Avalanche Adventure

I thought that my trip to Los Angeles to see Hamilton would be my last road trip of the year (it was a long drive) but my Dad suggested an Avalanche trip over the Thanksgiving break and I was in!  We drove to Denver on Saturday for the game that night and drove home on Sunday.  I always drive from Little America to Cheyenne (I think I drew the short stick because Wyoming is very boring).  For this trip we took my Dad's truck which is very powerful.  I have a tendency to speed any way (especially in Wyoming) but I found it especially hard not to let the beast off the chain.  I had only been driving for about ten minutes when I got pulled over by the Wyoming Highway Patrol for doing 85 in a 75 mph zone.  My Dad thought it was hilarious!  I like to get to the Pepsi Center really early so I can watch the practice skate and I was really blown away by all of the images that they project on the ice when the Avalanche first come out on the ice.  I loved the player introductions with their names and pictures projected on the ice.  It was so cool!  I had never seen that before because this was my first game of the season.  The Avalanche played the Calgary Flames and it was a pretty good game.  The Flames scored first at the end of the first period.  During the second period the Flames had three penalties and Mikka Rantanen scored a pretty shorthanded goal in the third one.  Then the Flames got two quick goals at the end of the period.  The Avalanche are known for coming back during the third period and the Pepsi Center was incredibly loud cheering them on.  Late in the third Nikita Zadorov got a goal and it looked like the Avalanche could pull it off.  They pulled the goalie and it got pretty exciting during the last few minutes but they couldn't quite put the puck in the net.  They ended up losing 3-2.  Even though they lost it was still a really fun game to watch and, as always, I had so much fun with my Dad.  I have been watching hockey with him my whole life!

Note:  The Avalanche had a six game winning streak at home until this game so...

All That Jazz

Last night I took Sean and Tashena to a Utah Jazz game.  We started the tradition of seeing a Jazz game over the winter break last year and, ironically, the Jazz played the same team, the Philadelphia 76ers, as last year!  The Jazz have been playing really well lately (we are currently fifth in the Western Conference) so I have been looking forward to this game, my first this season!  Sean and Tashena are always so much fun to be around and it ended up being a great game.  The Jazz started well, leading by as many as nine in the first quarter but then they let the Sixers slowly catch up to them and went into the half down by one point.  The lead went back and forth during the third quarter but the Jazz had their way with Philadelphia in the fourth, outscoring them 30-9.  Utah won the game 83-100 and it was pretty exciting, especially when the Jazz hit five three-pointers in the last quarter!  There was a large and rowdy crowd in attendance and the three of us had so much fun!

Note:  I finished my Harry Potter marathon right before the game.  I always cry when Harry asks his parents to stay with him as he faces Voldemort in the last film.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Last spring, when I heard that Air Canada was coming to the Salt Lake City airport, I got really excited!  That meant that I could fly directly from SLC to Toronto for a reasonable price.  I knew that I wanted to plan a trip because I hadn't been to my hometown since 2005!  I've always wanted to see my favorite hockey team, the Colorado Avalanche, play a road game so I thought it would be epic to see them play the Maple Leafs in the Air Canada Centre!  I mentioned it to my Dad and we eagerly awaited the release of the 2016-2017 hockey schedule to see when the two teams would be playing.  When we learned that they would be playing on a weekend, it seemed feasible.  We bought our tickets about a month ago and I flew to Toronto last weekend for an amazing trip (My Dad got there a week earlier).  I can't tell you how amazing it was to be back home for a few days!  My Dad picked me up at the airport and took me visiting people who have known me my whole life and love me.  Brian, my Dad's best friend from childhood, and his wife took us to dinner and we didn't stop talking or laughing.  I got to visit all of my favorite spots, including a quick trip to Niagara Falls to see them illuminated with colored lights, several trips to Tim Hortons for donuts, a visit to my grandparents' graves, and a visit to the locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway (a big cargo ship had just entered a lock when we got there and I got to see it go through).  Sunday night was the game and it was absolutely thrilling to be in the ACC!  I loved all of the Stanley Cup banners!  It was fun to cheer for the road team, especially in a place that loves their team as much as Leafs fans do!  I did, however, see quite a few people in Avalanche jerseys and we would high five each other in solidarity!  My Dad's friend Brian, despite the fact that he lives there, had never been to a game before so we got him a ticket.  He took me to my first Blue Jays game back in the day so I thought it was fun that I got to take him to his first Maple Leafs game!  I asked him who he was going to cheer for and he emphatically said, "Toronto!"  Although, I did catch him cheering for the Avs so maybe I converted him!  It was a great game!  Colorado scored two really pretty power play goals and, after the second one in the third period, the usher in my section came and told me that I was being too loud!  The Avs got two penalties in quick succession late in the third so the Leafs pulled their goalie and scored.  The guy sitting next to me gave me a hard time throughout the whole game so when he started cheering like a crazy man after the goal, I told him that the only way the Leafs could score was when they had a six on three advantage!  The Avs scored an empty net goal in the last few minutes to win 3-1!  It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and having the Avalanche win was like icing on the cake!

