{"id":788,"date":"2016-11-11T15:38:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-11T15:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=788"},"modified":"2016-11-11T15:43:48","modified_gmt":"2016-11-11T15:43:48","slug":"ftv-the-wcb-revisited-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=788","title":{"rendered":"FTV: The WCB Revisited – part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0First up I have to apologize for getting caught in a time warp. \u00a0The events in Part 1 of this tale took place in 2015, not 2014 as listed. \u00a0Einstein may have been right about the relativity of time, but a year is a pretty large faux pas in the fabric of time and space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We left Part 1 of this tale with Todd and I rumbling north from Eugene, OR on the Amtrak Cascades train to Seattle to see the Tigers and Mariners play a couple of games at SafeCo Field. \u00a0Elizabeth was staying behind to pack her office in preparation for a move to part time digs while her building at the U of O is being remodeled. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t matter what time zone you start in, a 5:30 AM departure to anywhere is too early for me, but we were on the train and enjoying the scenery as we made quick stops in Albany and Salem to pick up more passengers. \u00a0We were not even up to full speed pulling out of Salem when the train stopped. \u00a0The voice on the PA informed us that there had been a problem and \u201cwe are getting out to see if everyone is okay.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0We were in the third car from the engine and we got a little bit of a creepy feeling when the train crew gathered outside of our window and spent a good deal of time examining the tracks under our seats.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We later found that a young man who lived adjacent to the tracks had decided to sit down on the tracks with his back to our train which gave the engineer no time to stop. \u00a0A long train has a lot of mass and it just doesn\u2019t stop immediately when the brakes are applied. \u00a0When we put two and two together, it began looking more and more like a deliberate act and not an accident. \u00a0That makes one feel for the individual who decided that this was their only option in that moment. \u00a0Had the victim not ended up under our very seats, we would have been strangely detached from the whole affair because we obviously felt nothing in the form of an impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My hat is off to the Amtrak crew. \u00a0It took three hours for the coroner (as well as the fire department, police and Amtrak officials) to do their investigation. \u00a0When they cleared the train to move, we only went a couple of miles before we stopped again so a new train crew could come aboard before we resumed our journey. \u00a0They kept us informed and were very respectful of the tragic situation that had occurred. \u00a0For some reason, the woman seated ahead of us kept trying to take pictures of the emergency folks at work (they had asked us to close the curtains on that side of the train) making me believe that there are people in this world who have lost their focus on when it is not appropriate to dig out their social media devices.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Upon our arrival at the Portland, Oregon Amtrak station, we were informed that we would be boarding a bus for the remaining leg to Seattle. \u00a0As we were traveling on a shared line, we no longer had \u00a0track priority as we were a full three hours behind the original schedule. \u00a0Our very jovial bus driver got us loaded up, passed out water bottles and snacks and we hit the road. \u00a0We made if all of four miles when she pulled into a shopping mall and announced, \u201cWhen they pulled this bus into service today, no one remembered to check the memory card in the camera. \u00a0The IT guy is going to bring it here before we can legally proceed.\u201d \u00a0In a matter of minutes, a guy who looked the part of an IT guy popped in, dropped in the memory card, gave us a jaunty wave and departed. \u00a0As we were crossing the mighty Columbia River, I told Todd that my buddy Mitch lives in Gresham just outside of Portland. \u00a0Mitch has to go to Seattle on business from time to time and he had mentioned that he does not particularly like the drive to and from Seattle as the highways have not kept up with the traffic demands. \u00a0The highway was busy the whole three hour trek to Seattle but things really got messy around Tacoma due to a massive freeway reconstruction project. \u00a0I was perfectly happy to be a passenger and not the driver or navigator in this case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As we passed the Tacoma Dome, I mentioned to Todd that they keep saying that it is bigger than the Superior Dome in Marquette. \u00a0In that the Taco Dome (take that Tacoma) truncates with straight walls before the curved roof hits ground level, it certainly doesn\u2019t look bigger than the Superior Dome. \u00a0If you want my opinion, they can knock off that chatter anytime (note the complete absence of actual measurement data to support my Yooper brag of Superior Dome supremacy!).