baseball trip out west

[dabum1]

some friends and i are thinking about doing a baseball road trip this summer. it'd be a first time for us. we live just west of los angeles and i'm planning to keep the trip pretty close to the west coast.

the purpose of this trip would not only be to see some baseball (for me at least) but to also see some of the country.

my ideal goal would be to hit these 10 parks (and probably in this order):
san francisco/oakland
seattle mariners
colorado rockies
arlington (texas rangers)
houston astros
phoniex (arizona diamondbacks)
san diego padres
anaheim angels
los angeles dodgers

i 've spent a lot of time looking at the schedules of the teams during the period of time we'd make this trip (late july to early august) and i can't get it to work out. I can't get all the stadiums in, but i can get all, but phoenix and los angeles in.

missing out on the dodgers wouldn't be to big of a disappointment since we've been to dodger stadium several times.

i've pretty much cut the two texas teams out of the picture now and made so we'd be going from denver to phoenix, instead of going through texas.

and going that way...i've figured a way to get us to all the parks except there'd be a bit of a rush ot the end. I don't want to have to rush during the trip. I'd like to have some time to play with between some games.

here's what i have so far
july 22 - leave
july 23 - san fran
july 24 - oakland
july 25 -
july 26 - seattle
july 27 -
july 28 -
july 29 -
july 30 - denver
july 31 -
august 1 -
august 2 -
august 3 -
august 4 - phoenix
august 5 - san diego
august 6 - anaheim
august 7 - los angeles/arrive

17 days, 8 games
i tried to estimate a cost and here's what i got kinda per person

$500 for gas (with 4 people splitting it, make it $125)
$50 motel (16 nights)
$30 per game (8 games)
$25 for food each day (17 days)

so...each person pays
$125 = gas
$800 = lodging
$240 = games
$425 = food

adds up to.....
$1590 for each person

i'd like to, of course, lessen that amount....so if you have any tips.....it'd help

i probably could fix it up some how, but it'd probably require some extra days inbetween games....and that'd bring the cost of the trip up.

i think it'd be nice to get a couple farm teams in their too.

I'm also thinking about cutting out more teams once again, so it'd just be san fran, oakland, and seattle for example. But that seems like it'd make the trip less grand. Instead of going out torward the middle of the country and other side of the rockies (where none of us have ever been), we would be staying a little closer to home, which is nice...but i'd feel like we'd be missing out.

if you have any suggestions, please share.
i also have some questions
what is the average cost for a motel? nothing fancy...just a place to sleep

is it better to get a room every night? spend every night at a rest stop, in the car? or find a camp site?
or is it best to have it vary, like spend half the nights in motels and some others in rest areas and camp sites?

how much does a campsite cost for a night?

does it feel comfortable sleeping at a rest area in your car?

i always thought it'd be best to do all the driving during the day, since you'd be more alert and you could see the land and all around, but is there any place that is better to drive through during the night?

thanks

[Mark Sedenquist]

some friends and i are thinking about doing a baseball road trip this summer. it'd be a first time for us. we live just west of los angeles and i'm planning to keep the trip pretty close to the west coast.

Welcome to the Forum! If you use the search function (in the green navigation bar) and look for baseball trips, you will find plenty of posts about how other roadtrippers have done this!

$500 for gas (with 4 people splitting it, make it $125)

Um. I think you are low by at least a $1000. If you use our fuel cost calculator, you will get a much more realistic idea.

adds up to.....
$1590 for each person

That looks like a bargain to me!

does it feel comfortable sleeping at a rest area in your car?

In most states, to do so would be illegal. Truck stops and travel centers are a better choice.

[Bam]

sounds like alot of downtime though. I'm atually gonna try this too.

