Spring Baseball - March 13-20, 2018

My oldest, Allen IV, and good buddy, Harry, joined me in Florida for my second year of Spring Training Baseball.
Allen IV's flight from Denver arrived late on Tuesday night, but coming from Mountain Time, he had not had dinner.  We stopped for a late supper and arrived at Karen's home after midnight.

Allen IV enjoying his tour of TGO
Yes, that's a 3 foot alligator on the small island in Addison Canal

The next day, Allen IV slept in as he transitioned to Eastern Time, then took his obligatory tour of Karen's community, "The Great Outdoors" (TGO). 

TGO's Jukebox Café,

photo courtesy of TGO

After a fun lunch at TGO's cool café, the 50s & 60s Rock & Roll decorated "Jukebox Café," Allen IV and I departed in the RV heading south to meet Harry.

Allen IV and I set up camp at Palm Beach County's John Prince Park Campground so we'd be ready to meet Harry's plane in the morning.  For dinner we found a pub showing hockey on TV (Johnny Q's) and enjoyed the Pittsburgh Penguins playing the NY Rangers after a nice Italian dinner.
The next morning we drove to Fort Lauderdale to meet Harry's plane only to discover it had been rescheduled a few hours later.  Allen IV and I took the extra time to make a brief visit to the nearby Harbour Towne Marina where I began my two year stint as a yacht broker.   Leopard Catamarans' sales headquarters is in this marina, so Allen IV and I took a short walk to see one of the Leopard's currently tied up in the marina.  We had a nice chat with the owner who invited us aboard for tour of his Leopard 46.

Leopard 46, "Brown Eyed Girl," photo by Warren Stewart, 2014 in Annapolis

That filled the time nicely as we departed for the 10 minute ride to the airport to pick up Harry.  His flight came in at the new expected ETA, he grabbed his bag and was aboard the RV for our immediate departure to the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, Spring Training Home of Harry's favorite team, the Washington Nationals.  With the rescheduled flight we got to our seats just as the Nats were coming to bat for the first inning.

The Houston Astros were the Nats' challengers for this game.  It was fun watching the 2017 World Series Champs play against the Nationals, and even more fun to watch them go down, losing to Harry's Nats.  This was our first game of a full week of spring training baseball.
And Not just baseball! 

Panthers vs Bruins at BB&T

Arena, photo by Harry Jones

We met with Joe from Miami at the BB&T Arena that evening for a Florida Panthers - Boston Bruins hockey game!  Our seats were just four rows from the glass, so we had a terrific view of all the action at our end of the rink.  Since the Panthers won, 3-0, most of the offensive action was at our end and we enjoyed some great hockey.  Our only disappointment was missing the Pens and Caps.

Atlantic Ocean view from breakfast, Good Choice, Allen IV!

The next morning Allen IV found a great beachfront restaurant for breakfast.  A gorgeous day with a comfortable breeze wafting from the ocean, it was perfect. 

Harry and Allen IV

We returned to Ballpark of the Palm Beaches for the Nats vs Cardinals.  The Nats thrilled Harry again as they took down the St. Louis team, 4-2.  Although the Nats' ballpark was nice enough, even looking new and modern, it was just too bland and uninspiring.  Their food choices were minimal, included nothing vegetarian unless you count French fries, their beer and liquor choices were too limited and prices were much higher than the quality provided.  We decided it was nice to see the park but we won't be back. 
Piling into the RV, we began cross-state trek to Bradenton, FL where we'd catch our Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.  It was a long run with Allen IV doing the driving as he had plenty of experience operating big trucks in his work as a pool machinery tech in Denver.  The old guys may have napped a bit enroute.

Harry, Allen IV and Murph (Allen III) at The Bridge Tender Inn

After checking into our campsite for the next few days, then headed to a favorite dinner stop for Harry and me, the Bridge Tender Inn at Bradenton Beach.
With experience from last year's spring training baseball, we knew just the spot in Bradenton for parking the RV and enjoying a great breakfast (Theresa's Restaurant) for both Allen's as well as vegetarian Harry.  The church parking lot is perfect for the RV as they have lots of room only a couple blocks from the ballpark and they charge a flat rate no matter our size or how long we park.  There was still time between breakfast and the game start so  .  .  .  being St. Patrick's Day we began our celebration with the locals in downtown Bradenton! 

