We Change Planes in Albuquerque

It’s morning in our Caribbean Beach resort hotel room, a gray day outside, which somewhat fits the mood as we pack and prepare for shuttle buses, airports, metal detectors, and long flights inside fancy aluminum tubes.

I had a good time seeing Grapefruit League baseball, despite catching a cold halfway through our vacation. From that windy first day at Lakeland (saw my old hero Torii Hunter homer for the Tigers) through the last game on a rainy day at Champions Park here in the Disney complex of theme parks (errors galore–but that’s what sets the big leaguers apart from the unpolished talent), I’ve enjoyed the games.

The missus reports that she really enjoyed the rides at Universal’s theme park this year. She’s a Harry Potter fan, so the trip to Hogwaerts (sp?) was a hit. Plus, she enjoyed her old Disney favorites, such as the Haunted House and Pirates of the Caribbean.

We generally ate pretty well. Okay, maybe the food doesn’t take a lot of chances, but it’s not prepared for gastronomes, it’s made for a wide variety of palates, of all ages, and with that in mind it’s of surprisingly good quality. Seriously. From our first meal at The Wave in the Contemporary Hotel, where the salmon and the curry were tastey, through last night where we enjoyed the German Hofbrau experience at Epcot, we ate well — perhaps too well. Going to have to take some good long walks when we get home.

The dogs will like that. Can’t wait to see the pups, Ernie in particular. Edie is a bit more independent, but I know the old German Shepherd Dog has been waiting by the front door.

I’m probably never going to be completely comfortable with the crowds, or the way people use those VW-sized strollers as battering rams. One morning during the worst of the cold I simply wanted a bowl of cereal in the resort’s cafeteria-like restaurarant. The cacophony and all the ankle-biters swirling about my knees and hips were more than I could abide. I grabbed some fruit and a muffin at the little store and fled.

The missus can sail through the hubbub serenely. I think she tunes out the screams and the meltdowns. Hats off to her! (A coworker & mother tells me she only hears the voices of her own kids.) I think she had a grand time, and that’s what’s important.

The unexpected delight of the trip was seeing osprey at not just one spring training game, but two. I was at the Houston Astros facility at Osceola County Stadium when I was suprised and puzzled to see the large raptors out on the light stands in the outfield. Too shaggy winged to be like the turkey vultures circling in the distance. Then I realized what they were, and enjoyed watching them the rest of the game. Here’s someone else’s photo of them.  We also saw one osprey also on an outfield light pole a couple days later when Rob joined me for a trip to the Pirates facility in Bradenton. Glorious!

Here are the games I saw:

Detroit Tigers 4, Toronto Blue Jays 1.

Houston Astros 4, Washington Nationals, 2.

Minnesota Twins 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 4.

Atlanta Braves 12, St. Louis Cardinals 3.

It’s good to see the missus so happy at Disney World. We also had a nice trip to Cape Canaveral on Sunday morning, despite my being under the weather. I love getting out and taking trips like that when most of the world is still sleeping in or home reading the Sunday paper.

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