Man, August has just flown by! I can’t believe we’re half-way past the month. Our next stadium trip was going to be Citi Field to see the New York Metropolitans. As usual, there has been a change. First off, because they are playing the Phillies, this is considered a “Gold Game” and there are no upper-level seats left. The cheapest seats available are $60, which is a joke since that is the third-cheapest out of the 20 or so levels of pricing they have. Since this is the new ballparks first year, I’m hoping prices come down a bit next year and we’ll go see a ‘value’ opponent. I really am not cheap, but its hard for me to justify spending $140 (with all those fees), when we can go another time for $60. Plus, we will see two MLB parks this year Philly and Arizona, so I have no problem waiting a season for NYY and NYM.

The other reason for the switch is because the stars have aligned for a trip to the  Lycoming Valley. I have never done a doubleheader, but on Sunday (Aug 23), it will be a tripleheader. There are three stadiums on The List in the Williamsport area (two are in South Williamsport) and all three will be in action on Sunday with the Little League World Series begins in a few days. So, I’ll be making the two-plus hour drive west to catch the US pool game at historic Lamade Stadium at 2 PM, then catch the end of the International game at 5,000 seat Volunteer Stadium, which starts at 3 PM. My guess is Little League games last 1:30. To end the day, across the river in Williamsport, the Single-A CrossCutters play at Bowman Field at 5:05. That’s a lot of baseball, but seeing three parks would be great, especially a couple of very historic ones. Can’t wait!

As for the rest of the year, we’re still gearing up for our Western trip to Phoenix-Grand Canyon-Las Vegas. Both tickets to the Diamondbacks and UNLV Football games have been made and we’re all set. In October, I’m going to be in Norfolk for a conference and was anxiously awaiting the release of the AHL schedule. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out and the Admirals are not at home at the Scope arena. There are no other events at any of the other area stadiums, so no facilities to be visited down there…bummer. Also, I’m going to hold off on a November trip to the Prudential Center in Newark and wait till the last regular season game April 12, when the Sabres are in town on a Sunday. So later next month, I’ll be piecing together the rest of the fall schedule.

So I’ve been trying to plan our vacation for a month or so and finally we had some time to figure out exactly what we wanted to do and make some bookings. We are going to spend a week out West in the Desert. I can’t wait, as I’ve never been further West than Pittsburgh. We’re both working Labor Day, so on the next day, Sep 8, we’re going to fly out to Phoenix. We’ll spend a day and a half touring the city and area there and then have a head start as we make the drive to the Grand Canyon. After the Grand Canyon (and a brief stop at the Hoover Dam), we continue driving and stay in Las Vegas from late Thursday to Tuesday Morning. This gives us a nice four days in Vegas. We’re all booked and ready to go!

On the Sports end of things, I’ll be checking out two stadiums and was hoping for a third which is still a possibility. Chase Field will be #71 and my 7th MLB stadium as we’ll be there for the Sep. 9 game vs the Dodgers. Then in Vegas, Sam Boyd Stadium is the destination for the UNLV-Oregon State game Saturday Night. I was hoping the Las Vegas 51s would make the playoffs as we could see a playoff baseball game at Cashman Field that week, but they have no chance to get in (and really haven’t all season with Sacramento way ahead in the standings). The other alternative is Orleans Arena. Now this is purely coincidental, I swear, but after much deliberation, we are going to be staying in the Orleans Hotel & Casino. We really love what we saw with the hotel and there is a ton of fantastic reviews, the price is excellent too, the only downfall is not being on the strip, but we have a rental car . So anyway, the 9,000 seat arena hosts the Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL) and some college basketball events and is also located in the casino. There are no events currently scheduled, but I’ll at least check out the arena and see if I can get some peaks inside. I am definitely excited for those two games and to see a couple of nice venues.

Those are the plans, in the meantime, the next stadium trip is Citi Field to see the NY Mets. That is tentative, but hoping it should work out. Tonight is the induction of Bruce Smith and Ralph Wilson to the Hall of Fame. Also looking forward to checking out the Bills tomorrow in the Hall of Fame game, mainly to see how the OL is gelling together.