With Dave and Matt both returning to Atlanta and Phoenix respectively (although Matt is kind of a nomad who works all around the country), I met up with Hannah and Nicole for another tour of downtown Chicago and the restaurant where Hannah currently works (as you’ll see below, we dined on the all beef Chicago Style hot dog and roast chicken – A+), before I’d attending the game for Chicago’s “second” team, the White Sox, that evening.

On this particular excursion downtown, I was able to see the world famous “Chicago Bean”, some of the art exhibits within the surrounding area and also a cool rooftop that gave panoramic views of the entire city looking out to the lake and also Solider Field (home of the NFL’s Chicago Bears). I really like the city of Chicago and look forward to returning and experiencing more of what it has to offer when I have the time.

I also found out that Chicago burned down in “the great Chicago fires” back in 1871, so once the city was rebuilt it earned the nickname “The Second City” (hence my clever headline).

Following checking the sites and hanging out, we boarded the Chicago Train’s Red Line headed South for “Guaranteed Rate Field” aka the home of the Chicago White Sox!

I was instantly impressed arriving at the ballpark as the Stadium was an impressive structure with a ton of branding and a live band directly outside. More importantly too, it was one of the rare MLB ballparks where you’re actually allowed to tailgate – so naturally I took full advantage.

This game also represented somewhat of a cool milestone, as it is the first time I’ve literally stepped onto the field at a Major League Baseball stadium.

Big shoutout to the legend Jamie from the White Sox PR staff who had read the blog and was excited that I’d made the trek from Sydney Australia all the way to Chicago for a game. It was an unreal experience that was greatly appreciated, so Jamie (I’m sure you’re reading this), thank you again – the White Sox have won a fan!

The actual game itself featured the White Sox taking on division rivals the Cleveland Indians. It was tough going for the Sox, who only were able to muster two hits all game, whilst giving up three runs in the third inning and another in the fourth to disappointingly go down 4-0.

Despite the poor showing from the home team, much like my experience in Oakland with the Athletics, I found that the White Sox fans have an unbridled passion for their team that in-turn generates greater fan loyalty and connection with their team.

Even though it wasn’t a big crowd, I would say about 80% stayed until the very last pitch in hope that their team could pull off a miracle. Again, this is really cool to see and defiantly something that not every fan base (irrespective of the sport) demonstrates (trust me, I’ve left plenty of events before full time when it all looks lost).

The next morning, I woke up and got ready for my next drive to get back toward Kansas City for game 12/30 on Friday. Given the distance, I consulted some options with Dave (who once again shows dedication to making this trip awesome for me – is a career change as a travel agent your calling?) about some decent places to stop that would be relevant to the trip.

Immediately he responded “You need to go to the Field of Dreams in Iowa!”, so based on this whim, I punched it into the GPS and headed back West for the great state of Iowa.

For those unaware, “The Field of Dreams” is a movie released in 1989, where a farmer from Iowa (Ray) played by Kevin Costner feels the need to act on a strange voice he hears that advises “if you build it, they will come”. Despite the ambiguity, Ray decides to build a baseball diamond on his farm (after seeing another vision) and after some time sees former players from the “Black Sox scandal” (Chicago White Sox players who allegedly threw the 1919 World Series in order to lose on purpose – a strong tie-in to the recent game I attended) show up to play as they were banned from Major League Baseball.

I won’t ruin the rest of the plot (there’s plenty of themes and references throughout), as the movie has historical and cultural significance and is well worth a watch.

After checking out this classic movie site, I drove a few hours South to see the University of Iowa Campus and surrounding town “Iowa City” (shoutout famous Iowa Alumni Bryan LaScala – Go Hawks).

Once again, another quality University and another beautiful campus, with a HUGE football stadium, baseball diamond and exciting attractions all round!

Tonight I’ll be again in the “Casa Del Nitro”, before catching up with some friends in Kansas City for game 12/30 (Kansas City Royals) this Friday night. I’m looking forward to getting back there to eat some BBQ and hangout with friends.

Until then, have a great week!

Coming to you live on a Sunday afternoon in my car as we wait for Dave to return to us after his flight was cancelled, the blog has a special guest editor and contributer to the “Thirty before 30” experience, Matt from Atlanta!

Picking up where we left off on the last blog post, Big Dave Cohen arrived in Chicago safe and sound Friday evening, and it immediately went back to how it was in the old times – that is bouncing off each other’s weird sense of humor and schooling Muley and her room mate Nicole in the classic drinking game “Baseball” – (I’m not posting the rules again here, because I’ll make it sound like shit, just follow the link).

We both got about 4 hours sleep before it was time to get up and watch the men in gold do their thing. Brian O’Shea (remember our Irish friend) came to scoop us up and advised that no bars were open so we were going to his other Irish mate’s place Rory (shoutout Rory).