It was so much fun to watch my Dad and Brian interact with each other!  They were like two teenage boys!  I think it is amazing that they have been such good friends for so long!

This was definitely a bucket list game for both me and my Dad and I am so glad that we got to do it!

Note:  I have always considered myself to be Canadian and it was very emotional for me to be back home.  While my life is in SLC and it would be difficult for me to pull up stakes and move back, I have to admit that I shed a tear when I boarded the plane to leave!

Jazz Game with Tashena

While I sometimes miss the little girl who used to love to play Barbies for hours on end, I have to admit that the teenage Tashena is also pretty fun.  Recently she told me that she really, really wanted to go to a Jazz game so, clearly, we had to go to last night's game against the Dallas Mavericks because it was the last home game of the season.  I am so glad that Tashena talked me into going because it was intense!  The game had huge playoff implications for both teams as they were both battling to clinch a spot.  The crowd was loud and rowdy and Tashena and I definitely added to the noise.  The Jazz stayed with the Mavericks with some electrifying three-pointers from Joe Ingles to end the first quarter and they ended the second quarter down by just four points.  It was so much fun listening to Tashena analyze the game.  In the third quarter the Jazz were down by as many as eleven but then went on an 8-0 run to get back in the game.  The Vivint Arena was absolutely out of control cheering for the Jazz at this point and it was so much fun to watch Tashena take it all in.  There is nothing like a Utah Jazz crowd when they are playing well!  In the fourth quarter the Jazz could not seem to make a basket no matter what they did.  Gordon Hayward eventually got a nice three-pointer and made two foul shots to bring Utah within five in the last few minutes but it was not enough and they ended up losing to Dallas 101-92.  It was a heartbreaker because the Jazz lost control of their own destiny and now need to beat the Lakers and they need the Rockets to lose to the Kings to clinch the final playoff spot.  Needless to say, we were a bit more subdued walking out of the arena than we were walking in, but I had so much fun at this game.  It was almost as much fun as playing Barbies!

Fun at the Bees Game

Saturday night Marilyn and I took Sean and Tashena to a Salt Lake Bees game against the Sacramento River Cats.  We had so much fun!  The Bees played really well (with a dramatic home run in the third inning) and eventually won the game 6-0, but being with Sean and Tashena is what made this night such a good time.  I sure do love them!  We got laughing so hard that I could not breathe and I think we were more entertaining to the people around us than the game was.  At one point Sean was taking a bunch of selfies with Marilyn's phone and the lady behind us started photobombing.  Good times!  After the game there were fireworks which is always a lot of fun. It did eventually get a little bit chilly but sitting outside in the sunshine and watching some baseball made me get really excited for summer!

Spring Break Avalanche Game

Every year my Dad and I try to go to at least one Colorado Avalanche game and this year we picked a game against the Minnesota Wild during my spring break.  It's a long drive but we've done it so many times that it has become part of the experience!  We have traditions and rituals with things we do and places we stop.  Right before we left, Denver had a huge snow storm and I-80 was actually closed for a while which made us nervous to drive but we only had snow flurries here and there.  Whenever I travel to Denver alone I usually stay at the Motel 6 but with my Dad it is first class all the way and we stay at the SpringHill Suites downtown.  This hotel is so nice!  We checked in late Friday afternoon and the plan was to rest for a little while and then go to dinner (I love Old Chicago and we don't have one in SLC) but I fell asleep and, by the time I woke up, it was too late to go anywhere!  I'm such a party animal!

