Back from Baseball Paradise With A Slice of Heavenly Weather

What a beautiful start to our work week here in Lafayette. Here was the view from Wrigley Field yesterday afternoon where it was perfect baseball weather. It was sunny with a game time temperature of 72 degrees.I made sure to bottle up some of that nice weather and bring it home with me and today here in Lafayette was certainly picture perfect. The Cubs ended up beating Washington 6 to 1, but the game experience meant much more to me than the score and yesterday this native Washingtonian was a Cubs fan and adopted into the Cubs family. How can you not want to root for the Cubs? My first time at Wrigley Field was unforgettable. The ivy walls are much better to see in person than on TV and the only thing I can compare this experience to was when I got to go to Lambeau Field to see Brett Favre play against the Redskins last October. But after being at Wrigley Field I can easily say it was the best sports stadium and place I have ever visited. Lambeau Field I would rank a close second and if you are a sports fan both of those places are a must-see! Hopefully my wonderful relatives in Wisconsin forget to read the blog today. I am in a world of trouble now. Hopefully they still like me for who I am. :)

It all started with a wonderful bus ride from Lafayette. I got to meet tons of nice folks and huge Cubs fans from the Lafayette area including Flora and Kokomo. My job was to bring nice weather and keep it nice or I would have to walk home. Luckily the weather worked out! I want to thank Jim Newell and Jim Calloway of Imperial Travel for making it a day I will never forget. Jim Newell who I like to call "1936" since he has great stories of our most famous heat wave ever to hit Lafayette was our tour guide and I learned a lot not only about baseball but about Chicago including where Dick Butkus went to school, where Ann Landers used to live, and where the world's largest apartment building is located. The ride went fast with all the tidbits of information including just how many great parks and museums make up Chicago and we even found some palm trees on the beach off Lake Shore Drive. As we drove into Wrigleyville as it is called it is like you are going into a different country. There were waves of people wearing Cubs shirts, tons of restaurants and bars, and an atmosphere like none other. It was almost like stepping into one big Mardi Gras party. The statues of Ernie Banks and Harry Caray are near each other and then you go under one of the world's most famous signs that says Welcome to Wrigley Field. It gives you goose bumps. You then proceed into the stadium where you are greeted with a Hack Wilson banner. He still holds the record with 190 RBI's in one season. The stadium is just full of history and the field is pristine. I could go on and on but let's just say that I am a changed man and it is for the better after yesterday!

Speaking of change, we have plenty of weather changes this week and our musical seasons will continue like we saw over the weekend. We have a wintry jet stream, a blocky look to the upper-levels, the remnants of historic Fay, and yet another hurricane on the way that may impact Florida or the Gulf of Mexico by the weekend. So stay tuned we have a wild rollercoaster ride on the way and I will post more on this here tonight and even include a winter weather update since a lot of folks are reading almanacs that are painting our winter as one of the worst we have had in a long time. See you soon!