Following the Wallabies victory (although it felt like there were no winners with that referee making it all about himself), Dave and I left the Irish lads to go downtown to our hotel, grab a bite to eat, and meet up with our third amigo for the weekend Matt (who will also subsequently joining up again in Dallas next Saturday).

We also did some walking around downtown Chicago, which is a beautiful city that reminded me of a “cleaner” version of New York City with wider streets and Midwest charm.

As we finished eating and got ready for the Cubs game that afternoon, we could feel something special was in the air as the sun began to emerge from behind the clouds and all of the sudden the city was glowing ready for some Cubs baseball at the famous Wrigley Field.

Wrigley Field is located in an area of Chicago (funnily enough) known as “Wrigleyville”. The area contains some beautiful residential tree lined streets and a main area full of awesome bars and also Wrigley Field itself.

We were all super excited, and took a perch at a bar where the bartender (dammit forgot the name again) told us some of the historical facts about the Cubs and Wrigley Field – the guy was legit a baseball encyclopaedia.

As we downed our drinks and headed to the field, the excitement was well and truly in full flight.

Walking in to this historical ballpark for the first time was a memory I’ll truly always treasure. It’s difficult to describe, but the old world charm with not a bad seat in the house, combined with a sell-out crowd all cheering for their beloved Cubs, all comes together to make for what is easily one of the top 5 sporting experiences of my life (and remember – I’m the guy who has been to two Super Bowls, not to brag hehe).

The game itself featured the Cubs hosting division rival Pittsburgh Pirates in a game that was important for both within the standings. The Cubs had stud pitcher Jon Lester on the mound that day, and he did what he typically does only allowing 1 hit the entire game (if we’d seen a no hitter at Wrigley I might have actually lost it). The Cubs would start the game with 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning, and given the aforementioned pitching by Lester, would hold onto that lead ultimately winning 2-0.

This is when the party starts.

Upon winning, the Cubs play their traditional victory song “Go Cubs Go” (again, listen to this in the video aove and try not to get it stuck in your head all day). Then the fans then go ballistic, pouring out of the stadium onto the streets and hit one of the plethora of bars around. You’d honestly think the Cubs had won the World Series again with the way people were losing it, but that’s just how much this city loves Cubs baseball on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

I won’t go into too much detail about the bars after the game, so I’ll just let you know we were safe, enjoyed the refreshments and had a whole lot of fun.

After a long day, it was time for us to retreat back to the hotel and grab a bite to eat. So what better to satisfy our cravings for food than the traditional Chicago delicacy “Deep Dish Pizza”.

Having wanted to try this unique food staple for some time, the three of us dived right in and smashed two slices each before feeling uncomfortably full and falling into a dreaded “food coma”. The pizza is so heavy and thick it’s more like a pie that resembles a pizza, however the flavors were amazing so I scored it a 6.9/10.

*NO REVIEW VIDEO AS PHONE WAS BROKEN AT THIS POINT*

I’ve really loved the city of Chicago and will be sad leaving on Tuesday morning after the White Sox game Monday night – although I’m pumped to see Dave and Matt again next weekend in Dallas.

It’s now one third of the way through, and I’m still having the greatest time on this crazy road trip. Looking forward further sharing the experience with you and also checking out some touristy things around Chicago today!

Driving East through Iowa, then South through Kansas City and again East along the I-70, I arrived in St Louis ready to meet with my friend and hosts for the next two nights Lisa and her boyfriend Casey.

As I had some time to kill before meeting up with them as they were at a dinner, I did what everyone does who is on their third trip to St Louis and went directly to the “St Louis Arch” to relax, unwind and try figure out how to fit the entire thing into one picture.

The Arch is a key monument and what most people identify St Louis with (the “body” of St Louis if you like), that represents “the gateway to the West”. Pretty cool and one of those things you see that truly never gets old.

I then met up with Lisa who introduced me to Casey and we all exchanged plesantries before hitting the hay at about 11:00pm.

The next day after taking care of some admin (read: do laundry), the three of us began pre gaming (with Casey’s other mate Dominic – absolutely hysterical guy), for what was going to be a RED HOT day both on and off the baseball diamond, for St Louis was scheduled to hit 35 degrees Celsius (or about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).

After ensuring we were all refreshed on the local drop, that is copious amounts of Bud Light, we got into an UBER destined for Busch Stadium.

As previously mentioned, if the St Louis Arch is the “body” of the city, then Busch Stadium and the St Louis Cardinals who play there represent the “soul”. Every St Louis local truly identifies with the Cardinals and take great pride in representing them as they in turn represent the city. It really is a baseball town especially now with the recent relocation of the NFL’s St Louis Rams to Los Angeles.

In saying that, it is cool to see a smaller town get so behind a team that is not very relatable as someone from Sydney where we have 50 different teams for each sport to argue about (well, except the Waratahs where we just argue with each other on how they’re going to screw up this season).

