In March, Vin and I took a trip out west to Phoenix, AZ to hang out with his cousin Becky and her husband Phil. Coincidentally, Phoenix is where the Chicago Cubs have Spring Training. And even more coincidentally, in March, they have Spring Training games against other teams that do Spring Training there!
OK maybe not quite so “coincidentally,” we were there, taking advantage of Phil and Becky’s wonderful hospitality. 😉
We got to spend a lot of time with Becky, but only a couple of days with Phil (he had to go out of town for work, unfortunately). So before Phil had to go off to work, we went to a Cubs game. Phil and Becky lived in northern Indiana (close to where Vin grew up) for a long time, so we’re talking about a family of staunch die-hard Cubs fans, here. So here are some pictures at the game (Cubs v. Milwaukee Brewers, at the Brewers’ Spring Training ballpark).
Hover over the pictures for the captions.
[[image:phx01.jpg:Greg Maddux, future Hall of Famer:center:0]]
[[image:phx02.jpg:Ballpark:center:0]]
[[image:phx03.jpg:Look at that blue sky!:center:0]]
[[image:phx04.jpg:Aramis Ramirez on third base:center:0]]
[[image:phx05.jpg:Second baseman and right fielder:center:0]]
The Milwaukee Brewers have a tradition of the sausage race once in between the third and fourth innings. No, really. People dressed up as sausages run down the field racing to see which sausage (e.g., Hot Dog, Bratwurst, etc.) will get to home plate first. Don’t believe me? Have a look!
[[image:phx06.jpg:Racing Sausages:center:0]]
[[image:phx07.jpg:Sausages walking by the Cubs dugout, exiting the stadium after the race:center:0]]
Here’s Becky, Phil and Vin, after the ballgame (Cubs win! Cubs win!)
[[image:phx10.jpg:It was a bit chilly that day:center:0]]
We browsed through a few art galleries close to ASU. We just walked in and out of these galleries, looking at paintings and sculptures. All along the streets too, there were some way cool sculptures (I didn’t take too many pictures of them, darn!). It was very southwestern in theme and feel, lots of native american influences. Pretty neat area.
[[image:phx18.jpg:Me and Vin with a sculpture in the background:center:0]]
[[image:phx19.jpg:Close up:center:0]]
[[image:phx20.jpg:A Lamp Post:center:0]]
What struck me about Phoenix was how big the sky seemed to be! Plus, the night we flew in it rained in Phoenix for the first time in six months or something (hey, it IS the desert!), so it seemed like the sky seemed extra blue. It rained in Phoenix, and snowed up on the mountains around Phoenix. I couldn’t help but click away at some really cool scenery. Many of these pictures were taken from a moving car.
[[image:phx08.jpg:Clouds parading in the sky:center:0]]
[[image:phx09.jpg:The sun playing peek-a-boo:center:0]]
[[image:phx11.jpg:Shades of blue – mountain, cloud and sky:center:0]]
[[image:phx12.jpg:Some houses:center:0]]
[[image:phx13.jpg:Behind the dark blue peaks are snow white caps:center:0]]
[[image:phx14.jpg:Snow-capped mountain ahead:center:0]]
[[image:phx15.jpg:Cloud shadow on a dusty hill:center:0]]
[[image:phx16.jpg:Houses blend in with the desert and set off the sky:center:0]]
[[image:phx17.jpg:Rock formations on a hill:center:0]]
We had a wonderful time with Phil and Becky in Phoenix. What a beautiful place! The desert is just beautiful (we don’t have deserts in Malaysia). But wait! There’s more! Tune in next time for pictures of our side-trip to Sedona.
