Spokane

This year the AA Trappers team played in an American Legion Baseball tournament up in Spokane,WA. We were all looking forward to traveling to a place we had never been before (one perk to these baseball trips--they take us on fun new adventures). We stayed at the Red Lion at the Park which had a really fun outdoor pool with a fun slide (that was definitely the best thing about the hotel for the kids).

We left on Thursday, June 30 and right after we checked in we went to a barbecue for the players and their families and heard a little speech by the Gonzaga Baseball coach. He said a lot of really great things that I was glad my boys were able to hear. He emphasized the importance of being respectful to
your parents and coaches, being a good team player and having a positive attitude even after striking out or making an error. Baseball is a sport where you fail (how many pros are batting 1.000???) ha We didn't stick around long at the barbecue because Zach was eager to catch up with his team mates who were arriving (we were the only ones from the Trappers who made it to the barbecue). The evening was spent swimming and unwinding from the trip.

They played a total of 5 games with the potential of playing more on Monday. On Friday morning our first game was at 8 am (brutal after driving all day the day before). The team went 1-1 that day. Saturday they also went 1-1. When they lost their second game--it was determined that we would play Sunday at 6:00 pm. AND we didn't qualify to play on Monday. We had our hotel until Tuesday. A few parents asked if they could change our time to the 8 am time so we could play and hit the road--smart plan! We were able to check out early without any problems and hit the road after they won their Sunday morning game and Zach got cleaned up, etc.

Between games, we spent time looking for Gonzaga gear (the boys like to get souvenirs from the teams close by where we visit), walking on Gonzaga's campus, swimming in the hotel pool, walking at Riverfront Park which was downtown Spokane and right out the back of our hotel, eating out and visiting with other Trapper families.

We weren't very impressed with the area where we were. The hotel and downtown area were nice, the field we played on (Gonzaga Prep High School) was very nice--but getting to and from was pretty scary. It was nice to hear Tanner say--I like Cache Valley!! We loved Coeur D'Alene and that area and the drive between Spokane and Missoula, MT--after that--well, it wasn't too interesting!

We had hoped to visit with some of our old neighbors who live in Liberty Lake right outside of Spokane, but that didn't happen. They were busy with company coming and we were busy with games and not enough time between them to really go too far. It would have been so fun to catch up and say hi!

I didn't take many pictures while we were gone--none at the pool (silly me) but I did get a few of Zach playing. I would love to know how many photos I have of the boys pitching on the mound, running bases or playing positions in the field! ha I know, I know--they all look the same--BUT the boys know which game, what the score was, what they did good and what they could have done better!