Please press play and listen to local St Louis legend Nelly’s song “Batter Up” before continuing to get in the mood.

Busch Stadium is a beautiful park that is a solid mix of classic baseball stadium design with modern amenities that you’d expect. With the Cardinals steeped in a winning tradition, reminders of past World Series and National League triumphs adorn most sections, and pictures and quotes from famous players are abundant.

The four us took our seats in the SCORTCHING HEAT, only surviving two innings at a time as we seeked refuge consistently in the cooler shaded breezeway areas of the stadium.

The action on the field was also just as hot as the temperature that day with the Cardinals starting off with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first to reward the loyal fans braving the heat. The middle innings included plenty of hits for the Cards, however they were unable to convert any of these into runs, frustrating both players and managers before Miami would build and score a run to make it 2-1 in the top sixth. St Louis would erase this with a home run in the sixth and tack on another in the seventh to ultimately run away with the game 4-1.

Following the game and still feeling the heat, the four of us went to local St Louis institution “Oyster Bar”, where we had some more of the local drop (again, just Bud Lights) and sampled some delicious alligator (it tastes just like crocodile).

Casey then advised me that it was his Dad’s 60^th birthday party at his parents place and asked me if I wanted to go. Knowing that I had an opportunity to make someone else’s birthday all about me (kidding – shoutout Nick Hale), I quickly accepted and we were on our way to Casey’s parents place out in the suburbs.

Casey’s parents were awesome, and ensured we always had a drink in our hand and plates were full (pretty sure my fat ass ate three burgers). It was a great end to an exciting day of baseball and family fun – although little did I know the day would not be over yet.

Upon leaving Casey’s parents, we went to the gas station to grab some more of the local drop (this time the “Blue Collar” Busch Beer), as Dominic and Casey wanted to teach me one of their favourite games called “Beer Dice” (or Dice beer I can’t remember whatever), whilst I controlled the music paying Aussie classics for the boys.

Basically, two players (and a referee) sit opposite each other on a short table with a glass of beer at each end and a line representing halfway. The object of the game is to throw the dice (ensuring it goes above the head line level) and land it into your opponent’s glass. If this is achieved, you score two points and they have to drink. Other ways of scoring points include throwing the dice in the air with it hitting the table and bouncing off – however this can be negated if the dice is caught.

I’ll be honest that the game does sound like shit the way I’m explaining it, but trust me, it is addicting and the three of us ended up playing for about four hours before we all retired to bed (read: passed out).

I’m now in Chicago (shouout to the legend Muley for putting me up tonight) following a 5 hour drive North (health is about a 6/10). I’m super pumped to be in this city as I’ve never been before, and I keep hearing how great the Chicago Cub’s Stadium “Wrigley Field” is.

Of further excitement, one of my good mates Dave Cohen (an avid follower and supporter of the Thirty before 30 journey) has decided to fly up from Atlanta for the weekend and hit the game – should be an absolute shit show!

Finally, tomorrow morning is also the Wallabies vs Ireland game from Brisbane. Given Chicago has a large Irish population, I’ll be getting up early, throwing on the green and gold and meeting up with former Santa Monica gun #10 and good friend of mine Mr Brian O’Shea – cannot wait!

Go Wallabies, go Chicago, go sports!

 

 

Back in Denver for one night following my flight in & out of Houston, I woke at 6:00am the next day to begin the longest drive between stadiums Denver to St Louis (about 15 hours total).

In order to break the drive up, I decided to check out somewhere new (as the main highway travels through Kansas City where I’ll be for a game shortly), and settled on heading slightly north along interstate-80 to Lincoln, Nebraska.

In stark contrast to the previous drives in the scenic desert of Utah and the picturesque Rocky Mountains of Colorado, I pretty much had 7 continuous hours of this.

 

Although there were some nice spots to rest and recover…

 

Nebraska also had this WILD arch over the highway. No idea why (did not do any research)….

Despite the repetitive scenery and heat, it was a pleasant drive with few interruptions and I arrived in Lincoln (with the clock moving 1-hour forward to Central Time), at about 2:00pm.

First things first, it was important to maintain the car so I booked in for an oil change and quick service. Once “Casa del Nitro” was all clear, it was on to check out the University of Nebraska’s football stadium.

Nebraska has a proud football tradition, with multiple National Champions throughout the 1990’s – although recent seasons have not been as fruitful. The stadium was cool and it felt as if it was the centrepiece of the entire town both literally and figuratively, with every single person walking around rocking their finest “U of Nebraska” or “Go Big Red” t-shirts.

 

 

 

Following my self-guided tour of the stadium, I ventured to local bar “Barry’s” to grab a bite to eat and seek some refuge from the heat. It was here that my server – who’d never met a REAL Australian before – advised me that in the evening there would be a professional baseball game between the local “Lincoln Salt Dogs” and “Fargo-Moorhead Red Hawks”, and I should check it out.

