Brother Time In The Desert
When we first made our decision to extend Amity’s contract by 6 more weeks, it meant we would be in the city after the MLB regular season started. I immediately looked up to see who the Diamondbacks would be playing. JACKPOT!!! The Diamondbacks were set to host the New York Yankees while we were still in the valley. I called up my little brother, and we made plans for him to come down for a couple days to escape the end of winter in Montana with some sunshine, golf and Yankees Baseball.
Mile: 37,770
Quote of the Blog: “It took me seventeen years to get 3,000 hits in baseball. I did that in one afternoon on the golf course.” - Hank Aaron
Song of the Blog: “Boys Are Back In Town” - Thin Izzy
Shane ended up bringing down one of his best friends with him, Jake May. This made for some epic bro time! After picking them up, we started with some lunch, beers and some March Madness basketball. At the time we went to pay our bill, Shane realized he had dropped his wallet on the plane, and did not have it anymore. This set off a mad dash to get back to the airport, only to find out that he was up shit creek without a paddle. His wallet was later found on the plane, but that was in Washington D.C. So he had it mailed to our house, which was scheduled to arrive the morning he was to fly back to Montana. The “Saga of Shane’s Wallet” had began. Before picking Amity up from work, I had to show them my favorite brewery in our area of the valley, Transplant City Beer Company.
We didn’t let Shane’s misfortunes stop the fun. The next morning Shane, Jake and I hit the Sundance Golf Club for some sunshine and golf. Weather was a little dicey at the start of our round, but as we made the turn to our back nine the clouds went away and the sun came out. I was stoked to give the Montanans an opportunity to get away from the gray sky’s and slushy spring conditions up there for some desert warmth. It has been since November since I have seen my little brother, and it was nice to catch up with him on the golf course! That night we picked up Amity from work and headed over to one of Amity & I’s favorite activities, CHICKEN’N PICKLE!!! We had a court reserved, and we planned to do dinner and drinks while playing some pickleball. Shane and Jake had not been to a Chicken’N Pickle before, so it was fun to enlighten them into some funny city culture.
The weather was only getting better as the week went on. Pool time had become a staple of the start of a day. Knowing what kind of dark and gray winter they just came from, I would want to be in the sun as much as I could as well. We continued to take in all the sun we could while heading over to the Scottsdale area of the city for some PopStoke fun. PopStroke is a mini-golf concept restaurant created by Tiger Woods. It has two 18 hole courses, and they are not your standard mini-golf holes. They play more like regular putting greens that have added challenges and obstacles. On top of these courses, it has a full service bar and restaurant. You can even use an app to have drinks delivered to you on the mini-golf courses. Although these courses move slow due to the popularity of the spot, it was super fun! To wrap up another great day in the desert, we took them to Amity & I’s favorite taco truck, A1 Tacos. Jake especially loved this spot, and showed his unwavering gratitude with an unintentional Hispanic accented, “Thank You!” We all crushed way too many tacos. This is definitely a spot we are going to miss on our travels!
Finally the day had come, GAME DAY! Shane and I were raised Yankee’s fans, but rarely get to actually see them play, so this is extra exciting to do together. Chase Stadium is a cool ballpark in the heart of downtown Phoenix. With the weather being so nice and it not being too hot they, rolled open the roof on the ballpark to let in the sunshine. This made for a great day of getting baked by the sun, watching the boys play and taking in what might be our only regular season game of the year. The game was way too close for my liking. Arron Judge hit a clutch home run early in the game, but the Diamondback would come back and tie the game up. In the first inning of extra innings, Alex Verdugo would come up with a massive home run to put the Yanks up again. Not before the Diamondback would put another rally together and tie the game up again. In the end the Yankees would score the game winning run on a Balk call on the Diamondback’s pitch. It was a very crazy way too end a game that was nothing but energy and head to head battling from the beginning to the end. We followed the game up with some rooftop cocktails at Eden Rooftop Bar before heading over to 801 Billiards & Bowl for some bowling and beers. Shane’s wallet saga would limit his ability to get into places that carded him, so we were hit and miss with he spots we could go to.
The saga would play itself out the last morning they were in town. The package was coming through FedEx, and was scheduled to arrive before 1:30pm. The problem laid in the fact that their flight was scheduled to take off at 3pm, and the airport was an hour away from my house. Jake had to guarantee he was getting home so he could get to work the next day, so he took an Uber to the airport while Shane and I waited for his wallet. We had come up with ever plan for every situation, which included him not making his flight and going out the next morning. We knew that as long as the package came by 1:15pm we would be able to get him on his flight with his bags, anything after that was a gamble. It couldn’t have been later than 1:12pm when the FedEx truck came around the corner. Shane and I were sitting with our backs against my garage waiting and talking. When we saw that truck, it was like Shane had hit the Jackpot! Even the FedEx driver could pick up on our excitement and started honking his horn.
With some fortunate traffic and a dash of fast driving, we were able to get Shane on the plane with Jake to head back to Whitefish. The Saga of Shane’s Wallet had come full circle and he was able to crush a great couple days in the desert with Amity and I, and he was still able to make it home on time! Spending time with family is great & we are always very excited to host family, and share our Live Rad & Travel adventures with them! Thanks for coming down Jake & Shane!