Phoenix, AZ, Take 2

Last March, Dear Husband and I enjoyed our trip to Phoenix, but we missed out on Cactus League baseball due to the labor dispute that wiped out Spring Training. So we made the rare decision to return to a place we had already visited. I booked us in the same AirBnB in a quiet neighborhood on the eastern edge of the city, but otherwise our itinerary was almost completely different.

Even though DH has some loyalty to the Cubs and the Guardians, I got us tickets at the two stadiums in Scottsdale to cut down on the time we would spend in traffic. Also because Cubs' tickets start at $30 to sit on the grass, and $60 for an actual seat.

No pictures of the Scottsdale Stadium exterior, because we underestimated how long it would take us to find parking in the city center and were consequently 10 minutes and 2 lead-off homeruns late to the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and San Francisco Giants. As a long-time Baltimore Orioles fan, it was disorienting to see so much black and orange unaccompanied by the familiar bird.

We had bleacher seats in the sun and were quite warm, finally moving into some shade from the grandstand as fans starting leaving toward the end. It was the more exciting of the two meet-ups we saw in terms of baseball (a rundown! a player who started an inning with a bunt single and proceeded to steal second and third base!), but the stadium experience was duller: no organ player, few inter-inning games (they did have two kids in cactus costumes race on the warning track), and so many advertisements--including on the massive light poles--that there wasn't even room for the batting lineup on the jumbotron.

For the Texas Rangers vs Colorado Rockies match at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, not only did I splurge on tickets behind home plate, but I reserved parking in the "home plate lot." Best $25 I spent all week, as it meant we we could zip in and out with little traffic, walking, or fuss.

According to their website, "Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC) partnered with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies to build the award-winning Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, which opened in 2011 as the first Major League Baseball Spring Training facility to be built on Indian land in the nation."

"Salt River alerts baseball fans that they are visiting the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.  Fields refers to the 12 practice fields located within the facility and also the Community’s rich agricultural history.  Talking Stick is an historical reference to the traditional Pima calendar stick on which carvers recorded historical events and milestones."

"The Salt River Fields at Talking Stick Logo was designed by local Pima artist Royce Manual and refined by Dallas-based design firm, FocusEGd. Manuel incorporated a rattlesnake to symbolize the Arizona Diamondbacks and the role the rattlesnake plays in Native American legend. The logo emphasizes a mountain to symbolize the Colorado Rockies and the scenic mountain ranges that surround Salt River Fields."

We enjoyed the cheesy live theater organ themes between plays, and there were the usual trivia and shell games between innings. No t-shirt cannon, though.

It was rather chilly in the shade, so for the sixth inning we walked around the ballpark to get some sun and enjoy a 360-degree view of the action.

As I rarely make the time to concentrate on a jigsaw puzzle at home, I decided to do this succulent puzzle a little bit at a time such that, almost like a magical charm, the vacation would be over when I finished it.