Rockies Game - May, 2012

We left work at 1000, drove straight home and changed for the game. I grabbed the tickets, my wallet and the iPhone. We forgot to bring an umbrella, but that didn't matter. Oh yeah, don't forget the sun screen. Living in Colorado is as close to living on the sun as you can get, so us white folk need plenty of that sun screen! We left the house and drove to Nine Mile station.

Nine Mile station is a municipal parking garage where you can park your car (for free if you live outside a certain radius) and catch a train or bus. It's also adjacent to a large park. So far we haven't had our car broken into (after many years using the garage). We parked the car on the ground floor. It's never completely full, but it's always busy. After parking we purchased tickets for the 'Light Rail'; an electric commuter train that serves much of Denver (expanding to DIA service soon). Two round trip tickets (from Nine Mile Station to the Union Station stop) cost us $16.00. This isn't a bad price when you consider the alternatives... Driving in downtown Denver during game day? Parking in Denver during a game day? Parking costs anywhere from $8.00 to $20.00, depending on how far away you park (from the ball park). The train is quick, convenient, clean, relaxing and cost effective.

We got off the train behind Union Station (it's currently being renovated) and took the free 'Mall Ride' bus to Wynkoop Street (had to get off a block away due to construction). We walked down Wynkoop St. until we got to the 'Wynkoop Brewery' - Yup, we've got time for lunch, and we were hungry, so we stopped in for a bite to eat. Kim had a 'Dagwood' sandwich and I had a 'Reuben'. Both sandwiches were outstanding. We finished our lunch, had a couple drinks and headed back towards the stadium.

We arrived approximately 10 minutes early. Perfect timing. Good thing we took the train. Otherwise we would have fought the traffic arrived later than we did and we would have paid way too much for parking. I'd rather take the train. We arrived early, found our seats and said hi to Time. We were a little disappointed that more coworkers didn't show up, but everybody's got things to do on a beautiful day like this one.

The seats weren't the best, but the price was right. At $14.00 apiece Tim did a good job getting us some discounted seats. The seats were in one of the sections with no shade. Luckily there was plenty of cloud cover (an atypical day in Denver), so we didn't get too burnt by the sun. I broke out the sun screen and lathered up. For some reason, Kim said she'd be fine. She didn't use the sun screen - Yes, she paid for that decision later.

Since we just had lunch, we weren't all that hungry. We didn't have any food while we watched the game, but we did have some drinks. I only had one beer (A 16oz Coors in a 'Cone Top' style aluminum can), Kim had a big lemon 'Squishy', and we both had a 'Snow-Ball' to cool off towards the end of the game. Of course everything was way over-priced. We should have brought some of our own food and drinks (which is permitted at Coors Field). The service was spotty at best. If you really wanted something to eat or drink, you had to leave your seat. Either that or wait an hour or so before a vendor comes along...

The Rockies lost - 9 to 7 in their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but it didn't really matter to us. We went for the game, not the team. We went to have a good time, and we did. Thanks for arranging the 'Team Build' Tim. Kim and I appreciated it, even if the turnout (for our coworkers) was terrible. After the game, we hiked it back to the train station and made our way home. We ordered out when we got home, and called it a night. We had a great time at the ball park. I hope you enjoyed the photos. - Robert