St. Patrick's Day in Bradenton

We strolled through the cordoned off main street with the other pedestrian revelers, beginning with a shot of Jameson's followed by our favorite brews, mine being Smithwick's (pronounced "Smit-iks").  There were pipers, dancers, bands and many booths showing their wares so the time passed quickly and enjoyably.
McKechnie Field at Lecom Park is the Pirates' Spring Training Home.  The ballpark in Bradenton has a history dating to 1923.  The Pirates are such and institution that the policeman stationed at the ballpark wear Pirates' ball caps!  Unlike Palm Beach's park, the food and drink choices are much better so the high prices are much easier to accept, especially as they seem to be a bit less than their east coast counterparts.

Allen IV sports his new Pirates' ballcap

Weather: Pittsburgh vs Bradenton

The Pirates put on a grand show decimating the Twins 13-5.  We missed seeing friend and fellow sailor, Carl, who is spending his retirement behind a professional camera at all Penguin, Steeler and Pirate Home Games.  I'm convinced Carl has nailed the retirement gig perfectly!  Although he does spend some time at Pirates' Spring Training, our schedules didn't match this year.

Harry beats the

Irish boys at darts

Our postgame libations were found at a fun brewpub (Motorworks Brewing) that included a dart board.  Even though Harry played darts much less often than I have, he beat me soundly.  :-(  For dinner we hiked to Bradenton's waterfront on the Manatee River and enjoyed a great meal at Pier 22.
Harry's second team, the Baltimore Orioles, was our host for Sunday's ballgame taking place at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota.  Our breakfast choice in Sarasota is a short walk from the stadium at the 12th Street Café.  They provide classic American breakfast fare served by local folks who work hard to present a good meal with a smile. 

The two Murphs at the Grapefruit League map in Ed Smith Stadium

The O's have a great ballpark with banners from their championships over the years and a fun map of Florida's Grapefruit League.  As a Pirate fan, I really enjoy seeing the Orioles' banner from 1979 proclaiming their American League Championship.  Why does a Pirate fan enjoy this banner? some might ask.  Other Pirate fans know the answer: 1979 was the year the Pirates beat the O's to win the World Series!  Sadly, the Orioles never caught the Mets who barely won, 5-4.

Sunset at Anna Maria Island

Being Florida and briefly enjoying a view of beach and ocean at Palm Springs whetted our interest in spending more time and actually dragging our bare feet through the sand.  Having heard good things about a restaurant called the Sandbar at the end of Anna Maria Island, we pointed the RV west to the Gulf coast.  We found a place to park the RV and walked to the beach near the restaurant, enjoying the views, sun, sand and wavelets dancing on the beach.  The meal and beer were very good and concluded in time to catch a terrific sunset as the waning orange orb settled below the watery horizon.

The next morning we followed the Os to an away game at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.  It didn't hurt that the stadium was on our way to the Orland Airport, where both Allen IV and Harry had very early flights the following morning.  We found the ballpark and spent the time before the game walking the stadium circumference to enjoy the full experience. 

Florida's minor league teams

This stadium had two cool maps painted on its walls, one showing the MLB Grapefruit League Teams (just like at Ed Smith Stadium) and the other map located the members of Florida's minor league baseball teams.  Not surprisingly, many teams share stadiums.  For example, both the Bradenton Marauders and the Pittsburgh Pirates play at McKechnie Field in Bradenton.  The Orioles made up for Sunday's loss by beating the Tigers handily, 4-2.
Dinner was merely a waypoint, then we set camp for the evening at Moss Park, an Orange County Park and campground near Orlando's airport.  We were up early to make Harry and Allen IV's 6:15am departures.  Five ball games AND a hockey game squeezed into 5 fun-filled days.  Yep!  We gotta do this again!

Skiing: Annual Camp and Ski Trip - February 23-25, 2018

For about 12 years now, I've joined several other buddies camping in a cabin at Kooser State Park near Somerset, PA and skiing at Seven Springs Resort, Champion, PA.  This has become a terrific tradition as we always eat and drink and ski through the weekend.  For info on our Kooser Weekend in 2017, Click Here.

