Family Photo

 
Anna, Caleb, and Miller on the beach.

When you drive east on MLK from W&MC's past Morris Brown, Mercedes Benz Stadium dominates the horizon.

As close as I'll get to the World Cup: 9 am on a Monday morning.

"Atlanta" Stadium. I've heard rumors that FIFA isn't allowing photos of the stadium from above, that show the Mercedes Benz logo on the roof. Of all the stadiums hosting the World Cup, Atlanta's stadium was ranked first in both the rankings I've seen. Rumor is that FIFA doesn't allow uncredentaled media like me to use the term "World Cup" more than like two times. World Cup World Cup World Cup.   

I try hard to not be political, but dang it the crap I see on my algorithm these days sure frustrates me. I know there's a bunch of false information out there, but where there's smoke there is certainly some fire. How can people turn a blind eye to such corruption?

Some good news for a change.

Sad how elections in the United States have become so obviously corrupt.

Rico Carty: Texas Ranger

Okay here's a stupid post, to show you how my mind works.

American Airlines runs flyaway contests for the teams it sponsors: Rams, Cowboys, Cubs, Eagles, US Soccer, Panthers, and more. There's a cool Texas Rangers contest: winner gets flown to Arlington to throw out the first pitch - a bucket list item for me. I'd get to see the new stadium, plus Dallas is a fun place to visit.

Got me thinking: if I won I would have to find me some Texas Rangers gear to wear. At least a cap. My favorite Rangers cap is the old blue T cap with the red bill worn by Corporal Klinger in MASH. Maybe I could find one on eBay.

But why not pick up a personalized throwback jersey off DHGate if I had the time? But what player to get? The Rangers are an American League team, and few of their players ever appealed to me. Nolan Ryan. Julio Franco. Jeff Burroughs later played with the Braves, but he didn't really wow me.

No one from the Rangers Hall of Fame, or Rangers who made the AL All Star team. Managers Johnny Oates and Ron Washington caught my eye. Jeff Francoeur had a cup of coffee with the Rangers.

But couldn't I do better than those guys? I found a list on Baseball Reference of players who'd played for the Braves and Rangers. Adrian Devine was a name from the past. Also Pepe Frias. Not sure Rangers fans would remember Francoeur, much less Devine or Pepe.

In 1973 the Braves traded Rico Carty to the Rangers. Now we're talking. The Beeg Boy. The obvious choice. He didn't last the whole season in Texas. He slumped, was traded to the Cubs - where he had a run in with Ron Santo, so Rico was quickly traded to Oakland.

Since Carty bounced around so much, it was hard to tell from Baseball Reference what number he wore in Texas. AI claimed he wore 53. Baseball Reference claimed he never wore 53. Baseball Almanac gave me the answer: Rico had first worn number 5, then switched to 25 - a number he wore with the Braves and other teams. Bingo. 

Then I checked the MLB Hall of Fame Dressed to the Nines database to see what the 1973 Rangers uniforms looked like. Not yet the goofy powder blue polyester TeXaS jerseys they'd switch to in 1975.

Next I checked Rangers jerseys on DHGate. Lots of options: home white, road grey, powder blue script Rangers. Old and new City Connects. Even options in red and royal. And the cool powder blue 1975 jersey. If I wanted, I could personalize it with CARTY 25 for $30.00. That would be the one. In the unlikely event that I won (and had time to wait for the jersey to arrive).

NEWS: DH Gate also had a jersey option with a USA 250 patch. Was this a thing? Will they be wearing this on Independence Day? I checked the Braves jerseys: same thing! Plus these July 4th jerseys have special red white & blue numbers on the back, and red names on back, similar to the original City Connect uniforms. You heard it here first. let's see if they wear them.

Monday: (1) left out at 745 to take the girls to school. Then (2) stopped by W&MC's to drop off their stuff, then (3) McDonalds for the bacon egg & cheese biscuit deal. Next (4) Goodwill for an Atlanta Drive cap to wear at the beach. Then (5) I visited a friend at the hospital. (6) Stopped by Publix for catsup and (7)  RaceTrac for a free Coke.  After 1:30 before I got home. Leftover burgers for a late lunch.

America's National Parks

Figured if I typed out all the national parks, that would help me learn and remember and know where they are. 

