Five hour drive + Four freeways + One sun burn ... still no win+

Five hours ... that's what I'm guessing about how long I spent driving to and from San Diego for the game against the Padres. And what do I get? A shutout. My very first Dodger shutout by another team. Oh yeah ... and a little sunburn. Let me start at the beginning. I got up, showered, and headed to my car. Only problem was ... my dad was blocking the driveway. I got his spare key out of his hiding spot, but it wouldn't start the car. So I had to go back inside the house and get the other spare key to start the car and move it. Then I picked up Maria and we were on our way. The 5 south was pretty busy ... so we hopped on the 10. I had intended to take the 605 back to the 5, but that was even worse. We got on the 57 instead, which took us back to the 5 right by Angel Stadium. So .... four freeways ... 5 to 10 to 57 to the 5 again. We had to stop at a rest stop somewhere around San Clemente ... there were these cute little squirrels EVERYWHERE. And the ocean was gorgeous. When we were getting close to San Diego, I noticed the driver in the car next to ours. He was wearing what looked like military clothes (army was my guess) and driving a brown mustang. We took turns taking the lead till we got to Sea World. I thought it was funny that we drove for so long together without intentionally doing it. Funnier that there were a bunch of army guys at the game. Wonder if he was one of them. Maria said he probably got off at Sea World.

We got to downtown San Diego and I drove around looking for somewhere to park. We ended up at the corner of 11th and C. We decided to walk down the park. We got there and walked around and took pictures. We walked around to see what Petco Park had to offer. I loved the little room with the Play Stations, where you can play "MLB the Show". They had this year's game on a PS3 that we tried. They also had last year's game on PS2. There was also the Power Alley, which is pretty sweet. Too bad I didn't have the guts to try them. There was a pitching one, where you picked a batter and you threw a ball at the interactive screen. The other one was a batting, where you picked a pitcher, and you watched the pitcher on this screen. When he threw a pitch to you, a ball comes flying out of the screen and you try to hit it. Maria got a soda and two hot dogs, one for her and one for me. It was two-for-one day. I got a soda and a hamburger.

We went to our seats, which were in the shade when we got there. It was rather cool and windy in the shade. I was wearing a tank top and a cap-sleeve t-shirt. Since it was so cool, I ended up putting my Dodger shirt (which had Wolf on the back) over my t-shirt. Maria decorated my t-shirt for me. She put an outline of a howling wolf on the front with Wolf written over it. Wolf came out eventually during the infield drills. He and Pierre hollered their hellos I guess to each other.
I bought a Wolf mask/cap/thing at Party City during the weekend. Maria decided to put it on. A guy in front and a guy behind us commented on it. She didn't even know who Wolf is. :-

D Before the game, there were a bunch of Army recruits sworn in. Then a bunch of Army guys took the flag out onto the field for the star spangled banner. An army sergeant (I think) sang the anthem, and did a beautiful job of it.

Martin was supposed to have today off. I heard that on the radio yesterday. But Kemp accepted a two-game suspension for his fight with Torrealba. Since Kemp was out of the lineup, Martin was put back in. Kent also had the day off. So, with Kemp out, Jones out, that put Pierre back in center. In the bottom of the first inning, some fan above us shouted out "Hey, right fielder, you suck!" Too bad he doesn't know who the right fielder is, or else he would've known that Andre Ethier does NOT suck. How the Dodgers played today however .... DID. Kuroda gave up a THREE-run homerun to Brian Giles, then followed it with solo homerun to Adrian Gonzalez. He didn't get out of the inning until he went through all nine batters. The trouble didn't end there. Two innings later, Kuroda got pulled after he walked in another run ... with the bases loaded. Park was put in then. Loney made an amazing, diving catch, saving a throwing error from Martin in a pickoff attempt. Young also made an incredible, diving catch towards the end of the game. Other than that ... that's about it. In the fifth inning, Berroa's bat shattered and almost hit Peavy. In the bottom of the seventh, Edgar Gonzalez got on second. Adrian was up to bat. The guy behind us yelled out "Knock your brother in." My mental response? Just don't knock your little brother out.

The Padres had the usual Smile Cam, Kiss Cam, and Bloopers. They also had a Pop-Up Video about one of the players. It was cute. Remember those pop-up videos from VH1? Where they would play a music video and little bubbles would pop up with random information? I liked that. They also had another game where a fan was given a certain prize (I forget what) and was given a choice if he wanted to upgrade. There were three hats, and one of them had a jersey in it. He chose the right hat and got the jersey. Then there was the guess the attendance. It was different than what they do at Dodger Stadium. Well, today's game it was. They had the five digits up, but the first two were blank. The fan had to guess if the first digit was higher or lower than a certain number (2) and then the second digit (8). She got them right, and won $40 Padre dollars (I think) and an autographed baseball ... I forget who it was by ... either Adrian Gonzalez or Brian Giles. They also had an activity where they slung prizes into the stands. Wasn't too crazy about that ... short range and all. In the bottom of the seventh inning, there was a little kid cracking up a few rows behind us. Super cute.

Oh yeah ... and the sunburn? Since I was wearing a t-shirt, and had put on plenty of sunblock ... my shoulders, arms, and neck were fine. It was my knees that took the brunt of the burn. Not the whole knee ... but just the inside part of both knees ... about sixth inches wide and from the bottom of my knee cap to the top... sort of ... I guess ... My right knee is more burned than my left. Interesting, huh?

On our way home, I wanted to stop by Pedro's Tacos for dinner. Nina told me about this place. There wasn't an exit for it going North, so I had to get off, turn around, and head back south to get to it. My fried chicken taco was awesome, but I didn't like my grilled chicken taco as much. Maria had the carne asada tacos. Nina wanted me to bring her back some ... so I did. I had a bite or two of hers. They were really good! Next time, I'm getting the carne asada tacos. After we ate, we went next door to CVS so I could get some stuff for my sun burn.

Maria and I declared that we wanted to go to another Padres game. But probably not against the Dodgers. As much as I love the Dodgers, I'd like to be able to go to a Padres game (hopefully one where Wolfy is pitching) and be able to cheer for the Padres. Hopefully no one disowns me after saying that!