This year was different as the weather took a turn for the worse, as temperatures were in the 50s and warmer as the rain fell almost constantly for several days before and during the weekend.

Guy, at far right, checking for any signs of snow

at our cabin in Kooser State Park

The weather didn't impact our fun together, it merely reduced the skiing to a few hours on Sunday instead of all weekend, as we've done in the good snow years.

The weekend began with dinner at the Laurel Mountain Inn, enjoying the steak and potato meals the Inn is famous for.  Saturday morning the rain helped us decide to take a road trip driving around the local roads.  We visited a nearby ski area, Laurel Mountain, another state park, Linn Run, a pastry shop in Laughlintown, a local pub, Joe's Bar, with a huge taxidermy collection, then enjoyed an afternoon lunch at the Ligonier Tavern.

Given the warm, wet week, Laurel Mountain Ski Area was closed.  Here's a Video of the forlorn, snow-missing slopes of Laurel Mountain.  The piped music blasting over the empty hillside felt very eerie, given that there was no one else to be seen anywhere.

Sean Stull selfie at Laurel Mountain

  We took a few pics and drove through Linn Run State Park reminiscing about the natural "slip and slide" in the parl.  Linn Run (the creek) washes across a very long, large, flat rock that several of us enjoyed sliding across in years past.

The Original Pie Shoppe in Laughlintown has been around for many years and I've driven past it many times while motoring by on US 30.  This was my first visit, although a few of our little crowd had been there before and recommended the shop contents very highly.  The shelves were packed with cookies, cakes, rolls, breads, tarts, and, of course, pies.  Lots of different pies.

The Original Pie Shoppe

After munching a few goodies, we headed for a tourist spot that seemed to be merely a very local pub, Joe's Bar, in Ligonier.  This drinking establishment was new to me despite many visits over the years to Ligonier.  Although the bar itself is nothing special and strictly a local attraction with a scattering of local folks sipping their drinks around the old, scratched up bartop, the collection of stuffed animals is a taxidermial (is that a word?) cornucopia!  We wandered around two floors of glassed in stuffed animals that had been collected by the owner over many years and displayed in the bar.  The owner and collector has now passed on, but his wife and current owner has left the collection intact for all to see.

A small fraction of the display at Joe's Bar

Recognize these critters?  Type in the comments below if you know!

After enjoying all the critters from squirrels to elephants, we traipsed across the street for a late, but satisfying lunch at the Ligonier Tavern.

We returned to the cabin for the evening and our annual STEAK DINNER.  This meal deserves all upper case letters because Sean Stull and others bring a great selection of steak, veggies and potatoes which we grill and prepare ourselves at the cabin.  The meal always tastes great and is quite filling as we eat enough for a crowd twice our size!  Cigars and solving the problems of the world completed the evening in a totally satisfactory manner.

The next morning we cleaned the cabin and made our way to the

Sean Stull skis the snow we found

slopes to see if any skiing might be salvaged from the weekend.  Now that I'm a Florida resident, getting in at least a minimal bit of skiing becomes much more important.  I know I can't come back a week later when the snow returns.  As a result, I was desperate and was able to gain Sean's support so we were the only two willing to scavenge the slopes for snow.  We did find a bit worth skiing, but it wasn't much.  The good news is that it was much better snow than I could find in Florida.  :-}

Although the picture of Sean and video of me (both above) show how we felt about the skiing, it was actually a bit better.  The photos and video below show more accurately what the skiing was like.

Sean at the top of Wagner Slope

Murph at the top of Wagner Slope

View of Seven Springs from the top of Stowe Slope

Above video by Sean Stull while skiing down Wagner Slope at Seven Springs.

Even with the skiing at a minimum, the camaraderie was superb, as always.  We'll do Kooser Weekend again next year!

Growing Family - February 20-22, 2018

The train picked me up in Orlando, then spent two days carrying me north. First to Union Station in Washington, D.C. then to Pittsburgh's Penn Station.  From downtown (pronounced "dahntahn" in Pittsburghese) I caught a bus to Beaver Falls.  There I enjoyed first breakfast, then the rest of the day with my vivacious 3 year old granddaughter, Avery Mae.