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Todd had checked into the price of lodging and (naturally) the closer the rooms were to SafeCo Field, the higher the price range (think Space Needle high). \u00a0He found that the relatively new commuter rail line ran from the more reasonably priced establishments near the airport. \u00a0When we arrived at the central rail and bus station right next to the field (and the Seahawks stadium as they are side by side), we bought day passes and boarded the light rail for the twenty minute ride to our lodging. \u00a0We were much impressed with how easy it was to ride the light rail from the airport to the Space Needle and any place in between. \u00a0Should I return to Seattle, it will be by train or plane with the idea of riding the light rail for the duration of my visit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Monday game found us 13 rows behind the Tiger dugout on the third base side. \u00a0According to Todd, SafeCo is one of the few major league stadiums where the home team is not on the third base side of the stadium. \u00a0It was great to be close enough to see the players facial expressions during the game but we were a tad nervous because we were in prime line drive or flying bat territory with no netting between us and the field. \u00a0A shower of foul balls fell all around us, but nothing landed within a hundred feet of our seats. \u00a0Todd pointed out the area below the press box where our second game seats would be and the foul balls all but rained down on that area. \u00a0Unlike my previous attendance at a Tiger\u2019s game (versus the Angels), this one had enough action to make it a good game . . . but my record of live Tiger games slipped to 0-2.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We were pretty beat after the long day so we went back to our room, grabbed a bite to eat in the lounge bar thanks to a friendly hostess who chased down some food for us after hours. \u00a0Watching the game replay allowed us to see ourselves during shots of the Tiger\u2019s dugout (well, make that Todd as I was one seat too far to the right and could not be seen).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tuesday found us on the light rail heading for the Space Needle. \u00a0One can not go to Seattle without seeing the crown jewel of the World\u2019s Fair park. \u00a0On the way up the spiral ramp to the elevators, we chuckled at a headline from the Seattle newspaper from back in the day that more or less said, \u201cThe Space Needle will be a boondoggle paid for by the taxpayers of the city with little or no lasting value.\u201d \u00a0Judging by the admission cost to go to the top or eat in the restaurant, I am sure this so called boondoggle has paid for itself many times over. \u00a0Of course we had to ride the Monorail back toward town. \u00a0You may have seen the iconic episode of The Simpsons where they kind of take a <\/span>The Music Man<\/span><\/i> swipe at Springfield getting conned into building a monorail. \u00a0It is one of my favorites so of course, we had to sing a few choruses of the Harold Hill inspired monorail song as we took what I can only say was a rather disappointingly short ride to the downtown terminal. \u00a0I remember being fascinated by the inner workings of the Monorail and Space Needle when the were being reported in <\/span>Popular Science<\/span><\/i> as they were being constructed. \u00a0Up close and personal, they are still kind of awe inspiring.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We arrived early enough for the second game that we decided to take a trip to the upper most level of the stadium just to look around. \u00a0A kindly usher let us take a peak from the seat level and proceeded to tell us his roots were in Kalamazoo and grew up a Tigers fan. \u00a0He suggested we take the time to go to the opposite end of the concourse as the view from there was much better. \u00a0What he did not mention was there was no direct route so we meandered up and down a bunch of stairs to get there. \u00a0We encountered another kindly usher who looked at my green and yellow WOAS Gladiator head shirt and inquired if we were Michigan State fans. \u00a0I explained that it was the logo for my school in Upper Michigan. \u00a0He asked what area and I told him about growing up in Marquette and teaching in Ontonagon. \u00a0He gave us our second \u201cit\u2019s a small world after all\u201d surprise of the day when he told us, \u201cI was at KI Sawyer in 1982 and 1983 – my wife and I went to church in Ishpeming. \u00a0Boy do I miss snow and pasties!\u201d \u00a0\u00a0We assured him there were plenty of both and while Todd climbed higher to get some pictures, the usher told me about his post Air Force life working in (what else) nuclear weapons research. \u00a0The attendance that night was probably less than 25,000 including the people working at the stadium, and we managed to find two Michigan contacts in as many tries. \u00a0The U.P. certainly seems to be the crossroads of the world. \u00a0Todd eventually sent me a text saying he couldn\u2019t get back to where I was visiting the usher so we met at our seats just before game time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sitting 38 rows behind home plate almost guaranteed we would get a chance at at least one fly ball so we were somewhat chagrined that they all seemed to be landing behind the third base dugout tonight . . . right about where we had been the night before. \u00a0Sigh. \u00a0We had one good chance when a ball landed in the aisle two seats to our right, but the two seventy-something Mariner fans occupying the seats between us and the landing spot made it impossible to get at without somebody getting hurt. \u00a0The woman half of the couple was already somewhat miffed that we were rooting for the wrong team, so we let that one go least we reinforce her already formed opinion that were were a couple of (gulp) Tiger fans. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We got our money\u2019s worth as the Tigers lead for much of the game. \u00a0The Mariners made a comeback to put the game into extra innings. \u00a0In the bottom of the fifteenth, the home team had two on with no outs so we headed out knowing that the light rail stopped running at 1 AM. \u00a0My record of seeing the Tigers play in person is now 0-3, but I am gaining a better feel for the game. \u00a0I am not much for watching televised games, but live games are a different (ahem) ball game. \u00a0When you live in a small town, there isn\u2019t a downside to being in a stadium filled with people you don\u2019t know. \u00a0Even though the Tigers lost, it was a people watcher\u2019s paradise. \u00a0For the record, the train trip back to Eugene was smooth and enjoyable – I could definitely traveling by train \u00a0again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Piece Video – Some classic train music from Blackfoot (Train Train 1979)<\/em>