Lukas has been getting ready for this week for nearly a year. His travel ball organization, Living Legends, goes back to Cooperstown each year for a tournament and visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The week is finally here.
We flew from SF to Albany through Chicago. Spent the night in Albany (a short night) and then on to Cooperstown the next day. Our flight got into Albany around 11:00, but we had to wait until a gate was available for our plane. That was about 30 minutes of being parked oh-so-close, yet so far away. Shuttle to the hotel and after a quick shower it was already passed midnight. A 7:00 am wake up call got us going, picked up the rental car and were off to Oneonta (town where the tournament is held). It was a nice drive, about 90 minutes through the green hills of upstate NY.
We got to All Star Village and it was pure chaos! About 70 teams from the previous week were checking out and about 70 teams for this week were checking in, so it was a mass of humanity. But Lukas and his team (actually 2 team from his organization) got settled into their bunkhouse (air fresheners needed ASAP).
They all got their Cooperstown uniforms, then had an opening ceremony parade and skills competition. They had a HR derby, cutoff relay race, fastest double plays and fastest player around the bases. It was fun, but way too long! It was nearly 4.5 hours long, which meant it went passed 10:00 p.m. and the team had an 8:00 a.m. game the next day (or 5:00 a.m. on the California body clock).
So while the boys stayed in bunkhouses at the baseball complex, I got a VRBO about 5 minutes away. I learned it's called a split quad. A two story house with a staircase in the middle and two apartments on the bottom and two on top. A 1 bedroom place, with a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen area. Kind of perfect for just me all week. Grabbed some peanut butter and jelly from the store, a few snacks and I'm set.
In an amusing "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego moment" about 8 hours after Lukas and I arrived in the Albany airport, Ellie was leaving Albany for LA to play in PGF Nationals with her Cal Nuggets team.
And while this is just the first 24 hours, there's so much to come over the next couple week. Lukas will play at least 7 games. We'll visit the Hall of Fame. Ellie will compete out in LA. Then, when the tournament is over, Lukas and I will hit the road for Toronto, Detroit, Cincinnati, Canton, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. It's the summer to live out of your suitcase.
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