Pre-Camp Preparation
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While preparing for camp (I had six months) I threw some catch at the park with my son Jon. This told me my arm is shot. It's been about 5 years since I "retired" from softball, something I did once a week each summer for about 30 years. Next I spent minutes of strenuous exercise bike time over a month. This told me my knee had healed to about 90% from a freak accident at Tahoe and it wasn't on the ski slopes. [Our secret Rhino] I spent days on a healthy diet to get my body in prime condition. Then I had two rigorous batting practice sessions with former Mets/Dodgers OF and Enochs High School coach Chris Butterfield. He crammed into two 30 minute sessions enough hitting knowledge that I'm confident that I will at least ground out once or maybe twice during camp. So camp is a go!
Preparing for camp with Jon & Adalyn
Flight from San Jose CA to Atlanta The flight from California to Atlanta was right around 4 and a half hours. Nearly everyone on the plane was sleeping, except me. I listened to my Ipod to a couple classic metal albums from the Scorpions, Judas Priest, Blue Oyster Cult and Saxon. I swear the guy next to me was talking in his sleep but I couldn't hear him clearly with my ear buds planted in my skull. I could not sleep on the plane, I had a window seat and never got up from my crammed spot. We landed in Atlanta at 6:30 EST but that's my usual bedtime (3am PST). Atlanta's airport is so freaking huge you have to take a subway train from one terminal to another! Flight from Atlanta to West Palm Beach So I board the two hour flight to Florida and the plane is a little over half full. Another window seat but this one seemed to have more room. I do not like to converse and make new friends I will never see again on an airplane. Yet this young lady [younger than me] is all friendly and we strike up a conversation. She is from Sacramento headed to Florida to see her young adult children. She showed me a picture of the son and daughter and it gave me an opportunity to show off my favorite picture of Adalyn, which brought the usual oh and awe. So we carried on a conversation [yes, mostly her] the whole 2 hour flight much to the chagrin of everyone around us. It made the flight seem quicker. West Palm Beach
At West Palm Beach I rented a car, a Ford Edge. Ugh. Was better than the other choices. Since it was 11am [8am Cali time] and I couldn't check into my hotel until 3pm, I decided to drive the hour north to the Mets spring training facility in Port St. Lucie and kill some time. There were a few people milling around the stadium but I was not brave enough to walk around and go where I thought I should not. [One of my faults instilled by my parents] That's where I took the partial selfie below. But it was a mistake to drive there as I had not slept in oh, about 28 hours. On the way back south to my hotel I could barely keep my eyes open. Luckily traffic wasn't too bad but I drifted in and out of my lane a couple times.
Tradition Field Spring Training Home of the New York Mets |
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Saturday Jan. 10th
I had a really hard time waking up this morning. 32 hours awake, 8 hours of sleep. The bedroom clock said 7am but my body said 4am. This is why I came to Florida a day and a half early. If I don't play well at camp, then this is my "excuse". If I do play well, then it will be my triumphant success over insurmountable odds that TV movies are made of. Yeah. I took the 2 hour 15 minute drive to Naples to visit my uncles, arriving minutes before noon. I was shooting for 10am, missed it by this much. My uncle Jim gave me a tour of their very nice home, then we drove off in his corvette for a tour of the country club they live in and then a tour of Naples. What an awesome city! The Palm Springs of the East Coast. Not only did I get to cruise around in a freakin' cool corvette, I got a glimpse of a thriving city, something you do not see in California anymore. Then we met my uncle Nick, wife June and Jim's wife Deb at Nick's house. From there we went to the country club for lunch. It was so great to spend time with these two guys and even share a pitcher [well, two] of beer. One of my favorite memories from when I was a young child was my uncles coming over for a BBQ at our house and Dad letting us boys get everyone a beer out of the garage fridge [nicknamed Leonard]. We got to pop the top and get the first sip if we were lucky! Always a Hamm's or if a Lucky Lager, we would try to guess the picture puzzle on the inside of the bottle caps. It was awesome to see these guys and hang out.
Three happily retired Rowes I now know why Jim & Nick decided to retire in Florida from California. Golf. Terrible 70 degree weather. Everything is within walking distance and everything else only a few minutes away. And it is green year round. I need to convince the wife that this is better to visit than the Cali coast. One visit should do that. What beautiful beaches. No wonder Florida just passed New York in population. If only Naples was closer to Port St. Lucie and the Mets spring training facility. [I have no connection to the Florida chamber of commerce, these are my own observations. I was not compensated for my endorsement] |
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