The game was Saturday afternoon and my Dad and I were so excited!  I think the Pepsi Center is such an amazing venue for hockey.  I can smell the ice as soon as I walk in the doors!

We had absolutely fabulous seats right at center ice!  This game was really important for the Avalanche because they are chasing the Wild for a playoff spot and it was intense during the first period.  It felt like playoff hockey to me with lots of shots on goal and really tight defense.  Then the Avalanche totally fell apart in the second period.  Their puck handling was terrible and there were so many giveaways that I stopped counting.  They had several power play opportunities but couldn't convert.  In fact, they didn't even get one shot on goal during one power play.

The only thing that enlivened the second period was a visit from Bernie, the Avalanche mascot.  The Wild scored twice in the second period and then got a short-handed goal and an empty-net goal in the third period.  It was disappointing but, like last year, we invited my cousin Blaine to go to the game with us and it was a lot of fun to talk to him (especially about Batman v Superman).  I love the Colorado Avalanche, so even though they lost the game, and most likely a chance at making the playoffs, I lhad a great time watching them play!  Next year my Dad and I are hoping to see the Avs play the Maple Leafs in Toronto!

Many years ago I started a tradition of getting an Avalanche hat at every game I went to.  Even though I have more hats than I know what to do with, I had to get another one!  I really wanted a hat with the new logo on it and my Dad wanted one, too!

Even though the Avalanche lost, at least we got matching hats!

Note:  Several years ago I almost ran out of gas while driving in Wyoming.  I could have stopped in Green River but I thought I would make it and then barely coasted into Little America only to discover that the power was off!  I vowed that I would never, ever, do that again because my Dad always tells me not to let the tank get that low!  Last night when we reached Green River, we had 1/8th of a tank left.  My Dad and I decided that we could make it to Little America and the gas light immediately came on!  I think we made it to Little America on fumes but, at least, the power was on this time!

Winter Break Jazz Game

One of the things I really wanted to do over winter break was take Sean and Tashena to a Jazz game.  I have only been to one game this season, which is really unusual for me, and I've missed it.  I got four tickets to last night's game against the Philadelphia 76ers (Kristine came with us, too) and it was so much fun!

It ended up being a great game!  The Jazz had a quick start (despite the fact that Derrick Favors, Dante Exum, Rudy Gobert, and Alec Burks were injured) and they led by as many as 21 points during the second quarter.  There was a big crowd in attendance and so it was pretty rowdy.  Then the 76ers went on a 29-10 run at the end of the third quarter and took over the lead 78-76.  The Jazz battled back in the fourth quarter, regaining the lead until the Sixers pulled ahead 89-91 with 38 seconds left.  It was intense!  Hayward electrified the crowd with a 3-pointer which put the Jazz ahead 92-91 with 33 seconds left.  They ended the game with a 95-91 victory!  So much fun!

It was such a great night!  I love spending time with Sean and Tashena (and I'm so glad that Kristine got to come, too).  They make everything so much more fun!

Let's Go Bees!

Saturday night I took Sean and Tashena to see the Bees play the Fresno Grizzlies.  It was extremely crowded, probably the biggest crowd I've ever seen at a Bees game (I do not like crowds).  It was a good game, however, with both teams scoring lots of runs.  The Bees scored five runs in the fifth inning and then there was a dramatic home run in the sixth.  At the bottom of the ninth the score was tied at 7 but the Bees scored a fantastic out-of-the-ballpark home run to win the game 8-7.

Sean just comes for the ice cream but this time he opted for a cone instead of the baseball helmet!

Colorado Rockies

I am not a huge baseball fan (I don't even follow my hometown team, the Toronto Blue Jays, that much) but whenever I am in an MLB city I like to catch a game and cheer for the home team.  Since I was in Denver for the weekend, I decided to see a Rockies game against the Miami Marlins and it was so much fun.  I really like Coors Field and I had great seats near home plate!  The game was really slow at the beginning but then it got really exciting in the bottom of the fourth inning.  All of the bases were loaded and then Arenado came up to bat.  The crowd went absolutely crazy!  He was able to bring Blackmon home for our first run of the game!  So exciting!  Things got really loud again in the bottom of the seventh when Gonzalez scored a home run to tie the game.  It went to extra innings but the Rockies ended up losing 3-2.

Note: Apparently I really like wearing my Beatles shirt to baseball games.  Here I am at a Rockies game in 2012!

