Photo by Ken Koller

I have just received word that the thirty27 team successfully completed the most difficult section of the trip. Yesterday Josh started at his apartment in Redondo Beach. He was able to get a few hours of sleep after a late-night arrival from Oakland (Dani Robbins' one day cameo on the trip saw her get her first ever speeding ticket on the return trip from Oaktown). New team member, Bob A., joined the trip at LAX, somewhere around 10AM PT. However, Bob's journey actually began at his home, at about 3:20am MT in Missoula, Montana. Bob drove from Missoula to Spokane, WA (about 3 hours), caught his flight to LAX (about 2.5 hours), and then immediately hit the road to Dodger Stadium with Josh.

At Dodger Stadium, Josh was forced to make the most difficult decision of the trip so far. After nine innings, the game was tied at 1-1. With a night game to catch in San Diego, Josh decided that it was necessary to leave Chavez Ravine early. They stayed for a full nine innings, but were unable to stay to the end of the ballgame. With I-5 backed up, the two were still lucky to make it down to San Diego in time for the first pitch, but they did it.

The team stayed for the full game in San Diego, and sprinted from their seats to their car after the game. The clock had started. Next destination, Colorado, for today's Sunday afternoon game against the Mets. 1,079 miles. Approximately 13 hours to get there. Meaning they'd have to average about 83mph in order to get there in time.

I spoke to the guys twice during their drive. They sounded in good spirits, if not delirious. Bob drank Ken's remaining case of Monster energy drinks to stay awake, reportedly doing the majority of the driving through the night. Josh helped keep the pair awake by rehashing old stories about the Price Chopper Picketline days. They were working with their D material by the time they reached the state of Colorado.

Josh called me in the top of the first. The last moments of the drive went something like this.... Bob pulled up to the curb, Josh ran and picked up his tickets from the window, ran back to the curb and gave Bob his ticket, and Josh ran into the stadium with only two minutes to spare, just in time to see Jose Reyes' triple to start the game. Bob parked and presumably missed the first few pitches, but Josh (the only trip member who will complete the entire 30 stadium journey) made it by first pitch.

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The trip doesn't get much easier after today's game though. The current duo has another 600 miles to drive to reach Kansas City tomorrow night. At this point, I am unsure of their plan to get there. Will they sleep in Denver tonight and leave early tomorrow morning? Or will they leave immediately to get to KC, and sleep tomorrow during the day?

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Some trip notes....
----Josh has yet to consume anything but water, peanut butter, cereal, and stadium pretzels.
----Josh's teammates (Ken, Dani, Bob) have combined to slam down over 203 Monster energy drinks in only seven days.
----Congratulations to Josh and Bob on completing yesterday/today's epic drive without dying and/or getting arrested.
----Friday night's game in Oakland saw six home runs, a Marlins comeback, and a walkoff win by the A's.
----C.C. Sabathia, the pitcher, hit an absolute bomb, the second of his career, at Dodger Stadium.

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posted by Sven (http://www.60ft6in.com, http://metsthing.blogspot.com)