Baseball Roadtrip - Day 1

Well the day started out great! We went to pickup our rental car at Dollar and were told that if we were able to locate a car with an Arizona license plate, we wouldn't have to pay the $180 drop-off fee when we leave the car in Phoenix. We rented a Compact car, which is typically like a Dodge Caliber or Chevy Cobalt - pretty small cars. So, not only did Brad find a Compact level car with an Arizona license plate, but it is a candy apple red 2008 Mustang. It was in the Compact section because it's out of state. Nice!

So we were on our way from Los Angeles to San Francisco at 7:00 AM. The trip took about 7 hours but went by fairly quickly (besides having to listen to Brad's earthquake and Scott Peterson line of humor). We drove up the coast and enjoyed our view the Pacific Ocean for a while. It's beautiful to see the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. Here's a pic of our initial drive into the mountains.

Once we arrived in San Francisco, and after a failed attempt to check in early to our hotel, we made our way downtown and drove around the city streets. Our first stop was Lombard St. The line of cars waiting to drive it was endless but we got a great glimpse of the landmark and still got to experience driving some steep streets.

Our next stop was Ghirardelli Square - yes, it's just what it sounds like. We parked and went up to the shopping area with the intent to have a warm brownie sundae. However, we got distracted by Kara's Cupcakes and went in to pick one out for each of us. I had Sweet Vanilla, Brad had S'mores. Yum. But....Sprinkles wins that battle. We made our way to the chocolate shop and shared a Ghirardelli warm brownie sundae. That's the point where we realized we probably didn't need a cupcake.

Finally, we headed over to AT&T Park for the Giants game. The weather was sunny but cool and felt great! We arrived a couple of hours early and walked around the park while watching batting practice for both teams. As the game started, the sun was still out but it started getting colder. By mid-game, the Giants were up by 13 and the temperature was down to 57 degrees. BRRRRR! I made my way over to a t-shirt stand and bought a long-sleeved shirt to keep me warmer. Brad also got us some hot chocolate - there is something not quite right about drinking hot chocolate at a baseball game in July. Needless to say, we stuck it out and enjoyed the game! The Giants won, obviously, and we headed out. Here's a pic BEFORE it got too cold!

To end the night, we got a little lost trying to leave downtown. But after just about 15 minutes of trying to navigate with my iPhone and figuring out which direction we were going (no compass in the 'Stang), we found our way to the hotel.

So far -- AT&T Park is the #1 rated ballpark of this trip! :)