Monday, February 2, 2009

Scheduling Headaches

So it's easy to take for granted planning a trip like this.

I assumed, very wrongly, that it wouldn't be too difficult to engineer a schedule that would minimize days off and make travelling from one game to the next not too many miles than is possible to drive in one day.

As I started to plan the journey, I ran into many problems. The plan has always been to start in Boston (and to end in Boston, but more on that later), so we set a date of June 21st as the day to start. That's one week before my 30th Birthday and if we do that and head south, we'd be in Atlanta when the Sox take on the Braves right around the 28th.

The most logical path to me was - Start in Boston and go south, down the east coast. Then curve westward after Florida, go up from Texas to Colorado, back down to Phoenix, then California. After hitting southern California, head north to hit San Fran, Oakland and Seattle, then a long drive to the midwest to hit the Twins, Brewers and Chicago. Then back to the northeast to finish in Boston.

BUT, that didn't work. If we followed that schedule, we would have been in Los Angeles with nothing to do and on games for 12 days.

So then I tried going the other way - starting in Boston, hitting the midwest and basically reversing the trek. Also a no-go.

Finally I figured it out: East coast, back up to Toronto, midwest, down to the south, out to Cali, then a looooooong drive across the country to finish in Philly and New York. And the reason that I realized we don't even have to finish in Boston is because our last scheduled game would be August 6th in New York - Yankees vs. Red Sox. If that's not a fitting way to end a trip like this, then I'm not sure what is.

So it seems like fate is sorta guiding our little trip. It's a 47 day journey covering over 10,000 miles - it's going to be epic.

We're still unsure how it's all going to work out, but if we're able to raise a bunch of money and not collapse from exhaustion at any point, then I'll consider it a complete success.

1 comment:

  1. Mitch & Jon -

    Thank you for setting up this blog so that we can follow along your inspiring journey. As you travel across the country, sharing your love of the game while filming a piece of our country's history, we are so fortunate that you will also be spreading the word about Sturge-Weber Syndrome! Through your efforts, more people will become aware that a pink birthmark on the face is not a burn, or an injury, but a sign - a sign of a rare disease that is critical to identify as early as possible in a child's life.

    We are grateful for your efforts to raise awareness and funds to aid our research and clinical care. On behalf of a team of professionals at Kennedy Krieger Institute who have dedicated themselves to helping children with Sturge-Weber Syndrome, thank you and good luck!

    Anne Comi, MD
    Director, Hunter Nelson Sturge-Weber Center
    Kennedy Krieger Institute
    http://www.sturgeweber.kennedykrieger.org/

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