our friend Mary Beth. They both said they saw us on tv. Since it was one of only two runs for the Rockies they replayed it several times. I was particulary easy to spot since I was wearing a bright red tshirt. I guess Mickey and I got our fifteen seconds of fame.

Although it had been a warm afternoon it was a little cool by the end of the game. We warmed up on the short walk to the train station. When we got back to our hotels we called it a night. Mickey had to go to work the next day and I had to meet a friend early in the morning for breakfast. That's a whole other story that I'll cover in my next post.

It was even cooler the next day so I wore my jacket to the game. Mickey and I took the train downtown again. This time I bought the tickets, cheap seats near the left field foul poll, but only twenty dollars each. I thought that wasn't bad for a major league game. Tickets for the Idaho Steelheads (minor league hockey team in Boise) cost more than that.

The night before we ate at the game, each of us getting a monster foot-long bratwurst. Although it was delicious it was a little too spicey to do two nights in a row. This time we ate at Ian's Pizza, which served pizza (duh!) by the slice. I had a slice of plain cheese pizza, my usual, and a slice of mac and cheese pizza. That's something I had only had once before, at a pizza place in Madison. That time I had a whole pizza and although I love pizza and I love mac and cheese, it was a little overpowering. This time my slice was very good and just right rather than too much. It turns out that Ian's Pizza was started in Madison by the son of one of Sandy's cousins. They've done well and expanded to Milwaukee, Seattle and obviously Denver. Mickey and I both agreed that their pizza was very good. And when Mickey and I agree that's something.

Being Colorado, Ian's Pizza had its own 14'er club. If you climbed a fourteen thousand foot peak and took your picture on the summit with an Ian's Pizza logo, you got a free pizza. There was a whole gallery of pictures on the wall of people on top of various mountains holding an Ian's Pizza box. Now that's a special offer that was made just for me.

After pizza it was time for the game. The Brewers took another early lead but this time they couldn't hold it. A five run fourth inning gave the Rockies a 9-3 lead. Since it was cold and windy with a light mist, we thought about giving up and heading back to the hotel. It seemed like it would be a lot more comfortable watching the game on tv at Old Chicago and drinking a beer. But being devoted Brewer fans we stuck it out to see if they could miraculously come from that far behind.

They gave it a real try. The bull pen held the Rockies to only a single run for the rest of the game while the Brewers kept chipping away at the lead. But it was cold and we were anxious to leave by the time the Brewers were down to their final out. The score was 10-8 and there were two outs in the ninth.

But then Hernan Perez got a single to keep the game alive. Ok, we can stay for one more batter. Then Manny Pina, batting only .110, hit a towering drive deep to the opposite field. The right fielder was back to the wall. It was going to be close. He jumped but the ball just cleared his glove and the wall for a home run. Tie game! The body language of the Rockies said it all. The left fielder just got down on his knees and stared at the ground for a full minute. It was an amazing comeback.

On to extra innings. The game wasn't over yet. Fortunately the Brewers didn't let Colorado spoil the ending. Travis Shaw knocked in the go ahead run with two outs in the tenth and Jeffress shut down the Rockies in the bottom of the tenth for the save. It was definitely one of those games that you will remember years later.

Mickey and I did stop at Old Chicago for a beer when we finally got back. They had the replay of the game on tv and even though they were showing the early innings when Colorado was leading, we still stayed till they closed at 2am.

The next day the forecast was for thundershowers in the evening, so we decided to watch the game on tv. It turned out that the rain held off enough for them to get the game in but we didn't miss much. The Brewers lost 4-0. You know baseball is a funny game when a team scores eleven runs in one game and then no runs the next day. Yes, the starter was different but the same guys pitched out of the Colorado bullpen in both games.

That was it for baseball on this trip as I had to start the long drive home on Sunday. It had a great time though. It was good to see Mickey again and it's always fun going to a ball game with him so the trip was well worth it.

We did more than just baseball though. On Saturday morning we went to Wings Over the Rockies. It's an air and space museum on the former site of Lowry Air Force Base. They had a quite a few airplanes on display, mainly from the 1960's on. Lots of jets but no old WWII warbirds. Not the most extensive collection that I have ever seen but it was still fun seeing so many cool airplanes.

After the museum it was time for lunch. Our first try turned out to be take out only but on our second try we found SteveO's Pizza in Aurora. Come on, you have to love it just for the name. Outside they had a collection of several rather unusual pizza delivery vehicles on display. There was a replica of the van from Scooby Doo, a VW bug monster truck (complete with mohawk hair) a pizza delivery hearse and several more. Apparently SteveO used to be a welder before he made pizzas and he custom built his delivery fleet. The most important thing though was that the pizza was excellent, although surprisingly we were the only ones in the restaurant. This turned out to be a good trip for pizza.

After lunch we drove west into the mountains and visited the town of Idaho Springs. Just off I70 it was easy to get to, but it felt like a real mountain town. We spent some time at Tommyknocker's Brew Pub. Mickey is always anxious to try out local brews and he liked their beer. I was disappointed because they were out of my size in all their cool tshirts. Afterwards we did find some shops where we could each get a tshirt. Then it was time to head back to the city. We took the scenic route, US6 through Clear Creek Canyon to Golden. It was very pretty and since it was spring the river was roaring. We saw some people white water rafting but they were all bundled up. It was definitely too cold to enjoy rafting in my opinion. I was content with a scenic drive.

Next day I drove back to Boise. It was great to see Mickey and hang out with him. The ball games and everything else that we did was a lot of fun. We crammed a lot into a weekend.