After giving it about 5 seconds of thought, I immediately paid my bill and was back in the car driving 10 minutes away from “Haymarket District” to the Salt Dogs Stadium.

General admission tickets were a steep $5, but I didn’t care. You can’t put a price on an experience like this. Basically, it felt not to dissimilar to a Mosman Rugby game day, with locals relaxing on a grassy hill taking in the action, some people electing to take a seat, plenty of cheap beers & food and kids running around having a blast high off all the sugar.

 

Unfortunately, for the local Salt Dogs, the Red Hawks were too strong and took them down 9-4, though it wasn’t for lack of effort or enthusiasm!

Following the game, I decided I’d treat myself, and booked a hotel in downtown Lincoln (shout out Hotels Tonight app) to properly “Stop, Revive, Survive”. The solid nights sleep and breakfast I’m about to get will be worth it before I continue driving to St Louis for game 9/10 on Thursday.

Until then, be good.

Game number 8/30 came to us from the city of Houston in South-East Texas (basically right on the gulf of Mexico). I managed to survive my flight from Denver only using the bathroom twice – quite the feat from me – and pleasingly the plane arrived 20 minutes early.

As soon as I got off the plane and outside the MASSIVE Houston Airport, the humidity and heat hit me like a ton of bricks. Most people that know my wardrobe will attest that 90% of my t-shirts are grey, so this made for a pleasing spectacle for locals as I sweated up a storm waiting for my UBER ride.

Arriving at my Air Bnb in the “Historic District” of Downtown Houston (located on the North Side of the city), I was greeted by my host “Devon”, a HUGE Houston local (too shy for a picture), that gave me a tour of the historical mansion that had been converted into a hotel of sorts with my own private room and bathroom – I’d highly recommend this place if you ever find yourself in Houston.

Not having much time before the game began, I showered, grabbed my ticket (shouout foodora for the ticket), and put on my Super Bowl XXXVIII Hawaiian Shirt (Patriots over Panthers) as this game was played in Houston and was a nice tie-in that’d surely get me over with the locals.

I arrived at “Minute Maid Park” – home of the local Houston Astros – did a few laps of the perimeter (it pretty much looks just like a massive building with some interesting statues outside), and decided to cool down by having a couple at the dive bar across the street “HTX Fan Tavern”.

Once my whistle was whet, I made my way into the ballpark, which much like Phoenix had a closed roof and PUMPING Air Con (thank god).

The park also had some neat features (see above) such as a train that runs above left field (if someone could explain this to me that’d be great – I assume it’s sponsorship?), plenty of decals highlighting Houston’s triumph in the 2017 World Series, and what has been by FAR the best mascot I’ve seen (apologies to the Elephant in Oakland), “Orbit”.

I assume Orbit is meant to be some alien (shoutout Mark Williams – they’re real god dammit), that fires up the crowd, plays pranks on opposition players (not during play of course), and pretty much has a hand in every activity on game day. They posted a highlights video at the stadium, so check this out via the YouTube below – you won’t be disappointed (note these are from 2016).

The game itself was a beauty, with a big Texan crowd getting LOUD for the Astros contrasted by a decent turn out for the always popular Boston Red Sox who to be fair made just as much noise when their boys went up 2 runs (after a BOMB 2-run homer) in the top of the first.

Houston would get on the board in the bottom of the first with a solo home run of their own which is how the game would stay until the fifth when the Red Sox would tack on 1 run for a 3-1 lead heading into the sixth.

Houston would rally in the seventh reeling in two runs after some solid hitting and Red Sox errors, however power hitting and getting runners on base would prove the difference as the Red Sox piled on another run in the eighth and two in the ninth for a 9-3 victory.

An exciting and fun game for sure, but it was the little differences in the Texas ballpark that made it a unique experience for me.

First off, cheerleaders aren’t a massive thing in baseball, they’re typically reserved for football and you’ll probably see some dancers at an NBA game, so that was very interesting to see (they had plenty of interaction with Orbit too which was a lot of fun).

Secondly, following the traditional singing of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game”, the Houston crowd then all joins together to sing another song “Deep in the Heart of Texas”. A cool tradition that is unique to the Astros, which made me feel as if the locals perhaps viewed themselves as “Texans” first and as “Americans” second. In any case, check the song below (it’ll be stuck in your head all day).

As I was leaving the game, I could see lightning outside and knew I could be in for one of those Gulf Coast storms you hear about. Sure enough, as I exited rain was HAMMERING down and you could legitimately see lightning was striking the buildings in the Downtown area. A situation for sure, but besides getting wet feet, like the hero I am I made it through once again surviving in a situation where a lesser man would have perhaps perished!

