Aprés Season

Since Mammoth I've been getting my ducks in a row for the summer, but more importantly I've had a little fun in the sun. My girlfriend Amy and I spent a week on the California coast, spending a few days trying not to get burned in San Diego before heading up to SF to catch up with her friends and my brother.

During the entire trip I really wanted to watch baseball games, particularly in Petco Park in San Diego, Dodger Stadium in LA, or AT&T Park in SF. I was even willing to settle for wherever the Angels play. However, the only team that wasn't on a road trip was the Oakland A's, and much to my girlfriend's delight they were playing the Red Sox. I am not much of a Red Sox fan (go Mariners!), in fact ever since I started at Williams in '04 I've gone from rooting for them as an underdog to growing weary of their incessant fandom. I digress. So instead of heading to some of the hallowed grounds of baseball we ended up taking the BART to the Oakland Coliseum, a concrete behemoth that also plays home to da Raiders. From the train station to the stadium, everyone is forced onto a (also) concrete overpass that crosses the train tracks. Being forced down this narrow gangplank, where some of Oakland's most aggressive scalpers and street musicians pay their bills was something I'll never forget. While in the stadium all I could think about was how crazy Raiders games must be to go to, when the upper bowl which is closed off for A's games becomes available to about 20,000 more crazies. Oh, and you can bring in your own beverage/food to the game so just imagine how that can ramp things up.

From California we headed to Kingfield, Maine to celebrate Easter. On Friday I took my last runs of the year at Sugarloaf on some sweet Atomic 205 SL skis circa 1992. I found them in Amy's garage before heading up and decided that this would be a great way to get back to the basics of skiing. Or just a way to look like a joey in the spring. Either way it was a lot of fun. From here I'll be heading down to DC where I will continue working with the FBR Branch of the BGC. Looking forward to a killer summer!