Monday April 3, 2006 San Francisco Giants @ San Diego Padres @ 4:05pm (opening day)
Tuesday April 4, 2006 Atlanta Braves @ Los Angeles Dodgers @ 7:10pm
Wednesday April 5, 2006 New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics @ 7:35pm
Thursday April 6, 2006 Atlanta Braves @ San Francisco Giants @TBD (opening day)
Friday April 7, 2006
Saurday April 8, 2006 Oakland Athletics @ Seattle Mariners @ 7:05pm
Sunday April 9, 2006
Monday April 10, 2006
Tuesday April 11, 2006 Oakland Athletics @ Minnesota Twins @ 7:10pm (opening day)
Wednesday April 12, 2006 Milwaukee Brewers @ St. Louis Cardinals @ 7:10pm
Thursday April 13, 2006 Seattle Mariners @ Cleveland Indians @ 7:05pm
Friday April 14, 2006 Toronto Blue Jays @ Chicago White Soxs @ 7:05pm
Saturday April 15, 2006 Cleveland Indians @ Detroit Tigers @ 1:05pm
Sunday April 16, 2006 Chicago Cubs @ Pittsburgh Pirates @ 1:35pm
Monday April 17, 2006
Tuesday April 18, 2006 Tampa Bay Devil Rays @ Boston Red Soxs @ TBD
Wednesday April 19, 2006 Atlanta Braves @ New York Mets @ 1:10pm
Thursday April 20, 2006 Cleveland Indians @ Baltimore Orioles @ 7:05pm
Friday April 21, 2006 Atlanta Braves @ Washington Nationals @ 7:05pm
Saturday April 22, 2006 Florida Marlins @ Philadelphia Phillies @ 7:05pm
Sunday April 23, 2006
Monday April 24, 2006
Tuesday April 25, 2006 Tampa Bay Devil Rays @ New York Yankees @ TBD
Wednesday April 26, 2006
Thursday April 27, 2006
Friday April 28, 2006 Colorado Rockies @ Florida Marlins @ TBD
Saturday April 29, 2006 Boston Red Soxs @ Tampa Bay Devil Rays @ TBD
Sunday April 30, 2006 New York Mets @ Atlanta Braves @ 1:05pm
Monday May 1, 2006
Tuesday May 2, 2006
Wednesday May 3, 2006 St. Louis Cardinals @ Houston Astros @ 7:05pm
Thursday May 4, 2006 Baltimore Orioles @ Texas Rangers @ 7:05pm
Friday May 5, 2006
Saturday May 6, 2006
Sunday May 7, 2006 Los Angeles Angels @ Toronto Blue Jays @ 1:07pm
Monday May 8, 2006
Tuesday May 9, 2006 Washington Nationals @ Cincinnati Reds @ TBD
Wednesday May 10, 2006 Cleveland Indians @ Kansas City Royals @ 2:10pm
Thursday May 11, 2006
Friday May 12, 2006 New York Mets @ Milwaukee Brewers @ 7:05pm
Saturday May 13, 2006 San Diego Padres @ Chicago Cubs @ 1:20pm
Sunday May 14, 2006
Monday May 15, 2006 Los Angeles Dodgers @ Colorado Rockies @ 6:35pm
Tuesday May 16, 2006
Wednesday May 17, 2006 San Diego Padres @ Arizona Diamondbacks @ 7:40pm
Thursday May 18, 2006 Toronto Blue Jays @ Los Angeles Angels @ 7:05pm



Also in the last 3 years i've spent over 50 nights in a van at rest stops across america and haven't been bothered once. Difference between sleeping at a rest stop and say a Pilot gas station are just cleaner restrooms and probably a better lit gas station. Rest stops at night are usually quiet as far as people but loud trucks can often be the disturbance. Rest stops vary state and I've found the eastern states have nicer ones(most are indoor) but the ones out here are still suitable.

[PNW Judy]

It is actually illegal in some states to sleep overnight at rest stops. If you are going to do it though, I would suggest that you choose rest stops that are frequented by truckers and park as close to the truckers as you can. Yes, it will be noisier but there will also be activity going on that should limit you getting mugged/robbed. Some rest stops are NOT very safe. I really think that sleeping at truck stops are your best bet. One of our intrepid regulars here always goes into the truck stop to eat or buy supplies and lets the staff know what she's doing so they keep a bit of an eye on her. If you do this, remember to buy gas there as well.

