Revacation part 8 THE END

2010/04/02

For the 2nd day this week I woke up in the morning on a bus pulling into a bus station. We grabbed all stuff and hauled it out of there and found a taxi to get back to Ale's house. When we got there we just dumped it off and crawled in her bed to finish sleeping.

When we woke up we didn't do much. Today was a resting day. We basically sat on her bed all day (like how she is every time I call her on skype :P) and played with our computers. We copied each others pics from the #revacation. I gave her a bunch of media that I had on my hard drive that I put on there specifically to give her. She downloaded Windows 7 for me and installed it on my laptop along with a bunch of other stuff which was awesome. It was a nice day to just be together in a more normal setting than with the excitement of vacation all around us. Later I actually wish we had spent more time doing stuff like this. I love how tech savvy Ale is. <3

As the evening approached we both could fell our hearts growing heavy. It was time to pack up her dad's car so they could ride me to the airport to go home. The was the most glorious week I had ever experienced in my life so far and although it seemed to stretch out for longer than it actually was it had to end sometime and this was now. I knew this moment would eventually come and I dreaded it. I was getting sad because I had to leave.

It was a crappy long ride to the airport and when we got their her parents stayed with the car and Ale walked me in as far as she was allowed to go. I checked my bag and we walked to where I had to walk thru the security gate and sat down. What was I supposed to say? I don't think I needed to say much we were both just crying. We hugged and kissed and stuff until I got up to go to my plane. I think I cried thru about 3 security gates before I was able to stop. It sucked. I don't know why I had to go thru so much security either. It was pretty stupid but I eventually made it to my gate and boarded. It was time to leave this country and go home. I knew I'd be back someday. This was after all the trip of a lifetime.

EPILOGUE

2010/04/03

When I woke up and got off the plane in Washington DC I had a little less than 2 hours to get to the next plane back to Pittsburgh. I knew we had to go thru customs but little did I know I still had a bit of adventure yet to go. I scheduled everything this way because I felt I'd have enough time to get back to make it to Isaac's first ever baseball practice. Something I did not want to miss. When I got off the plane and shuffled down with everyone else to customs I started thinking that not only might I not make it but I might be stuck here for a long time. The line wrapped between those velvet rope things throughout the entire room. Sure they had a lot of booths at the end to check the people out but like only 3 of them were staffed at this time. I got on chat on my phone with Ale and told her what was going on. She didn't want me to worry so she kept reassuring me that I would make it. She didn't see this line though. It moved agonizingly slow. You could hear everyone bitching to each other and to loved ones on their phones that they were stuck in this line and were going to miss their flights. It took about an hour and half for me to make it to my turn but it seemed like forever. I was thinking at this point I wouldn't make it. The guy looked at my stuff and let me go thru. I started running.

In the next room was all our bags. I saw mine immediately and grabbed it. Ok, I have a few minutes. Maybe I would make it after all I thought. The next room was another security station. Take off all your clothes, etc. Good god man. Where do you think I got a gun from between here and where I got off the plane? For real. Again the lines moved so slow. Well there goes my hope of making it. I finally got thru this and started running again.

I came out in the airport proper and although I knew what gate I needed to make it to I had no idea where that was. I asked some guy and he said go back the way I came. That confused me. I went back down the stairs to the security station. This wasn't right and I was wasting valuable time. I went back up the stairs and looked the other way. There was a sign for gate A. I ran. Oh boy did I run. I had less than 10 mins. There was no way I thought. You always see in movies people running thru the airport like that but never have I experienced in in real life until now. That was me. My gate was of course at the furthest point away from where I currently was. At least now I had running buddies coming along with me. Other people were killing themselves as well to get to their respective gates. We all got a small break to sit down and rest when we got to the shuttle that went between gates. My legs were killing me. When the shuttle stopped we all took off again but I could barely run anymore. My luggage was too heavy and my calves were on fire. at least now I was at the right gate and I had an early number like 3 or something. As long as they went in numerical order I was almost there. I couldn't be that lucky. It, of course, was in reverse numerical order. My gate was way at the other end. I kept running the best I could. I kept telling myself that I could rest when I got to the plane.

I finally made it and I burst thru the gate throwing my boarding pass at the lady. Oh man, the plane wasn't here. This just opened up into a whole other corridor I had to run down and without fail my gate was the very very last. I could see the words Pittsburgh on it as I tried to catch my breath. I was sweating and dying here but I MADE IT!! I don't know how but I did with 1 minute to spare. Luckily I was in seat 1A so I could finally sit down. Just a quick 45 min jaunt home now.