A Weekend of Hockey in Denver

I absolutely love watching the Colorado Avalanche play at the Pepsi Center!  My dad and I try to go to at least one game every year (last year I went to three; two with my Dad and one with my cousins).  A couple of weeks ago we chose to go the game against the Calgary Flames (we try to pick a Canadian team so we can hear "O Canada" at the beginning of the game) on Saturday night and we invited my cousin Blaine, who lives in Denver, to go with us.  I counted down the days because I was so excited.  We drove to Denver (about an eight hour drive) and met my cousin Blaine downtown for dinner.  He picked a great place called My Brother's Bar and I ate one of the best burgers I have ever had!  Then we went straight to the Pepsi Center.  I like to get there early because I like to smell the ice (Blaine thought I was weird at first but then he said that you actually could smell the ice) and watch the practice skate.  That gets me really amped up for the game!

It was an incredible game!  The Avalanche are still in the hunt for a playoff spot so they started the game very aggressively!  They got a lot of shots on goal and it was so fun to watch!  At the end of the first period, the Flames really tightened things up and started shooting more.  During the second period, the Avalanche went on a power play and Alex Tanguay got a nice goal.  Just a few minutes later Ryan O'Reilly got a goal which electrified the Pepsi Center.  In the third period, the Flames scored two goals but John Mitchell (with an assist from my favorite player, Matt Duchene) got one of the prettiest goals I've ever seen and, luckily, the play that led to the goal happened right in front of us.  My dad always gets the good seats!  The last five minutes of the game were really tense but Semyon Varlamov (who stopped 29 shots) had an amazing save which got the crowd chanting, "Varly, Varly, Varly!"  I loved it!  The Avalanche won the game 3-2, which was thrilling for me because they lost the last two games I attended.  I loved every minute of this weekend!

Colorado Avalanche road trips are the best!

2014

2013

2012

2009

Let's Go Jazz

For the past little while Sean has been asking me to take him to a Jazz game.  I usually take him to at least one game every season so a couple of weeks ago I told him we could go to the next weekend game which happened to be last night against the Portland Trailblazers.  Unlike the last game I took him to, this one was actually really good but Sean didn't care!  Before the game started I told him that I really wanted the Jazz to win because they have been struggling.  He told me that it didn't matter because he would have a good time even if they lost.  He always has such a good attitude!  Because of the Enes Kanter trade, Rudy Gobert was a starter for the first time and there was a lot of hype about it before the game.  Sean was really excited because he got to meet Gobert with his Jr. Jazz team and he has his autographed picture on his wall.  The Trailblazers had a great start and got a quick lead but I thought the Jazz played an outstanding defensive game with lots of blocks and steals and they were able to stay with them.   The lead went back and forth during the first three quarters and then the Jazz went on a 39-10 run in the fourth quarter, including some crowd-pleasing three-pointers, to pull away from the Blazers and ultimately win  92-76.  I've been to a few games this season but this is definitely the most fun I've had!  Not only did the Jazz win against a really good team but Sean is just so entertaining.  The Jazz have a rookie named Rodney Hood but on the display board it says R. Hood.  Sean was absolutely convinced that Robin Hood played for our team!  When he made a three-pointer, Sean yelled, "Robin Hood just scored!"  Everyone looked at us and smiled!

I sure do love this kid!

How 'Bout Those Jazz!

