A Drive Around Phoenix

As much as I've loved all of the baby Ainsley snuggles the past 2 days, I still wanted to be able to see something in Arizona, other than the beige walls of the hospital, before I leave tomorrow. Luckily, the Shaws have loaned me their car for the week, so sight seeing would be possible. I knew any big, nature-like, tourist sights weren't going to be accomplishable, but I figured maybe I could squeeze in walking around some sports stadiums. So this morning I woke up extra early before making my way to the hospital and drove around the Glendale and Surprise suburbs of Phoenix. 

 From the time I landed in Phoenix I kind of wanted to visit the University of Phoenix Stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play football. Even better, it's holding the NCAA Final Four this year and has the logo plastered on the front of the spaceship shaped dome. Naturally, after coffee, I made the spaceship my first stop this morning. When I pulled up I found a semi-empty parking lot and pulled in. I was slightly nervous about being parked illegally or walking somewhere I wasn't supposed to be, but the saying goes, "it's better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission," so I made it my mantra today. As I walked down the sidewalk I noticed several grounds crew around the different parking lots, which made me question my mantra. I decided not to care and centered myself in front of the logos on the dome and snapped a few pictures. I turned to walk back and one of the grounds crew men was walking towards me. As I began to panic, he kindly asked if I wanted to be in a picture with the stadium. Feeling sweet relief and gratitude for his nice gesture, I accepted his offer. I don't know the gentleman's name, but he set my attitude for the entire day, and I'm very thankful for him. 

His kindness encouraged me to seek out one more stop on my little adventure. With spring training baseball happening all around, I couldn't let my St. Louis Cardinals loyalty keep me from seeing a training sight. Being a Missourian, I chose the location of the Kansas City Royals spring baseball games. I was pleased to find out the Royals Stadium was directly between my current location and the hospital. I trekked across the city, nervously parked once again, and walked around the outside of the park. The air was perfectly cool and I could hear the sounds of bats hitting baseballs. Pure bliss. One of my favorite signs of spring. Ainsley snuggles were calling my name though, so my little Arizona driving escapade came to an end. I'm glad I decided to wake up a little early to do some exploring of the Sun State.