Scheduling this trip was challenging. Ryan’s last game ended on July 23rd in Tualatin, Oregon. Ryan’s senior year starts on September 6th in Edmonds. We needed to schedule 29 games, four additional baseball-related sites, and 15,000 miles of driving into 49 days. On top of that, we needed to work with the MLB schedule, which is definitely not designed with this type of trip in mind. We did NOT have time for a postponed game. But that’s what happened next.
From Cincinnati to Cleveland
The weather looked fine in the morning. We woke up to sunshine at the River Days RV Park and dry roads for our drive. As we pulled into the Streetsboro/Cleveland KOA Campground, the weather had become dicey. It was raining off and on, and the forecast called for thunderstorms. We did a quick load of laundry and hung it inside the Airstream to dry, since we were short on time. Then, we headed to the ballpark.
Twenty minutes later, I saw the announcement on my phone. The game was postponed due to weather. Ticketholders were encouraged to return the next day for a double header or reschedule for one of 13 games to be identified after 8:00 p.m. that night.
Dinner and Deliberation
We turned around, found a spot to have dinner, and hauled my big logistics binder and our map into the restaurant. Over dinner, we looked over our calendar and our route.
The double header the following day was out of the question. We had tickets for the Minnesota Twins. The next time we were anywhere near Cincinnati would be on August 23rd between the game in Milwaukee and the game in Pittsburgh. Our distant second choice was August 29th between Detroit and the Louisville Slugger Museum.
We also discussed our plans for the evening. The drive to Milwaukee game the next night was about 800 miles, and it passed through Chicago. We decided it would be better to get on the road and get as far as possible that night. So, we went back to camp and headed toward Chicago.
A Long Night’s Drive
Thankfully, we have three drivers on this trip. Brad drove out of Cleveland, then I took over. At midnight, I headed for the back seat to sleep, and Ryan hopped into the driver’s seat. When I woke up at 3:00 (Central Time), Ryan was still driving and Brad was out cold in the front seat. He told me that Brad was eager to get past Chicago to avoid traffic but had fallen asleep somewhere along the way. We finally pulled into a rest stop in Eau Claire, Wisconsin for a short night’s sleep.
Up Next:
Stay tuned to hear what happened next with our postponed game – and hear about the game at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota!
