May 24 - Took Anna to work, ran a couple of errands and headed out. Arrived in LA about 5:30, got checked into a cheap motel in KoreaTown, and headed to the game. Parked in the worst possible location; had to walk around the stadium and up a hellish number of stairs. Got into the stadium and then was informed that no video cameras were allowed. Checked mine with lost and found, and found my seat. My seat was in the front row of the top deck, and I felt like I was falling the whole game. It was a Candlestick-like night, although not really that cold. But there was a lot of fog. Aside from the annoyance of the video camera and the rail that blocked my view of the field, I liked Dodger Stadium. Grass, build for baseball only, etc. The DiamondVision screen had an incredible picture, the best I have ever seen.

The Cubs beat the Dodgers, 2-0.

I was really suprised that it only took me fifteen minutes to get back to the motel.

Route from San Fransisco (where my last errand was): I-580 East to I-5. I-5 South to I-110. I-110 to city streets for KoreaTown.

May 25 - Woke up at 5:56 AM to find the room shaking from an aftershock to the January Northridge Quake. Couldn't get back to sleep, so read a little while. Got checked out about 9, and headed to San Diego.

Checked into the TravelLodge, and took a one-hour nap. Went and visited Anna's aunt and uncle, Linda and Fred. Talked with them a while, and went to the game.

Jack Murphy Stadium is really ugly from the outside. It looks like several praying mantis' atacking a giant doughnut. But the inside is nice.

I got really good seats, which is not too big a suprise, since the owners have done their best to alienate the fans. I was about ten rows back right behind home plate.

They closed the upper deck, and put tarps with all of the team logos on them on the seats. Looks kind of cool. All of the hawkers wear pin-striped basball uniforms with the word "HAWKERS" on their chest. They were cool. The weather was still nippy with fog; I was hoping to have left that behind in the Bay Area.

The Giants beat the Padres 5-1.

Route: I-110 to I-710 South. I-710 South to I-405 South. I-405 to I-5 South. I-5 South to I-805 South into town.
May 26 - Checked out in the morning, and headed for Tuscon. Almost got stopped on I-8 for doing 62 in a 55. The road was downhill, and I was passing somebody, and someone else was to. The person behind me got stopped.

I left the fog in San Diego. It was quite hot just over the mountains. The land is fairly desolate, but there are actually quite a few plants to look at, and there are lots of mountains. So the drive wasn't too bad.

Well, take that back. Both sides of Yuma for 75 miles or so are really quite dull (not as dull as some of the stuff later in the trip, however). My favorite spot on this drive was the "rest area" on California side of the border. It consisted of a big patch of dirt with two picnic tables, a pay
phone, and two porta-potties. Wow, what a place.

I got into Tuscon about 5, and found Bobb Head's and Nancy Nelson's house without any trouble. I settled in, and Bobb, Nancy and I went out for (wait for it), Mexican food! (In Arizona? What a suprise!). Bobb had a Morris dance rehearsal at his house, and Nancy had to go out an try to attract bugs with a black light since it had rained the night before. (She is a graduate student
in entomology at ASU). This is not a usual occurence in late May.

Route to Tuscon: I-805 South to Cal-163 East. 163 East to I-8 East. I-8 East to I-10 East. I-10 East to Tuscon.
May 27 - Bobb and I went to the Tuscon Sonora Desert Museum, and had a blast. This place has lots of plants and animals from the desert. It has lots of different species of cactus, with an entire display devoted to the Saguaro. There was an aviary, a special hummingbird aviary, a display of
desert cats, a prarie dog town, some coyotes, foxes, etc. It was a neat place, and the cafeteria has good food.

Bobb then drove me to the Kitt Peak Obsevatory, which has lots of cool telescopes and a killer view.

We picked Nancy up from work, and had dinner at a place serving Middle Eastern food; I had a wonderful chicken kabob with rice and vegetables.

We then all went to the Tuscon-Salt Lake City baseball game. I had never been to a minor league game before; I think I still prefer the majors. Don't get me wrong; I had a great time. Nancy, who had never enjoyed going to a game before, really liked it a lot. Was a wild game; there were five errors, including one on a botched rundown play, three more rundowns, three wild-pitches
and two passed balls. Tuscon won on a double in the bottom of the eighth, 8-7.
May 28 - I got off to a late start, but then packed up and headed for Carlsbad, NM. After a long, really dull drive, I arrived about 8:30 PM. There was some scenery; I went through Guadalupe Mountains National Park. There were some really cool mountains, but it was so small.

I stayed with Martha Carey's parents in Carlsbad. Martha's sister was playing a recital that evening, so they weren't home when I got there. They just left the front door open for me. Wow.

Mrs. Carey left me microwave dinner, and I nuked some lasagna and watched tv. After I got bored with that, I went to the piano room. They have two grand pianos and a pipe organ in one half of the living room. I started messing around with some Mozart which I have no hope of playing. They got back, and we got to know each other.

Turns out they have a PC and an HP Laser Jet IIP printer with 512K, and they are having printing problems in Windows (suprise, suprise). I explained to them why and the best way to fix it, and Mr. Carey said, "I think you have earned your keep!"

Route: I-10 East to US-62-180 (in El Paso). US-62-180 East to Carlsbad.
May 29 - Mrs. Carey woke me up with an omelette already cooked for me. After thanking them profusely, I set out for Plainview. I was dreading this a bit because I know how boring driving in the Panhandle can be. New Mexico was dull; however, they had been getting lots of rain in West Texas recently, so all the grass and crops were green and there were lots of colorful flowers
along the highway.

I got into Plainview about 4:00, and Grandmother proceeded to stuff me full of food. My step-grandfather, Roy, is really getting old. He is quite deaf, so he has trouble keeping up with conversations, and he has circulation problems in his legs, so he has to sit in his recliner with his feet up. He sits and reads the paper most of the time.

Grandmother and I "visited" until bedtime.

Route: US 285 North to US 70 (Roswell). US 70 East to Plainview.
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