Avery Mae Murphy

She has a great smile framed by long, flowing locks of bright red hair and is soon to be a big sister to her little brother when he arrives in May.  Her family is excited and making plans for the little guy's imminent arrival.

Apparently her parents are willing to consider sailing as a future activity for the arriving young gentleman, as they showed me one of the first outfits he'll be wearing . . . It has a colorful sailboat on it!

Young sailor's first duds

It was wonderful to visit and I hope to do so again soon.  Maybe when the little guy makes his initial appearance?

Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch - February 6, 2018

This rocket launch was predicted to be the most dramatic since the shuttle and Apollo launches of many years prior.  We decided to settle in with TGO friends at New York, New York, a small pub located on the Indian River directly across from Cape Canaveral.  The view across the water is completely free from any obstacles making the view perfect for any rocket launch, especially this big one!
The launch was delayed for a couple hours due to a strong breeze, but it finally abated and the countdown was resumed.

One of the really cool things, IMHO, is the landing of the Falcon first stage boosters.  In the recent past, SpaceX, the builder of the Falcon rockets, has landed and relaunched a few of these reusable first stage boosters.  While we've seen a few of the landings, this one was especially noteworthy, as two of the three first stage booster rockets were to land simultaneously back at Cape Canaveral.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the landing, but here are some pictures from the SpaceX website, including a very dramatic one of the boosters landing.

From SpaceX.com

From SpaceX.com

From SpaceX.com

From SpaceX.com

Myakka SP - January 20-25, 2018

Our original plans were to travel to Florida's west coast, near Sarasota and spend some time kayaking and bicycling in Myakka State Park.  About a week prior we realized that the big RV show in Tampa was open the same weekend we were planning to drive to Myakka.  As it turned out, we got to the Tampa show on Saturday afternoon, caught a couple hours of the show including a seminar about using the generator in our RV.  For dinner we caught an Uber car to the local Sonny's restaurant (other locations have proved much better than this one) and spent the night in the RV at the show.  The next day we enjoyed a couple more seminars and walked around the show, especially enjoying our conversation with two gents who own and travel with an old Ford RV that was home built in the 1930's.

Panorama of Upper Myakka Lake

Late Sunday afternoon after the show closed, we drove the RV to Myakka State Park and checked into the campground.  We were pleased with our site as we were on a bend at the far end of the campground so we were as private as possible, but still only a short walk from the lake for kayaking and the road for bicycling.
Monday was a bit cool in the morning so we relaxed, read our books and walked to the lakefront. 

The powdery sand of Siesta Key

It was a beautiful day, but still chillier than we transplanted northerners have come to expect of winter in Florida.  So we drove to the beach in Sarasota having heard that the sand on Siesta Key is brilliantly white, fine, soft and comfortable to walk on.  We soon learned that the info was true even on what passes for a cold day, as we walked and enjoyed the tiny, cottony, powder-like granules.  After a dinner at Walt's Fish Market Restaurant, we headed back to camp for a relaxing evening.
Tuesday was cool again, too cool for us thin-blooded southerners to spend too much time in the truly nice outdoors so except for a couple short walks in the park, we spent the day in town, notably at the movie cinema then refilling the LP tank in the RV.
Wednesday was definitely the day we'd been waiting for.  Noticeably warmer, we rode several miles on our bikes enjoying wonderful views of the flora and fauna of west central Florida including palms, ferns, grasses, Spanish moss covered oaks and wet lowlands with ibis', cranes, pelicans and alligators.  We even caught a small deer hiding in the trees, just a few feet off the road.

Small deer in the shadows, center of picture

Karen enjoying her bicycle cruise through Myakka State Park

Our bikes were fun transport throughout the park as we pedaled from the campground to the park entrance, then to an exciting "canopy walkway" that literally took us into the tree tops overlooking the park, river and lake. Click Here for a video panorama.