There was still some more pain hauling my stuff to where I parked (if you remember my first #revacation blog it was pretty far back) but the worst was over. Oh no someone in DC broke my luggage. I only had one wheel now. :| That's going to make it harder.

I packed up my car and blasted straight to the municipal field. What a good daddy I am. Flying home from another country overnight on a 12 hour flight to go straight to my sons baseball practice is a story I enjoy telling. I texted Ale I had made it and sat down to see my son learn the wonders of team sports. Could there be anything better? A leg massage would be nice. :P

THE END

Isaac's First Baseball Game

Opening day 2010 for the Penn Trafford Athletic Association was Saturday April 24th. I was there because it was my son's first day of baseball. This was how I saw it.

It was supposed to rain. The weather forecast all that week called for it. I was bummed about this because there were 4 practices before the games started. Out of those practices, 3 of them were cancelled due to rain. Although I did practice with him myself several times I don't think Isaac was catching on yet. I thought he needed more practices with his team and coach but that time has past. The games were how he was going to learn now.

I woke up around 8am and got ready. I needed to remember to grab his gloves and his cleats. He would be receiving his uniform today when we got there and found his coach. When I was ready I put the stuff in a bag and walked over to the fields. (I live very close) It was cloudy but it wasn't raining yet. Maybe it would hold off.

I got there and I texted my ex and located her and Isaac. She was unsure of where to go so even though I thought I knew I pulled out my iPhone and verified anyway. That's what I thought. We were headed the right way. No worries. We went up on the hill by field 5 and there was everyone. The Pirate Parrot was even here. (Probably more fun cheering for and watching these kids then our loser MLB team) We found Isaac's coach and got him into his uniform. It did start sprinkling around this time but wasn't raining yet. We hung out, took a bunch of pictures, and schmoozed with his teammates and their parents. We tried to get a picture of him with the Pirate Parrot but for some reason he was terrified of him. I'm not sure what was going on with that. We pointed out that there were girls even smaller than him that weren't scared but that didn't convince him. He was awful whiny even besides that. As soon as he got his cleats on I encouraged him to run as fast as he could over to a bench and back to test them out and he flat out would not do it. He kept hiding behind Lisa. I don't know what the problem was but it better get fixed quick. Oh they are yelling for us to line up. It was time for the parade to start.

We walked down with them and then had to hurry around the side of the field as they marched on and got in line to be announced. I think the guy said something about there being around 1500 kids involved in the baseball/softball programs. That's a lot!! I could believe it too because the field was packed. They would announce the team and coach and then they would run out between the cheerleaders and slap hands with the Pirate Parrot and then go line up. The whole field was full by the time they were done. Some high school girl sang the national anthem after all the teams were announced and it was raining pretty hard by the time all that was done. Isaac got a ticket to get a free hot dog at the concession stand. The only problem with that was that so did the other 1499 kids. :\ I wanted to get out of this rain so I went for the nearest pavilion and started catching up with all my junk on my phone. Soon Lisa and Isaac found me and he had his hot dog. He still won't eat them in a bun. He was the only kid I saw who took it out and and ate it naked.

We had an hour to kill before the skills competition so we sat there for a while. When we went down to the field I saw some of his teammates so I encouraged him to run around the bases like they were doing for practice. We did that for a couple of minutes before the coach came over and told us the rain had cancelled this event but as far as he knew the game would still be on. At least that was good news. Lisa offered me a ride home but I refused. I needed the exercise so I walked home. It had almost stopped raining by then anyway. I hoped his game wouldn't be called off. I got home and took a nap before Chuck woke me up to start messing with my car. It was pretty nice out now so we started taking things apart until around 2 when I mentioned to him about the game. He told me to go ahead and go. That he would handle things until I got back so I jumped on my bike and bolted.

I got there just in time. Apparently this is how it goes. Everyone bats for each team. there are no outs or strikes. You get about 10 pitches to hit the ball and if you don't you get to use the tee. You hit it and you run to first base and everyone else advances. The last guy clears the bases when he hits and then it's the other teams turn. Isaac only needed the tee one time which was good. The other team must have had more practices cause they killed us. They were all hitting it on their 1st or 2nd pitch and they were cranking it too. Maybe they had better coaches. I don't know. Isaac kept playing in the dirt while he was on the field. That did not please me. I wish he would pay attention more. He still runs like a little girl half the time too but he's still a small boy and that's what signing him up for baseball was supposed to help him with. Learn to be on a team and get along with them, learn discipline and hand-eye coordination and get some exercise, oh and of course have fun. I think they played like 5 innings before it was over and they all got their snacks and were happy. I gave him a big hug and told him he did good. I got nice pictures and good memories. :D