My last official driving day of the tour. I am thinking about making one more stop, but the distance it took for me to see all 30 stadiums in one summer ended up being 16,905 miles. I was only 2,000 miles off on my original estimate.

After my little flat tire setback yesterday I made it to Canada in one piece. I used to drive back and forth over the border during my days living in Detroit, but this time I forgot that I had my entire life packed in the backseat of my car.

I was so close. Just two more cities to go and I finally got a flat tire. To be honest I am shocked it did not happen sooner. My day was not all bad however, as it began with a great tour of Citizens Bank Park.

I could not leave Pittsburgh without taking the PNC tour.  I waited until after the Diamondbacks series when the Pirates left for the road so I could get the full experience.  If you are thinking about taking one of these behind-the-scene looks at your home stadium (which you absolutely should), I recommend going on a day when the team is on the road.  When the team is away, you are given access to the home and visiting clubhouses which is quite a treat. 

I am starting to run on fumes. While I planned this trip over the past year, I estimated that I would drive 15,000 miles.  I was wrong. After what should have been a four hour drive to Pittsburgh turned into six and a half, I realized that my initial guess was a bit off.  As of today I have driven 15,442 miles and I still have three cities to go.

I was excited to make the trip back to Detroit, but before I could hit the road I stopped by Progressive Field one more time to take a tour of the stadium.  I am beginning to enjoy the peacefulness of the empty stadium with every tour I go on.  As much as I enjoy the chaos and excitement of a packed house, there is something eerily beautiful and calming about sitting back amongst rows and rows of empty seats.

Before I left for Cleveland I took a tour of Great American Ballpark and visited the Reds Hall of Fame.  The Hall of Fame in Atlanta was fun as it showcased an old-timey train, the museum in Tampa was filled with great memorabilia of baseball's heaviest hitters and Kansas City had a great guide to teach you the history of the game.  The Reds have built something truly special just outside of the ballpark gates and I am glad that I dedicated a full day to truly take in this three story monument to Cincinnati baseball. 

After a quick six hour drive to Cincinnati I relaxed in my hotel room and watched some baseball on my MLB At-Bat app.  It was a lazy day for me as I am still recovering from the cross-country drive.  With no major activities happening today, I will answer a question that I am asked on a daily basis.

How are you paying for this?

My mother is gone, leaving me alone with the open road for the rest of this tour.  Luckily the majority of the long stretches are over so I have a string of four to five hour drives to breeze through.  Today was a quick five hour jaunt to Milwaukee where upon reaching, I promptly ordered some dinner and got some writing done.  As this was a relatively uneventful day I will use this post to answer one of the more common questions I have gotten thus far. 

We made it!  My mother and I have spent 49 hours together in a car over the last week driving from Seattle to LA and then LA to Minneapolis. My efforts to take the wheel from my mom fell flat once again as she drove the bulk of the way while I sat next to her typing away. Ultimately, in addition to being grateful for the company and the respite from driving, I was able to get quite a lot of work done these past couple of days thanks to my mom's tireless dedication to taking care of her son.

Today my mom and I drove from Utah to South Dakota.  Another 10 plus hour drive, but this time we ended up at one of the most magnificent sights in America, Mount Rushmore.  Neither my mother nor I had ever been to South Dakota, so being able to see this monument up close was very exciting for both of us.  Check out the gallery for more photos of our time at Mount Rushmore.

My mother and I are going to be sitting mere inches away from each other locked inside a car for the next three days as we drive 30 hours east. I am half excited and half terrified at where our relationship is going to end up by the time we reach Minneapolis. Luckily, we broke up our drive today by stopping in Las Vegas for lunch. You read that right. My mom and I went to Vegas together and no, this is not the start of a wacky movie, this is my life.

Time for some more driving with mi madre. Today we completed the drive back to Los Angeles from Seattle. For those of you wondering, we did not get a chance to drive down famed California State Route 1 as doing so would have added several hours to our total travel time. Maybe one day I will make it back out here and I can dedicate a week to exploring the coastline, but for now I am happy to be back in Southern California on time and no longer nauseous.

Today was the first day of driving with my mom. She instructed me that I was to operate exactly as I would if she were not with me. That means that I am not to make any extra stops for food or bathroom breaks on her account. I am beginning to realize where I get my craziness from.

Disaster has struck.  That chicken I ate yesterday may end up being my undoing.  I have been trying to stay healthy over these past couple of months, but my desire to make it through this stretch of driving has clouded my judgement.  Yesterday I ordered my food in LA and let it sit in the car all day as I continued to drive stopping only for gas and brief bathroom breaks.  I ate nothing but fruits and nuts in the car all day until I  finally ate the chicken shawarma sandwich that had been sitting on the passenger seat for over eight hours. Before you say anything, I know, I am an idiot.

And so it begins. Over the next 10 days I will be driving over 4,000 miles.  I have been dreading this stretch since I finalized my schedule in January.  People have been telling me that I am crazy and asking why I am not flying for this leg of the trip. The only answer I have to this ridiculous query is to say that to me flying feels like cheating.  Honestly, the thought of flying never even crossed my mind.  

I am back on the road and alone.  I miss Rindler already.  It is the All-Star break and I am as far away from New York City as possible. I am a bit frustrated as the game is so close to my former apartment, but I get to spend time with my buddy Tree in LA so all is not lost.

 My California adventure continues as I head north to San Francisco. Thanks to the baseball schedule I was forced to skip LA for the time being in order to catch the tail end of the Giants home stand. Luckily I will be able to see both the A's and the Giants during my time in the Bay Area so this will give me some extended time in one place.  I will be staying with some family friends in Fremont, California and am looking forward to getting to know them a little better.

The craziest part of my schedule is just around the corner and I have a big decision to make.  Rindler and I drove to San Diego today but sadly, we only have one full day in the city before leaving for San Francisco.  Coming up is the stretch where I drive from LA to Seattle, back to LA and then to Minneapolis in 11 days.  My angel of a mother has been calling and reassuring me that she is ready and willing to fly out to the West Coast (from Michigan) and drive with me.  I may have to take her up on the offer.

Happy Birthday America!  It is our Nation's 237th birthday and I have no baseball to watch.  I tried my best to make the tour schedule perfect, but I was not able to find a way to catch a live baseball game on July 4th.  Rindler and I are now in Phoenix and the Diamondbacks are not home until July 5th.