I’ll be checking out some more of the historical neighbourhood I’m staying in today, before flying back to Denver to grab my car and continue my quest East for game 9/10 in St Louis Missouri! It’ll likely be at least a two day drive, so I’ll be keeping you all updated via all channels and the blog of this drive through corn fields and ummmmm corn fields.

Also, a quick shoutout to my guy Sam Wolff-Gillings (SWG), for providing feedback and putting together this map of the journey so far – Sam, if you’d like an internship with GDThirtybefore30 it’s yours!

Until then, please enjoy some more pictures from last night!

Following on from my drive through Arizona and delicious food (shoutout Eddie McStiff’s), I had a delightful night sleeping in the “Casa del Nitro” (what I’ve decided I’ll now refer to my car as), waking up early to tackle one of the hikes of Moab within Arches National Park.

Much like the previous day, the scenery was unreal and being surrounded by all of the nature allowed me to further reflect on the journey so far and what was upcoming.

The hike itself wasn’t difficult – despite plenty of people literally looking like they had enough gear to scale Everest – however there were a few cool rocks that you could climb up to check out different views of the vast surrounds (again, I’m no good at describing this stuff so I’ll let the pictures do the talking).

Once this was conquered and feeling like the great explorers of a bygone era, I saddled up once again to begin my drive to Denver – with a bonus pit stop at Wendy’s Burgers (4.2/10 – never again).

Being fortunate enough to have done this drive East along the I-70 a few years ago with my mate Dave (shoutout David Cohen), I knew I was in for a treat and once again the scenery did not disappoint (only the traffic which caused me to be delayed about 2 hours).

I did get to fuel up at what is probably the best named city in the country though 🙂

Feeling good after that fuel stop, I powered through and arrived in beautiful Denver Colorado where I was to stay with my mate from Santa Monica Rugby and recent Denver transplant Saeed (yes – shoutout Saeed).

After being reacquainted and catching up on the last few years over some BBQ (I think I gave it an 8.9/10), we hit the hay ready for the grand tour of Denver (aka – checking out Mile High Stadium, the “Pepsi Center” – home of the Nuggets / Avalanche, and a little bit of downtown).

Arriving early to “Mile High Stadium”, which is the home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos, I was instantly filled with resentment towards the team and specifically the plaques rubbing their recent success of the Patriots in AFC Championship games.

This resentment was quickly offset however, as there was a fun run for heart disease awareness and we found ourselves fortunate enough to be able to join in the fun and even go inside and check it out from field level – something I haven’t done since I went to those two Superbowls (hehe humblebrag).

Following the stadium, we checked the Pepsi Center (no fun run here) and a bit of downtown where there was some chalk festival going on with artists applying their trade to the pavements of the city – not really up my ally, though it was interesting to see how passionate some people are about chalk……..

We then retreated home to chillout (read: sink a couple), before meeting up with our other mate David Jollie (who we’ll just call Jollie from here on) and head downtown to the game (via Jollie’s house as he forgot his wallet – geez that’s not relatable at all).

Coor’s Field is located pretty much smack bang in downtown Denver, and given this was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the fans were pumped to see their boys go up against National League West rivals the LA Dodgers (yay!).

It took a while to get in, but once we found our seats (after meeting up with another friend of a friend – shouout Marianne [sorry I forgot your boyfriend’s name, nice guy though]), we were truly able to take in what was not only an incredible view of the mountains that seemed to frame the entire city, but also some high quality baseball surrounded by typically rowdy Dodger fans (God bless ‘em).

The game itself was a beauty, with both teams scoring runs in the second inning including a Grand Slam Home Run to the Rockies (remember – a home run with the bases loaded). With the Rockies holding onto a 4-2 lead heading into the fourth, the Dodgers would hit a solo home run (Joc Pederson was on fire) to shave the deficiet to 4-3 and then would tie it up in the sixth to make it 4-4.

It was the seventh though that the Dodgers would EXPLODE, silencing the sold out stadium (well only the Rockies fans, the travelling Dodger fans were LOSING it), by piling on 8 runs, to rush out to a 12-4 lead which they would ultimately hold on to for the rest of the game in a CRUSHING victory for the boys in blue.

The action on the field wasn’t the only thing that was getting my engine going. As the time ticked over, Coors Field really began to turn it on with a spectacular sunset that served as a fitting backdrop to what was an awesome day in Denver.

Having a flight to Houston early the next morning, we all agreed to head home and relax so I’d be fresh and ready to go. Smart thinking all round, except I am NOT smart and actually an idiot, so kicked on with the boys and some their mates (shoutout all of you, cannot remember a single name) and eventually ended up asleep on the floor at about 1:00am.

