Keeping up with Katy: Weekend Wrap-Up: Games 2 and 3

This wrap-up post is going up mid-morning (okay fine, mid-day) due to me just being plum tuckered out from this weekend! Plus I have today off :)

Y'all - I had the most incredible weekend with my dad. As part of my {30} before thirty list, my dad and I decided to make the goal of watching home games in ten out-of-state stadiums. Game one was the Red Sox at Fenway back in June, and this weekend we flew to California for 30 whole hours to catch games 2 and 3! A whirlwind of travel and a whole bunch of fun!

Let's begin!

We took off from Dallas around 11 a.m. Saturday morning and headed off to Los Angeles! And naturally took an obligatory plane "I'm going somewhere" selfie....

Once we landed at LAX, we headed over to Anaheim - home of the LA Angels stadium. We couldn't check into the hotel yet, so we ventured over to a sports bar/restaurant for lunch where they just happened to be showing the Baylor game!

So we ate, watched, talked, and this is where dad attempted to teach me more about football. I'm learning, but I have a long way to go. I'm still trying to grasp the whole first down thing. I did learn that "safety" is both a position and a way to score points. But they are unrelated. Because that makes perfect sense (insert eye roll).

We then checked in, got settled, cheered Baylor to victory, and walked around the Anaheim area. We ended up walking to the stadium and checking out the area. I wanted a hat (that's some bright California sun), so the security guy told us to just look for the "large hat." We were really confused until we turned a corner and saw this:

Big hat. FOUND IT!

Pretty cool stadium entrance if you ask me....

We got me a hat (for $6!) and then headed back to get ready for the big game!

As we were walking to the stadium we passed CJ Wilson's flag, and as he was a former Texas Ranger that Amy had the hots for, I took a picture for her :)

Then we walked into the stadium to this awesome view...

I mean check out those mountains in the background. How awesome is that?!

GAME 2 - Angels vs. Mariners - September 26, 2015

This was SUCH an entertaining game (plus it was 79 degrees!). Mike Trout caught a crazy catch (my dad says he's a future hall-of-famer), and the Angels got a walk off home-run in the 9th inning to win the game. That catch though....I mean look at this:

via

The stadium went NUTSO. You can watch the replay of the catch here.

After the game we started leaving and the guy next to us told us we were required to stay for the fireworks show. And we're so glad we did! Side note: have you ever taken pictures of a fireworks show? You keep taking them because they keep getting prettier and then the next morning you realize you took 49 pictures and a 10-second video. Here are the highlights:

SUCH a successful first round of the weekend.

The next morning, we got up, watched Trout's catch again, and headed to the Amtrak. We were San Diego bound! PLUS it was dad's birthday!

I innocently just wanted a picture of my dad on the Amtrak, and then realized I got the Angels stadium in the background. Pretty cool shot. Adios Anaheim, hello San Diego!

We rode business class on the Amtrak, and let me tell you - that is a nice way to get around the Cali area. It was a 2-hr ride, complete with tables, phone chargers, complimentary snacks/beverages. It reminded me of the trains in Europe -which is by far my favorite way to travel!

Not to mention we rode along the coast the whole time, so this was our view:

Why hello there Pacific Ocean!

We got to San Diego a couple of hours before the game, so we just walked around the city. There is much more to do in San Diego than there is in Anaheim. On our walk, I saw a little coffee shop I needed to visit, and it turns out it originated the first blended iced coffee drink in 1963.

Fun fact - I love me some Starbucks - in fact I'm drinking some right now. But I love love LOVE random hole in the wall coffee shops. They all have their unique traits/quirks, and usually make incredible drinks. And this one was no exception!

Post-coffee break was more sight-seeing around sunny San Diego!

San Diego has some BEAUTIFUL architecture. We went to this shopping plaza (dad needed a hat....I'm telling you...that sun is bright) and it was one of the coolest shopping malls I've ever been to!

We then stopped by this pretty Balboa theater that just happened to be having a Mary Poppins sing-along session, but it was at the same time as the game. So we decided to stick to our original plan and opted for baseball. It was a tough decision though!

We then arrived at Petco Park! Not too shabby of a stadium either :)

This game was also good - but slower than the Angels game. It was tied for a while, but the Diamondbacks pulled through with a win 4-2. Funny thing about these games - it's hard to remember who you're cheering for. Of course we'll root (root root) for the home team, but at one point my dad found himself cheering for a really great play.....that was made by the Diamondbacks. While wearing SD gear. We had some puzzled expressions around us. Oops.

Game 3 - Padres vs. Diamondbacks - September 27th, 2015

We got to stay for 7.5 innings before heading to the airport to head back home. At this point, I was pretty sad the rest of the day. I just had SO much fun this weekend. Not once did I think about real life. When we were traveling I was lost in a book, and when we weren't traveling I was spending quality time with my dad and watching games. I hugged my dad for a good 5 minutes before we parted ways last night. We're already looking forward to the next round of games....unfortunately the schedule doesn't come out until next spring.

I just love this man. And our matching hats :)

ALSO - just so you know what I was dealing with over the weekend, we had some really loud people behind us on the plane home (well, actually the whole weekend, but oh well). Mid-flight I looked over to tell my dad something and saw he had stuck gum wrappers in his ear to block the noise. He also tried brie for the first time and decided it tasted like an old sock. Needless to say, I laughed quite a bit this weekend. Still laughing actually.