visit every MLB stadium

How I did it: Some of my baseball photos are online, if you want the visuals, but here is the general story.  I will be posting more photos in the next few weeks at www.associatedcontent.com/wilkerson

1.  Planning galore!  I obtained all of the home schedules from the Major League Baseball website and determined when the teams would be at home so we could see them in action.

2.  We contacted customer service at each ballpark via email in case they had any goodies for us en route.  Some did, some didn't.  Our best upgrade was in Florida, for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, where we wound up in the front seats behind home plate.

3.  We purchased tickets through Ticketmaster so we would have guaranteed seats upon arrival. This was important because Cleveland had been selling out every game at the time.

4.  We reserved KOA campground sites. We also found out that many Walmart stores allow (or at least did then) RVs to park overnight without a problem.

5.  Without a GPS, we printed out maps ahead of time from Mapquest.com.  A GPS unit would have made our trip MUCH easier!

6.  Along the way, we typed journal entries after each ballpark, and when possible we would upload our progress onto a website so our family and friends could follow along with our current location.  This made it fun, and easier to remember details at the end.

Lessons & tips:

• If possible, order your tickets directly from the ballpark to hopefully avoid some of the Ticketmaster fees.  The will call pick-up window is helpful as well.
• Do NOT buy a used RV without checking out the engine first.  We learned the hard way, and our RV broke down in Des Moines, Iowa.  It blew a head gasket and took a month to repair.  Did it stop us? No!  We continued with a rented mini-van, dropped our dogs off at a relative's house, and used Priceline to obtain reasonably priced hotels.
• Realize that many KOA campgrounds will NOT reimburse your deposit fees if something like an RV breaking down occurs!  We lost a lot of money when we had to switch to hotels.
• The ballparks start to run together after 8 or 9 of them.  Keep a journal, or scorecards, or take tons of photos to help document the event for later memories!  Looking back is a ton of fun, and I will remember this experience for a lifetime.
• Get to the park early!  Many parks open two hours before the game, and you can watch the teams do batting practice.  We enjoyed seeing the grounds crew hose down the infield, painting lines, etc. as well.
• Hope for good weather!  Thankfully we only had one rain delay, and they were able to finish the game.
• Plan for good give-away days.  When possible, try to attend a game on days where the team has give-aways. They make great, inexpensive souvenirs.
• Finally, do NOT order tickets in the bleacher seats at Yankee Stadium if you want to explore the ballpark.  There is not access to the rest of the park from the bleachers, unless you obtain special permission.  We were fortunate to get permission, but it is rare.

Apr 30, 06:26AM PDT | 0 comments