(I don’t actually have any pictures of the night, so here’s a reminder of the best photo ever taken of me)

I’m now sitting within Denver international airport awaiting my flight down South to Houston Texas. I’ll be spending one night there staying in an Air Bnb downtown and taking in what should be an awesome game with the World Series Champion Houston Astros welcoming the always consistent and big drawing Boston Red Sox.

Plenty of content coming, so make sure to keep that dial on GDThirtybefore30 (all channels please).

Have a good one!

 

 

Coming to you live from “Eddie McStiff’s Restaurant” in downtown Moab Utah, the “Thirty before 30” tour is feeling at ease after an eventful few days with some of the most beautiful driving scenery, meeting some awesome people and experiencing game 6/10 played in an air conditioned dome in downtown Phoenix!

This section all began when I was welcomed into Phoenix (after a 7-hour drive from San Diego mostly along the Mexican border) by my host for the next two nights Nicole (who I had previously only met via a phone call and was linked with by my new friends from Seattle – shoutout Paige).

Nicole was an awesome host who went above and beyond providing me with my own room, bathroom, a full stocked fridge and chicken tacos that had been cooking “low ‘n slow” in the crockpot all day. I was extremely thankful for the hospitality, and with Nicole’s hilarious chat and outgoing personality I knew that the game the next day in Phoenix would be one to remember.

We started our morning how any good morning should start with a plethora of bloody mary’s washed down with a couple cold ones before making our way into downtown Phoenix using the light rail. The temperature was beginning to rise into the 40’s by about 11am, so hydration was key – hence why we ensured to pack a few extra coldies for the ride.

We arrived at the stadium where the bar directly across the way had a bunch of games including cornhole, Connect 4 and ping pong ready to go for everyone to get in the mood. I unfortunately lost a tight battle in cornhole, without getting the opportunity to school Nicole in Connect 4 or table tennis (I could smell the fear on her).

 

It was an awesome experience and something that I wish more stadiums would do to get their fans into good spirits (as opposed to Sydney’s train delays and cops protecting us from ourselves…..)

The stadium was my first proper indoor experience (a few years ago I was lucky enough to go to a game in Toronto – shoutout Simon Clarke – however the roof was opened that day).

It was really impressive how the closed roof combined with the air conditioning made for a vastly different contrast to the brutal temperatures outside, and clearly is beneficial to the players who probably wouldn’t make 9 innings if it were set up any other way.

The game itself was a cracker, with the in-form home team (Arizona Diamondbacks), racing out to an early 3-0 lead at the end of the first and putting another run on in the third to take a huge 4-0 lead.

This is where the party would stop for the hometown boys though, as the visiting Cinncinnatti Reds would hit a Grand Slam Home Run (a home run where there is already a runner on each base), to tie it up at 4-4, before adding 2 runs in the sixth, and another in the ninth to storm home winners 7-4.

However, whist it was an action packed, tense game, it was especially notable for two reasons:

The first: Nicole’s friend TJ was pitching and came into the game during the ninth inning (unfortunately giving up a run). It was really cool to see him wave to us from the bullpen and it’s safe to say TJ and I (despite not verbally communicating) are now best friends.

The second: I was able to snag my first ever ball used in a game (with a little help from Nicole)! I truly understand the joy my parents felt the day I was born, holding something so small and precious in their arms whilst instantly falling in love! I promise to love and care for this little guy the rest of my days!

Following the game, Nicole again used her local expertise to take me a few of the awesome bars downtown, including a rooftop with a pool which had incredible views at the mountains and desert in the distance – I wish I could remember the name of this place, because it was truly something special, Nicole please feel free to advise within the comments. We completed an awesome day by grabbing a bite to eat at the local and watching the end of the Stanley Cup (NHL Hockey) finals where Vegas would unfortunately lose to the Washington Capitals, before retiring to my room in preparation for an early start and a lot of driving the next day.

The next morning I woke up, packed the car and sincerely thanked Nicole for the unbelievable hospitality – seriously if you go to Phoenix look her up, she should be running a hotel and tours!

I then set off for Moab Utah, which would be my destination for the night before heading to Denver on Friday.

My friend Dave called me in the morning (he’s been following the road trip closely and providing some expert guidance), and advised that on my way to Moab I had the opportunity to check out a section of the Grand Canyon. After about 3 seconds of deliberation, I decided to take the detour and check out this amazing natural wonder.

Its difficult to describe the scenery and the actual Grand Canyon, so I’ll let the pictures below do the talking. One word that came to my mind was “fake” – as it seriously looks like some perfect painting and it really took my breath away (in a similar vein to getting the ball yesterday did).

Further to the experience, at the risk of falling into the trap of being too “introspective” on a blog where I (poorly) attempt to make people laugh, the land I was driving through and the Grand Canyon was considered Native American “Navajo” land.

Some of you may know that my Dad tragically passed away whilst cycling in these parts back in 2013, and being there by myself allowed me to reflect on his life and how at peace he would have been just enjoying the natural beauty and being on his bike – something he loved more than anything (well a close second after his family & friends).