Canopy Walkway Panorama

Our biking also took us to a birdwalk that is a very long pedestrian pier that juts a couple hundred yards over Upper Lake Myakka.  It was terrific watching the large flocks pelicans, and other water fowl as the cavorted over the lake.  Just as we approached the campground we found another huge group of birds in the trees and on a pond, Video Here.
That afternoon we launched our kayaks and paddled towards the hundreds of pelicans that were settled in a small cove on the northern shore of Upper Lake Myakka.  As we crossed the lake we passed near a couple other boats including the "World's Largest Airboats," as the concessionaires tag their tour boats.
The bigger thrills struck us as we paddles closer to the pelicans.  Not only were there several hunder of the huge birds calmly milling about only a few yards from our silent kayaks, but we also saw a family of feral pigs scrounging for food along the shoreline just feet beyond the pelicans.  The family of pigs included several cute little piglets as well as mom, pop and a couple uncles and aunts.  Unfortunately, we didn't get any photos of this great wildlife adventure from our kayaks.
That evening, we returned to the shoreline for a spectacular sunset.

Myakka River sunset, just south of Upper Myakka Lake

The birds and colors were spectacular

Colorado and Arizona - November 12 - December 9, 2017

Randy and I enjoyed watching the Steelers win over the Indianapolis Colts so my departure was delayed until 3pm Crawfordsville time.  The trip to Colorado was accomplished in "Delivery Mode."  In other words, I just drove straight through, only stopping for gas, meals and sleep.  The first day ended with the RV spending the night in Macon, Missouri.

The second day took the RV and me to a rest area on I-70 near Goodland, Kansas.

Lunch break in the rest area near Ellsworth, Kansas

Sunset while crossing Kansas on I-70

The third day took me to Denver and my son's home in Englewood, Colorado.  We enjoyed real Mexican food unlike some of the places "back east" that cater to folks with my own weak taste buds.  Those that know me, know I don't handle "hot, spicy" foods very well.  I enjoy the spicy flavors, but can't deal with "hot."  Even the "mild" version at the real Mexican restaurants challenges the likes of me!  :-)

View of the Rocky Mountain sunset from Allen IV's condo, 5 stories up.

The next evening Allen IV had to work so I walked to a nice local pub for a sandwich and beer.

Sunset on the walk to dinner

"The Pint Room" is known for it's great selection of draft beers

Visits with Allen IV are always enjoyable, especially as his home is so distant from the east coast where I spend most of my time.  It seems we only get together about once a year.  We wrapped up the week together by unloading boxes and gear that I had brought from Allen IV's mother's home in PA.  The RV had room for lots of stuff that didn't fit in Allen's car when he drove to Colorado, so the RV briefly played the role of delivery truck.

The RV had been winterized before the cold weather arrived in Pennsylvania, so I had been using public restrooms and friend's showers for a couple weeks now.  It was time to head south of the frost line into Arizona.  Once again it was back into delivery mode.

Pike's Peak is the mountain in the distance

The first day was spent driving south on I-25 where I snapped a pic of Pike's Peak while near Pueblo, Colorado.  That night was spent in a rest area near Trinidad, Colorado.  Although the RV was comfy enough, I still woke early and decided to get started into New Mexico.  Sunrise caught up to the RV almost four hours later near Las Vegas.  No, NOT That Las Vegas!  We're talking the small town of Las Vegas, NEW MEXICO.

Sunrise in Las Vegas, NM

Colors in the Las Vegas, NM Sunrise

It was a beautiful and fun drive, but V-e-r-y L-o-n-g as I filled the entire day driving from 0400 - 1830, all the way to Tucson, Arizona.

Sunset in Tucson, AZ was very colorful and dramatic. Unfortunately,
using a cell phone camera through the windshield diminished the effect significantly.

The first night I spent on the edge of Tucson in Crazy Horse RV Park.  Nice enough, but not quite the Arizona desert scene I had been expecting.

De-winterized the RV thanks to the warm Arizona sun

The neighbors in Crazy Horse RV Park were a bit close together

After laundry, shopping and refilling the fresh water tank, I made my way to a very nice county park a few miles outside of Tucson, Gilbert Ray Campground.

It was almost lonely in the Gilbert Ray Campsite.  I loved it!

The view outside my RV door

Sunset my first night in Gilbert Ray campground

The next day I took a nice walk around the campground soaking up the desert sunrise.  Below are photos from that walk.

The fuzzy photo is due to significant zooming/pixelation to show the little bunny

No question about being in the Arizona desert now!