I have a love/hate relationship with the Utah Jazz.  I had the weekend ticket package with a friend of mine for years and years.  I hardly paid attention to the game.  For me, it was a fun evening out and an excuse to go to Red Rock Brewery for dinner before the game (I love the Red Rock Burger).  Then a certain Mr. Kyle Korver was traded to the team and I became obsessed (actually obsessed might be too much of an understatement but let's leave it at that).  I went to every single home game remaining in the season.  I bought a jersey.  I started watching away games on television.  I learned what a pick and roll was.  For the next few years I had season tickets with my aunt and cousin and I loved going to games!  I even started going to Jazz events (the less said about the unfortunate hyperventilating incident when I met Kyle Korver the first time the better).  Then Korver became a free agent and signed with the Chicago Bulls.  Despite my devastation, I renewed my season tickets anyway but it just wasn't the same.  After Coach Sloan quit and Deron Williams was traded, things went downhill for me.  During a game against the Dallas Mavericks, Al Jefferson had an epic temper tantrum and got ejected.  The rest of the team literally shut down after that.  I was so disgusted that I decided to sell my tickets to the remaining games and I vowed never to return.  In fact, the next year I only went to one game and the Jazz lost.  Last year I decided to get a ten game package because I like having things to do.  Their first win of the season was the first game I attended.  Even though the Jazz were a terrible team last year, they always won when I was there (even a bonus game between the Jazz and Nuggets that I saw in Denver).  I thought of myself as their good luck charm and it was fun going to games.  However, in the last few games I went to the Jazz blew a lead in the fourth quarter.  Many people said they were losing intentionally to get a higher draft pick and that was really disappointing to me.  During the off-season a new coach was hired and the team was reconfigured with a lot of young players.  I didn't know what to think!  I went to my first game this season last night and I saw a spark that just might make me a Jazz fan again!  The first half of the game was a bit underwhelming.  The Jazz looked sluggish and trailed the Oklahoma City Thunder by as many as 17 points.  Then Coach Snyder ran on the court to protest a foul and had an epic meltdown which resulted in a technical.  It was awesome!  Then he started yelling at the Jazz and they responded by going on a 10-0 run to cut the Thunder lead to two points.  That got the ESA cheering.  They played much better during the second half and eventually took the lead, which they held for the rest of the game to win 98-81.  The game was so much fun for me and I especially loved seeing our rookie, Dante Exum, hitting those threes!   I think these young players are only going to get better and I may need to go to a few more games this season!

Note:  Before the game, the guys sitting next to me said that the Jazz really needed a big win.  I told them not to worry because I was there and I was their good luck charm.  After the game, they told me that they had decided to pool their money to get me season tickets!  So much fun!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

I sure am!  Fall means the return of college football and I always love going to Rice-Eccles Stadium to cheer on the Utah Utes!  Last night my friend Chelsea and I went to the season opener against the Idaho State Bengals and it was a lot of fun!  The Utes basically had their way with the Bengals, eventually beating them 56-14.  There were some really exciting plays, including a dramatic punt return for a touchdown at the end of the first half, but Idaho State isn't a very good team and I see lots of room for improvement for the Utes.  The rest of the season will certainly be a bit more challenging but it was great to see the home team win so decisively and it was fun watching the game with Chelsea!  We are planning to go to a few more games.  Go Utes!

Baseball & Fireworks

I really love watching fireworks this time of year so when I found out that there would be fireworks after the Salt Lake Bees game on Saturday, Marilyn and I decided to take Sean and Tashena.  The Bees played the El Paso Chihuahuas (we had a few laughs about their name) and it was a much better game than last time.  The Bees had a very dramatic home run in the sixth inning to get the crowd cheering and ended up winning 5-3.  But, honestly, it was really hot.  I think we were all just sitting through the game to get to the fireworks!  They were pretty spectacular!

Note:  During the fireworks display, they played patriotic music.  When Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was playing, Sean spontaneously started conducting with very dramatic gestures!  It was hilarious!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

It has become a tradition for me to take Sean and Tashena to a baseball game every summer so I took them to see the Bees play the Memphis Redbirds last night.  We had so much fun!  I like sitting outside with a great view of the mountains.

Sean likes going because he can get pizza and ice cream in a baseball helmet (which he keeps).

Tashena only goes to humor me...but I think she actually had a lot of fun because she didn't use any of her electronic devices.

She really liked the shirt I bought her (which is why she was willing to pose for me)!

The Bees didn't play very well (they were losing 9-4 by the time we left at the top of the ninth inning) but we still had a lot of fun watching them.  Sean has this funny notion that anyone drinking beer is "drunk."  There were some people behind us who were drinking and Sean kept calling them drunk.  He said he could act as goofy as he wanted because the drunk people wouldn't remember what he did in the morning.  (Where does he get these ideas?)  I don't know if they heard Sean call them "drunk" but they eventually left.  Ha ha!  All of the players have theme songs for when they come up to bat and one of the players had "Turn Down For What?"  For some reason I absolutely love that song so, whenever he came to bat, I would sing really loud.  At first Sean and Tashena were somewhat embarrassed but they ended up joining in.  On the drive home, I played it (yes I have it on my phone) and Sean started busting out his moves.  Tashena and I could not stop laughing!  So much fun! 

At the game last year.