I missed him a lot today, but rather than be sad about it all I know that he would be proud of what I’m trying to achieve and be stoked that I’m (somewhat) of a “chip off the old block” as they say when it comes to adventurous spirit.

As mentioned in the opening stanza, I’m now comfortably enjoying some free wifi, a bite to eat at “Eddie McStiff’s” (I went with the “Southwest Burger”) and penning this latest post – whilst also tuning into the NBA Finals Game 1 – when will all the sports end? (answer: never).

Thanks again for reading and following, I’m looking forward to more beautiful scenery as I made my way to Denver for game 7/10 on Saturday evening.

Until then, take it easy and please feel free to provide any feedback!

Game number 5 comes to us from beautiful San Diego California, and featured a Memorial Day matchup between the local San Diego Padres and their cross country National League rivals the Miami Marlins (shout out Marlins Man).

Following an awesome few days in Los Angeles with both old and new friends (shout out everyone), I made my way down the 405 & I-5 to meet with another old friend Kendal Brown and her fiancé Lee. The two of them are based in what is one of my favourite cities, Pacific Beach, located about 20 minutes North of Downtown San Diego.

Pacific Beach has provided me with some awesome memories over the years (today being one), however it will always be tough the beat the 2011 experience in this hostel with Sid, when I peed my mattress (shocking from me I know), and simply switched it with another bed that was empty.

Apologies for both that tangent and visual – here’s a shot of the pier.

Arriving about 2 hours before the game, I caught up with Kendal and met Lee for the first time – a great dude! Unfortunately, Lee wasn’t feeling up to the game so decided to hangout at the house whilst Kendal and I went Downtown (more specifically the “Gaslamp District”) to the Padres home stadium “Petco Park”.

No sooner had we found our seats and finished the national anthem, the visiting Miami Marlins began to build hits and runs and before we knew it, the hometown team was down 4-0 after the first.

Whilst the Padres would claw one back in the second from a solo Home Run to get the crowd back into the game, it was quickly cancelled out by another Marlins run in the third. Those pesky fish from Florida would ultimately add another 2 runs in the 9^th that proved to be the final nails in an already lowering coffin (despite one more Padres run in the ninth), ultimately beating the home town Padres 7-2.

Although it was a long day at the office for the home team and their fans, being the city of San Diego, you only have to look up at the clear skies above and the beautiful surrounds to instantly remember it’s not that bad! We were also entertained by exciting Memorial Day activities like tributes to the troops, a moment of silence (literally one moment) and the absolute highlight of the day – BABY RACING! Where it’s child vs child, parents screaming to get them to crawl forward and none of it really made any sense (they kind of just stay in the crawling position for a few minutes before one just zoomed into its parents arms – I’m sure some of the boys back home would find a way to handicap and bet on it still).

Following the game, Kendal and I jumped on “Bird Scooters” (think those annoying bikes scattered around Sydney except these are actually really cool electric scooters), and went for a cruise around the neighbourhood to end a highly memorable Memorial Day weekend!

We even bumped into local celebrity “Slomo” who apparently was a famous surgeon that decided to quit his job and simply rollerblade around Pacific Beach all day (that must have been a tough conversation with his parents – and I’m not talking about the discussion on quitting his job).

Finally home, Lee had grilled us some awesome fresh fish with all the fixings, and we ended the night flicking between the NBA Western Conference Finals and game 1 of the Stanley Cup.

As much as I’d love to stay and cruise Pacific Beach again tomorrow, the “Thirty before 30” tour rolls on into Phoenix Arizona, where I’ll be hanging by the pool in the desert, driving around in golf karts and watching the Arizona Diamondbacks for game 6/30!

Until then – have a great day!

Game number 4, was a delightful trip down memory lane, with good friends, GREAT drinks and EXCEPTIONAL baseball. I was of course, back in Los Angeles and to what is still the funnest stadium of them all – Dodger Stadium, to watch LA take on divisional rivals the San Diego Padres.

It was also an abnormality as for the only game I will actually represent a team and wear their colours. HUGE shoutout to Reegs Osborne who made this custom beauty for me to wear at the game and on the road – thanks you legend!

Given it was the Friday of Memorial Weekend (Monday is a day off), it was decided that we’d give it a huge nudge and do something very rarely done by locals. That is, catch the train into downtown LA, have a few glass sandwiches and hit Dodger Stadium well lubricated (ok the last two things are very typical).

Mindy, Bryan, Jesus and myself (aka the awesome foursome) picked things up where we left off, telling hilarious anecdotes about past times and games, drinking weird beers aged in Pinot Noir barrels (would not recommend these despite the high alcohol %).

