May 17--The Quest Is Complete!

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.  --Epictetus

    Excellent words of wisdom, those are. 

    Hang with me here. I'm writing the full account of my final stadium for my own memory...

    I arrived at the hotel around 2:30 and took a pre-game nap. Hoping to find food near the ballpark, I left for Globe Life Field around 4:30. There was some traffic, but it wasn't bad. It took me about a half hour to get there. Google Maps guided me directly to Lot D, my parking spot, which was less than a mile from the ballpark. As I was walking toward the park, I asked two men in Braves shirts if there were restaurants near the park, and they directed me to "Texas Live!"--the mother lode of bars and restaurants. I cruised around to see what struck my stomach's fancy and settled on al pastor street tacos and an IPA. Then I headed over to the ballpark and cruised the whole way around the stadium, taking in the sights and concessions. 

    While roaming, I encountered three women who were taking photos, so I asked them to take one of me. 

The writing behind my right ear says
"HOME OF THE TEXAS RANGERS"

    I'm wearing the t-shirt I had made for the occasion. On the back is a list of all the stadiums and when I was there. There are Cubs patches on both sleeves. 

    This being the completion of my quest, I decided to celebrate with a scoop of ice cream, Blue Bell brand, of course. I settled into my seat looking straight down the first base line. The stadium is quite cool. There were several home runs. When a Ranger hits one, fireworks explode. They also do funky things with the lights during pitching changes. There was no one in the seats on either side of me, so I didn't really talk with anyone until... there was a woman to my left sitting with her three adult sons. She came over to me and said, "Are you a Cubs fan?" "Yes!" She asked, "Are you here by yourself?" "Yes!" She said, "I was sitting over there wondering if I could ever do this by myself." I started telling her about this being #30 stadium, which brought in the woman sitting behind me, who then asked about the list on the back of the shirt. We had a lovely chat and the first woman who came over to talk said, "Safe travels to you, you are an inspiration to us all!" 

    The Rangers won 7-4. I walked with hordes of people back to my vehicle and slowly made my way through the traffic, onto the freeway and back to the hotel. 

    Homeward bound, happy and satisfied with 30 adventures well done!

        Leta

P.S. More photos to come when I get home to decent internet!