Day 79 - 4/5/14 Passed on Old Tucson & College Baseball Doubleheader

I had held out on visiting Old Tucson until the weekend.  Old Tucson is the location that Holywood built to make a number of western films.  Unlike Other places out here where Old town means the section of town where the town was first settled, Old Tucson is some miles out if town, secluded from population, and where people do not live.

Web photo

The reason for holding out visiting Old Ztucson was because it is basically an amusement park and when I went by the other day to visit the Desert Museum there were only few cars in the parking lot.

A good portion of the fun going to a place like this, especially by yourself, is watching other people. They have a train ride and western themed shows like staged bank robbery.

Web photo

So Saturday I went early as it is open from 10:00 to 6:00.  I was in the parking lot for 10:00 and I was there with 3 other cars.  I waited 15 minutes and there were 6 to 8 cars.  After a half an hour 15 cars and 20 or so after 45 minutes.  

This attraction gets top billing on brochures like the Desert Museum 3 miles down the street that was well attended mid week.

I am sure this would be a great place to take my granddaughters but they were not pulling in the public to make it fun and interesting to me so I left without going.

They better do some better marketing as wth this poor weekend attendance I can't think it is good for sustaining the business.

Earlier at McDonalds I had looked over a few websites on things going in Tucson and I remembered that the local college has a double header baseball game starting at noon and it was just over the mountains.

There is a road that goes through the mountain pass that makes the trip 8 miles vs 20 miles to go around.

This pass road is vehicle size restricted due to it being steep, narrow and with twists and strums ahead.  My campervan being narrow had no problem making the trip through it.  The only difficulty is that this narrow road is shared with a number of bikers taking their Saturday ride.

On the other side is the city if Tucson.

It was a mild morning that warmed up fast and was looking to be a good baseball day.

The game was between the Chandler-Gilbert Community College and the Pima Community College, the home team.

The fiield they play on is very well maintained and the bleachers are directly behind home plate, that makes for great viewing of the game.

The game started on time and both teams were well matched

 If you play ball in High School and you are good you want to come to the warm climate to go to college to play as their season is from January through the end if school in May.  This gives them more practice and ball playing experience than the colleges that have a short season due to bad weather..

While sitting in the bleachers the wind picked up ushering in a cold front and it kicked up this dust devil just outside the field.  You could see it firm a few miles away and watch it work it's way towards us.  

It died shortly after this.  

My daily attire of shorts and tee shirt became problematic as clouds came in and with a stiff nreeze and temperatures falling it was nice to have my life in the camper so I went Vick to the parking lot for warmer clothing.

The first game was tied 1-1 into the 9th inning where CGCC was up at the top of the inning and there was a play at home plate with a throw from the outfield.  The runner makes home and catcher gets the ball at the same time.  The umpire calls it an out and what he couldn't see from his angle was the runner slid under the catcher and touched the base befor the catcher tagged him.

There was an uproar and the coach contested with no avail and one adult in the stands near me gave the umpire verbal crap.

I have to say I saw some great plays being made with diving catches, great throws for outs and nice pitching.  This was not a boring game as the home team was up at the bottom of the 9 and with 2 outs the batter hits a home run with no one on base to win the first game.

The second game was also played well and tied up to the point I left to drive a half hour back and go grocery shopping for dinner.

I have to say that going to watch the game was a good choice having seen some great ball playing.  If you like baseball college games are a good choice.  When at my camp in Vermont I try to take in the Mountaineers, summer college league games in Montpelier.  They pick up college ball players to play from May to the first of August.  I also go to see the Dirt Dogs in Leomister, MA when I am home.  

What"a for dinner? Grilled chicken salad. Stopped by Walmart for the chicken and a few other things before heading back for the night.