Wednesday, May 26 - Mesa, Arizona - Hohokam Stadium

Hi all....oh my gosh am I glad to be free of that island! Jacob has had that fire going for years, and let me tell you, that's a hot flash and a half right there. Thanks for checking this out...I've heard so much about America from being on the island, as everyone mysteriously spoke English, so I'm happy to be able to tour the country. My first big stop was to Hohokam Park in Mesa, Arizona! Of course, there are other signs around that say Hohokam Stadium, and some spell it Hohokam, and some spell it HoHoKam ... and I thought Tawaret was tough. No one knows how it is pronounced either, as it is named for a long died-out Indian tribe. However you say it or spell it, it's pretty cool, even if it is the spring training facility for the Cubs.

I have to tell you that the weather here is an island-like 84 degrees at noon here in Arizona, which is nice...good thing I'm only in a loin cloth. Hohokam Stadium is the host site for the Western Athletic Conference baseball tournament. I saw Hurley's golf course, and I would love to get to a country club, but I don't see that happening just yet. The tournament features six teams (Fresno State, New Mexico State, Hawai'i, Louisiana Tech, San Jose State, and New Mexico State). NMSU is the country's leader in home runs, and they are hitting .351 this year, but I have to root for Hawai'i right? Island team....I would think they would appreciate what I've gone through for the last 6,000+ years.

The stadium is pretty nice, and it seats about 13,000, but I don't think we will quite have that many people here. Behind me is Fresno State, who won the national title two years ago with an incredible Cinderella run. Apparently there is a long history of the tournament being held down here, and this is the first year in a new three-year contract, so hopefully I can come back next year too, since I really like this weather. By the way, it's a pretty nice scoreboard too, with a message center and a video replay board. I think I would like TV ... apparently I'm a quasi-TV celebrity, but I'm not really sure. If I could ever put these Ankh's down for a little bit, maybe I could figure out how to type on a computer and look it up, since I've heard that computers have improved greatly since those DHARMA Initiative folks showed up around here.

I'm looking forward to traveling around and seeing the different things in America, since I wasn't overly mobile before (thank you storm surge/Black Rock/Jacob).

--Tawaret