[Midwest Michael]

I consider myself to be someone of an expert on the topic, as I make a trip like this about once a year.

The biggest thing to remember is that a baseball game takes up a much larger part of your day than you'd expect, particularly if you're camping.

For example, If a game is at 7 o'clock, you'll probably have to get to a city by at least 6, if not earlier, to deal with traffic, parking, etc. If you're camping, you'll either have to set up before that, or set up in the dark after the game, which won't be until around 11 o'clock by the time you get out.

That alone isn't a problem, but if you're planning to see a game the next day a couple hundred miles away, you'll have to wake up early to do it all over again. Its even worse if you're going from a night game to a day game the following day.

I'd also suggest throwing in at least a day or two of downtime between stretches of games. Seeing 3-4 games in a row is fun, but beyond that its nice to have a day where you don't have the pressure of having to make it to a ballpark and to just relax for a night.

If you've got time, squeeze in a minor league game or two. Last summer, I saw major league games in KC and Colorado, followed by a AA game in Tulsa. We had so much fun at the minor league game, we skipped our plan to go to St. Louis, and instead saw another Minor League game in Des Moines.

Good luck to both of you, and let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

[Midwest Michael]

dabum,

you will probably have some chances to quite a few minor league games with your schedule.

Between Seattle and Denver, I'd go to at least one Pioneer League (short-season A ball) game. They've got teams all over Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, but it doesn't look like they've released their 2006 schedule yet.

You'll also be around quite a few PCL (AAA) teams, including Portland, Tacoma, Salt Lake City, Colorado Springs, The Albuquque Isotopes, and Tucson.

I bet you could fit at least a game or two if you want.

[Midwest Michael]

Bam, I looked at your schedule, I think think I came up with some ideas that might help you out.

The two biggest problems I saw with your schedule were the Minnesota-St.Louis-Cleveland stretch is really too much distance over 3 days, and doubling back form Texas to Toronto seems just kind of silly.

Here's what I came up with.

Drop the 4/11 game in St. Louis, and go straight to Cleveland.

Then I rearraigned your schedule after Pittsburgh:
4/18 Toronto
4/19 NY Mets
4/20 Boston
4/21 cooperstown?
4/22 NY Yanks
4/24 Philly
4/26 Washington

4/28 Baltimore
4/29 Atlanta
4/30 Tampa
5/1 Miami

5/4 Houston
5/5 Texas

5/8 Kansas City
5/9 St. Louis
5/10 Cinci

Then continue on to Milwaukee and the rest of your schedule.

You've still got some stretches that will give you some very challenging drives between games, but this will at least cut down on some of your mileage.

[RoadTripper Brad]

Safeco Field will be a treat for you, I've been several times. Like Imported Midwesterner said, you could probably fit in a few "Farm League" games in, he mentioned Portland and Tacoma, but there is also Everett, Wenatchee (if you're in Eastern Washington), etc. Also, there is also college ball too... University of Washington has some nice games, but I don't remember if they start that early.

[Bam]

I dont think I could make Baltimore to Atlanta in one night. I'd rather spend the St. Louis game night in Indy and make my way into Cleveland the next afternoon. Thanks for the Cooperstown Idea though

[Midwest Michael]

Baltimore to Atlanta is only 60 miles farther than Minneapolis to St. Louis, plus it would come after a downtime where you hadn't traveled very far for a couple of days.

Personally, I'd far prefer that to the 5 straight days of very hard driving you've got mapped out right now, Seattle to Minneapolis will require long days on both the day's you've got off between to cover the 1700 miles. Then its 630 Miles, and a solid 10-11 hours to St. Louis, and then another 550 Mile trek to Cleveland. Even cutting trying to cut off the Cleveland section by staying in Indy would mean at least 15 hours driving plus 3 hours at a game on the St. Louis day. Not to mention, you wouldn't have to double way back from Dallas to Toronto later in the trip.

Again, that's my suggestion, but its your trip so go with the one that you think you'll have the most fun with.