Day 1...The Trip Begins

When you come up with a plan to travel across the country, there are a number of details you have to take care of. One of these is answering the question, "How are we going to get from one city to another?" This question was especially pertinent to us as neither of us owned an automobile. Fortunately for us, Eric's dad had a Nissan Sentra that he was willing to loan us. He lived near the hospital at which he worked, and this time of year he could ride his bike there.

Eric was still taking classes at Northwestern, which ran on a trimester schedule that was different from most schools. In order for our schedule to work, I was going to have to get the car from his dad and meet him on campus in Evanston, just north of Chicago after he finished final exams. My mom dropped me off at Mr. Hendrickson's house to pick up the vehicle, I loaded it up with my things, and I was on my way.

The drive across Illinois was a nice, uneventful one. I had gone on a trip to Florida with Eric and his dad the previous summer, so I was familiar with the vehicle. I imagine that these days, my 6-foot-4 frame might not fit as comfortably in that vehicle, but my young knees didn't have any problem back in 1992!

That night at Eric's (mostly cleaned out) dorm, we spent the evening watching the Cardinals play the Cubs on WGN and playing Strat-o-Matic baseball ourselves. For those who don't know, "Strat" is a baseball board game that has been around since the early 1960s which tries to replicate the players' actual performance with a  high level of statistical accuracy. Each year, Eric and I would get the new year's player cards, draft a couple teams worth of players, and play countless games against each other. We figured to play a lot of Strat while not at Stadiums over the next couple weeks.

It was a Monday, and the Cards and Cubs had a doubleheader. Neither team was all that spectacular in 1992, with the Cardinals finishing up at 83-79 while the Cubs went 78-84. In the first game, the two teams were scoreless in the sixth when Cubs relief pitcher Jim Bullinger hit a home run off Cardinal hurler Rheal Cormier. The Cardinals answered in the bottom of the sixth when Todd Zeile doubled home Felix Jose.

Neither team would score again until the 13th inning when the Cubs tallied four off Juan Agosto. Jose hit a homer in the bottom half to cut the lead to three, but almost four and a half hours after the game had started, the final score was 5-2. And they had another game yet to play!

In the second game, the Cubs jumped on top in the first and never relinquished their lead. Future Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg hit a home run along the way, and after 8+ hours of baseball, the Cards had dropped two to their rivals from Chicago. Nevertheless, our spirits were high: We had spent the evening enjoying Strat (if not the Cardinals) and we knew that the next day would finally bring the first game on our trip!


Miles Driven Today: 321
Total Miles Driven: 321

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