The top 10 US national parks:

1. Yellowstone National Park (WY/MT/ID): America’s first national park, celebrated for its geothermal wonders (like Old Faithful), vibrant hot springs, and abundant wildlife
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Yosemite National Park (CA): Iconic for its towering granite peaks (Half Dome, El Capitan), ancient giant sequoias, and spectacular waterfalls. 
Zion National Park (UT): Known for its towering, steep red sandstone cliffs and thrilling hikes through the Virgin River in "The Narrows". 
Glacier National Park (MT): Features pristine alpine lakes, jagged glacial peaks, and access to the spectacular Going-to-the-Sun Road. 
Grand Canyon National Park (AZ): A massive, awe-inspiring gorge renowned for its layered bands of colorful rock and unmatched scenic vistas. 
Rocky Mountain National Park (CO): Offers dramatic alpine landscapes, sweeping vistas of the Continental Divide, and abundant wildlife just outside of Denver. 
Grand Teton National Park (WY): Famous for the striking, jagged Teton Range rising from the sagebrush flats and pristine lakes like Jenny Lake. 
Acadia National Park (ME): The premier park of the Northeast, combining a rugged, rocky coastline, dense pine forests, and granite peaks like Cadillac Mountain. 
Olympic National Park (WA): A diverse wilderness boasting three distinct ecosystems: wild Pacific coastline, temperate rainforests, and glaciated alpine peaks. 
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (TN/NC): The most visited park in the system, renowned for its misty, green rolling ridges and rich biodiversity. 

There are 63 national parks. There are also national historic sites, national scenic trails, national recreation areas, national military parks, national seashores, national monuments, national historical parks, national battlefield parks, and national historical trails.

National parks by state: 

Alaska: Denali, Gates of the Artic, Glacier Bay, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kubuk Valley, Lake Clark, Wrangell-St.Elias

American Samoa

Arizona, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Saguaro

Arkansas: Hot Springs

California: Death Valley, Channel Islands, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, Redwood, Sequoia, Yellowstone 

Colorado: Black Canyon, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain

District of Columbia (no parks): Ford's Theater, FDR Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, MLK Jr Memorial, National Mall, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial. 

Florida: Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, Everglades

Hawaii: Haleakala, Volcanoes

Idaho: Yellowstone

Indiana: Dunes 

Kentucky: Mammoth Cave

Maine: Acadia 

Maryland (no parks): Fort McHenry

Michigan: Isle Royale

Minnesota: Voyageurs

Missouri: Gateway Arch

Montana: Glacier, Yellowstone

New Mexico: Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands

Nevada: Death Valley, Great Basin

North Carolina: Great Smoky Mountains

North Dakota: Theodore Roosevelt 

Ohio: Cuyahoga Valley

Oregon: Crater Lake

South Carolina: Conaree

South Dakota: Badlands, Wind Cave

Tennessee: Great Smoky Mountains

Texas: Big Bend, Guadalupe Mountains

Utah: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Zion 

Virgin Islands

Virginia: Shenandoah. Non-parks: Blue Ridge Parkway, Fredericksburg

Washington: Mount Ranier

West Virginia: New River Gorge

Wyoming: Grand Teton, North Cascades, Olympic, Yellowstone

There are no national parks in Georgia, but sites run by the National Park Service include:

Andersonville National Cemetery

The Appalachian Trail

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park

Cumberland Island

Fort Frederica

Fort Pulaski

Jimmy Carter National Historical Park

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield

Martin Luther King Jr National Historical Park

Ocmulgee Mounds

The Trail of Tears

Windy City

MW&MC are in Chicago for a wedding. 

Yesterday they went to see the Cubs in Wrigley Field.

Will wore my 30 year old jersey from Cubs Fantasy Camp.

Cubs won by two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, we're keeping the girls. 

Millie helped Ceil bake bread - the S and M shaped bread rolls on the stove behind Millie. 

CHIPPER JONES [SABR Bio] his birth name, familiar only to a few, was sarcastically chanted by fans at Shea Stadium and later Yankee Stadium. “LAR-ee!”, “LAR-ee!” [Larry Wayne Jones] became the Bronx mantra. He nevertheless dispatched his appointed duties very well at the old Yankee Stadium, batting .368 with a 1.104 OPS & 4 HR in 66 regular-season plate appearances. Chipper’s MVP year was 1999. In 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2001 he was on the NL All-Star team, but not in 1999. He was also an All-Star in 2008, 2011, & 2012. Jones is the only player who had more than one multi-home run game against Randy Johnson. The two games were, to the day, exactly one year apart. Jones took Johnson deep twice on both 05-Sep-1999 and 05-Sep-2000. In his career, Randy Johnson gave up more HR (6) to Jones than to any other batter.

Saturday: kinda overdid it. Drove to Alpharetta for two 20 cent milkshakes at Steak & Shake. On the way back through Roswell I drove thru Dairy Queen for the 50 cent Lemonade Cooler milkshake. Then straight to the sauna at the gym. Filled up the kiddie pool, which the girls enjoyed immensely. 

While I think the shorter 747s look better than the longer ones, I can understand why Air Force One needs to use the longer model. Pretty sure this new plane was placed on order during Trump's first term not by him, but because the current AF1 had been in use since the 1980's. Many like the new paint job, though I prefer the light blue, designed by First Lady Jackie Kennedy.