People Will Come

Memorial Day to many is a time to remember those that have served our country and given the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms.  What is more patriotic to do on Memorial Day than go to a baseball game?  America's past-time will always live on in the collective memory of Americans.  As Terrance Mann (played by James Earl Jones) said in Field of Dreams:

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

And so, we came.

Now, as a disclaimer, I am first and always a fan of the Chicago White Sox.  I have married into Dodger fandom and so, I cheer.  Even though I live 50 miles east of LA, I have adopted the Dodgers as my National League team (sorry Brewers).  I grew up outside of Milwaukee and attended games at old Milwaukee County Stadium and the new Miller Park.  I have many memories of sitting in the $4 bleacher seats and going early to catch batting practice and getting baseballs (mostly from outfielders tossing them into the stands).  Ironically enough, the Dodgers were playing the Brewers on this day.

I bought us some seats in the left-center field bleachers and we decided to go early for batting practice in hopes of catching a home run.

Although we didn't catch any home runs, Bekah was feet away from getting hit in the head by a Ryan Braun blast (his most impressive homer cleared the pavilion in left).  We did get some balls from the players shagging balls in the outfield.  The first ball I got was tossed to me by backup infielder of the Dodgers, Adam Kennedy.  When the Brewers took their batting practice, center fielder Nyjer Morgan was right in front of us.  I caught one of the balls he threw up into the bleachers and then I told Liz that Morgan had an alter ego named Tony Plush.  I said, "He'll definitely throw you a ball if you call him 'T. Plush'.  Sure enough, next ball hit to center, she yelled out "T. Plush" over and over, he found her in the crowd and threw it right to her glove.

Ryan Braun was booed everytime he came to the plate or to his spot in left field.  I had many people turn to me and ask me why they were booing Braun and so had to explain his positive steroid test and subsequent acquittal of a 50-game suspension.  If you add this to the fact that Dodgers slugger, Matt Kemp, finished 2nd to Braun in the MVP voting last year, you can see why LA might be upset at Braun.  I say give the guy a break.  Our culture is too focused on guilty until proven innocent, it's ridiculous.  

Braun hearing it from LA fans

The highlights in the game included an RBI double in the first from Dodgers right fielder, Andre Ethier and a fourth inning opposite field HR by Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez.  We didn't catch any home runs although you can see me traversing the aisle in hopes that this Rickie Weeks sac fly would travel a bit farther.  Unfortunately, we were a day early from Matt Kemp's return from the DL, but I still had a lot of fun watching the game.  The Dodgers played a good game, but came up short and lost 3-2.

Andre Ethier patrolling right field

T. Plush rocking out in center field

Tony Gwynn Jr.'s last night starting in center

K-Rod takes on Bobby Abreu

Big Bear Campout

So, I recently attended a father/son outing with the University Heights Ward here in Riverside.  I realize I don't have a son, but it was fun to tag along and be a surrogate father for one of the young men in our ward.  You can see we got along great.

So, Joe (our YM president and good friend), Adam (my surrogate son for the weekend), and I drove up to  the Big Bear LDS camp on Friday night and heard a spiritual message from Bishop Barney while chowing down on chili cheese nachos, cheese puffs, and cookies that were generously provided for us.  Me and Joe both commented it was good to be eating something our wives would never let us eat.  We did a little night exploring by the stream near camp, set up our sleeping bags in one of the A-frames, watched Megamind with the kids, and then stayed up eating candy and playing poker and blackjack.

Here's our shelter for the evening:

Although it was a bit cold (high 30's), I slept fine in my sleeping bag with sleeping pad.  I can't say the same for Joe or Adam, even though Joe did bring an air mattress.  I think the funniest part of the evening was watching Joe eat some lemonheads we had found in the top of the A-frame after losing a hand of poker.  It was an unopened package, so I had no problem eating them, but Joe has an apparent aversion to food where he doesn't know where it comes from.

We woke up early the next morning (around 7 am) and did a little hiking around the camp, before returning to eat breakfast at 8.  I got some great pictures of the lake from a big rock above the camp, which I was informed later (by my wife) is named "Testimony Rock", because this is where girls' campers have their testimony meetings.

 I also got some pictures of Joe after what he described as "probably the worst night of my life".

It's not as scary as it looks

Of course, breakfast was a "Man" breakfast: hash browns, pancakes, scrambled eggs, and lots and lots of bacon.

After breakfast, we did some service for the camp: Raking and removing pine needles from around the A-frames.  I can say that this was definitely the first time I've ever raked pine needles.  It's not quite as fun to jump in a pile of coniferous needles as it is to jump in a pile of deciduous leaves like I did as a kid.

Instead of doing some activities that Joe had planned, we all just did our own thing (in true Father/Son's fashion).  In fact, I don't think I've ever been to a Father/son campout that did have planned activities.  Joe and I decided to go on a hike with Bishop Barney, Brother Wolfe, and their sons.  We hiked up to pretty lake/reservoir above our camp, that is owned by a different camp.

the kids discovering a wilderness survival shelter

After the hike, we played some catch with the football and then came back to the sprawl.  I can say I enjoyed the trip and am looking forward to it in years to come.