30 in 30: Day 1

Before I write anything else, C pointed about that the trip will involve 30 NEW 2021 states, but that we will actually be in a grand total of 38 states on this trip! The eight we'll be in that have already been accounted for in 2021 are Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia! 38 total states in 30 days!!!

Day 1 Stats

Starting Mileage: 33,771

Ending Mileage: 34,335

Miles Traveled: 564

States Visited: VA, MD, WV, PA, OH, KY

I got some questions about our packing after this picture was in yesterday's post:

The rubbermaid bins are housing our clothes, shoes, jackets, hats, etc. Our plan is to only take what we will need each night and carry those things in a tote bag so that we aren't moving tons of stuff in and out of hotels every day! Everything has a home (bin or bag), so there aren't loose items all over the car and we can locate everything we need easily! It's a very organized system, if I do say so myself!

We left at 5:00 am and after a quick stop at Wawa for gas and coffee, we were on our way! C found that there were four Tim Hortons locations we could stop at on this trip, which was music to my ears...but all four were within the first seven hours of our drive! Did that prevent us from stopping at each one? Nope! LOL!

It was VERY early when we took
this pic this morning, but we were
definitely ready!

Some other highlights of the day were visiting the World Peace Bell, which is just across the border in KY and then spending some time in downtown Cincinnati before the baseball game! After the game, we stopped for dinner before heading to our hotel. We are both pretty tired from a long day, and happy that the trip is off to such a great start!

Here is C, hiding behind a post
while we walked around so that
he wouldn't be in my photos of
the bell! He is such a good sport!

Happy Tails to you!

MLB Stadium #37!

As I've shared before, C and I attended a game in all 30 MLB stadiums - we completed that first go-round in 2004. Obviously since we've been to certain cities, teams have built new stadiums, so we are making our way to these new stadiums when it works out for our schedule. We've been in no rush to get to these new stadiums, as evidenced by the fact that our last game was in 2016 when we went to a Phillies game!

As of 2021, we had six new stadiums to visit, so when we were planning this road trip, we were anxious for the MLB schedule to be released. Not only did dates need to work out in our favor, but inclement weather can throw a wrench into the most carefully crafted plans with games being delayed or rescheduled. However, we were fortunate that three of the stadiums we need because the teams' schedules lined up nicely with our itinerary, so we just have to hope that the weather cooperates on each of the game days! As you can see from the photos, the weather tonight was beyond perfect, with a temperature of 75 and cool breeze!

Today we went to The Great American Ballpark, which is MLB stadium NUMBER 37 on our list!

The Pros:

- Cincinnati has a beautiful downtown/waterfront area

- the stadium itself was super nice in terms of the details and its general design

The Cons:

- not well managed

- lack of security or stadium personnel

- poorly behaved fans

- seating/stairwells/signage all need improvements

Overall, we thought everything looked great, but in terms of practicality and function, we were not impressed.

The lack of security and stadium personnel was the most glaring issue. Had there been more employees to assist the guests and keep an eye on behavior, I have no doubt it would have been a better experience.

Having been to 37 different MLB stadiums, we've seen the good and the bad.

Yankee Stadium and how it is managed is the absolute gold standard. I guarantee many "fans" at the game tonight would have been warned and likely removed had the game been at Yankee Stadium. They run a tight ship there and it makes for such a pleasant and safe environment for everyone.

Probably the worst run stadium we've been to was in Oakland. Cincinnati was nowhere near as bad as Oakland, but the fan behavior was less than ideal and it got worse as the game went on. Not an employee in sight to tell obnoxious people to knock it off. Very disappointing.

I'll focus on the fact that even though it opened in 2003, meaning it's far from a new building, it looks great. We were happy to wander around and we're glad we went, but as we were leaving (early, I might add, because we'd had enough), an employee at the exit wished us a good night and said, "Come back again, folks!" and I wanted to laugh. No thank you! We would definitely come back to Cincinnati, but it's unlikely we'd ever go to another game at The Great American Ballpark!

Five more new stadiums to go!

Happy Tails to you!

50 States in 2021: 14

We added another state to our 2021 list...Ohio! We've been to Ohio before...we lived in Chicago while my family lived in PA, so we drove through it countless times; we went to a Columbus Blue Jackets game in 2008; we went to Cincinnati Reds game in 2000; and we visited the first time we were completing the 50 states checklist the first time, which seems like a lifetime ago!

While of course we needed it for our 50 states in 2021 quest, we had specific plans in Ohio - a baseball game at a new-to-us MLB stadium!

We arrived in Cincinnati mid-afternoon and had some time to wander around the waterfront before going to the game. It is such a nice area and it would make a great weekend getaway in the future! One of the limitations of our summer road trip is the amount of time we can spend in any one place, but I'm glad we had a few hours before the game just to enjoy Cincinnati!

C stopped on the side of the road
on a bridge so I could take this pic
through the moonroof of the car!
The wind was crazy and I thought
the number card was going to
be blown away!

Happy Tails to you!

30 in 30

Tomorrow is a big day...we are setting off on our grand summer adventure!

We've been planning this trip for about a year and it's hard to believe it's finally here!

Over the next month, we'll be visiting 30 states!

Technically, we'll actually arrive in the 30th state on the 28th day, but the trip is 30 days / 29 nights long, and "30 in 30" as the title of all of the posts for this trip has a nice ring to it!

We have so many fun things planned for this trip! C has been researching and planning buying tickets and booking hotels and honestly, the amount of work that has gone into this trip is astounding. He is the absolute best travel planner ever! I am so so so so lucky!

There are days when I will definitely be writing multiple posts, because I'll have an overall post for each day, but there will also be posts about our state count or possibly other specific things. I hope you enjoy following along!

going to miss this little face
while we're away!

she realized that we were packing

she was not happy

depressed upon realizing she
was not coming along

who will steal my coffee for the next month?

our last hugs and she was not having it

not in the mood for our smothering

B1 and S1 gave us these for
Christmas for this trip and we're
excited to put them to good use!

this is everything we're taking - it was
all packed by 8pm this evening
and in the car by 9pm - we are ready to go!

Happy Tails to you!