As is tradition, we arrived late and picked things up in the third inning after missing a Matt Kemp 3-run home run in the bottom of the first. The Dodgers wouldn’t look back from this early lead, dominating San Diego with multiple hits and an additional run in the third to run out dominant winners 4-1 (play the music below to get in the mood).

Following the excitement and win on the pitch, the awesome foursome felt we should make use of our location (being East of the 405 – well out of my comfort zone), and hit one of the off-beat bars in DTLA (that’s the shit way of saying Downtown Los Angeles). We found ourselves at Clifton’s, significantly underdressed and over served within minutes of arrival, with whiskey gingers and old fashioned cocktails flowing freely (they didn’t serve rum – again out of my comfort zone).

Clifton’s was pretty strange. It had a giant tree in the middle, a live peacock dressed as a human and live dance performances on the hour every hour by tree people of the jungle (that’s the best way Bryan could describe it as we co-author this post)….

Further to tradition, we ended the night with some pizza “zah” and some quality wrestling back in Santa Monica – shoutout Mindy for being an exceptional referee and preventing certain tears (by Bryan). #iwon

Today we’ll again pick things up where we left off, with a healthy brunch of bottomless mimosas and certainly too much food – diet starts tomorrow amiright?

Looking forward to Memorial Day weekend with friends, and finishing off the drive down the Interstate 5 when I hit the San Deigo Padres game on Monday.

For those playing at home or who remember the “Thirty before 30” schedule, you’d of course know that last night (Tuesday May 22) was my attendance at the Oakland Athletics (A’s) home game in Oakland California.

Having previously written about the team and stadium, expectations were somewhat tempered, as there was a pretty high benchmark set with the previously attended games at picturesque Seattle and San Francisco.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised about how much fun I had!

The A’s stadium is the last of a dying breed in the US, in that it hosts not only the Oakland MLB team but also their NFL team (the Oakland Raiders). Given this shared scenario, the stadium had a unique design with lower than average walls in the outfield and many of the seats not running parallel to the base lines (as you see in all other stadiums). Furthermore, branding around the concession stands and on the field includes both the A’s logos and the Raiders – which made for a cool and unique experience.

Also of note, is that 2018 will mark the last time this “shared” set-up will exist, as the Oakland Raiders will move out at the end of 2018-19 season for the bright lights of Las Vegas.

I arrived at the stadium after a day checking out the University of California Berkeley (more on that below), with not one, not two, but THREE large beers to sip in my car prior to the first pitch (don’t worry there would be a sizeable gap before driving again) and a couple of jackets in tow (as the Bay Area was putting on a classic summer day of overcast skies, fog and cool temperatures).

Having seen the amount of cars going into the HUGE parking lot, I thought I was in for a classic Tuesday evening with a raucous crowd – little did I realize, that next door the beloved Golden State Warriors were playing game 4 of their NBA playoff game and 90% of the fans were there to see them do their thing. Not to worry, we all know a baseball players are tougher anyway 😛

The game itself was a beauty, with Oakland building a strong platform with a multitude of hits early on and putting runs on the board in both the 4^th and 5^th innings. As the temperature dropped, Seattle capitalised on a number of Oakland errors in the 7^th, ultimately scoring two runs themselves to tie it all up heading into the 8^th.

By now my beer blanket had worn off and I was certainly feeling the cold (I hate the cold), and I began PRAYING that someone would score and it wouldn’t go to extra innings (I also had an hour long drive back to where I was staying in Mountain View – shout out Pat & Sarah again for putting me up!).

My prayers would not be answered, and as the mercury continued to drop and the rain began to fall, I braved it out in my third row seat and watched the game move into extra innings.

I wouldn’t need to freeze much longer, as unfortunately for the home town Athletics the Mariners would reel in a run in the 10^th and Oakland were unable to respond, losing the game 3-2.

Despite the temperature, and the small crowd it was an awesome time and reminded me a lot of those cold nights when I’d go watch the Waratahs or Rabbitohs back home in the freezing cold and not get a result – hopefully it turns for the Athletics in the near future too!

Now briefly onto University of California Berkeley: (you might want to play this song as you read to get into the mood).

Berkeley was an awesome little “College Town” North of the main city of Oakland. Much like Oregon’s campus, the school has been built with the environment in mind and there are plenty of trees and even a river running through.

I walked through the downtown area, checked out some of the other sports facilities on campus (unfortunately couldn’t get into the football or baseball stadium), and had a burrito for lunch (which if you know me sat about as well as expected). Check some of the pics below!

They even had a statue dedicated to the great game of Rugby Union Football (although it  probably is American Football) and the male bonding only it brings out in those legends who play (shoutout Mosman Whales & Nick Hale).

It was another awesome day on the “30 before Thirty” journey, and it still feels like I’m just getting started. I’m now back in Santa Monica, showered and rested up ready to see an old friend Dodger Stadium for the game against the Padres this Friday night.

Here’s the story so far….