Saturday March 16th 2019

I woke this morning to the sound of rain on the roof. The low chance of rain in the forecast had turned into a certainty. The rain let up after a couple of hours, but rain was common in the area all day. The forecast for the next three is similarly wet. A cold front from the north is moving very slowly through the area.

The spring training game between the Twins and the Rays in Port Charlotte was number one on today’s agenda. The stadium is about sixty miles from my campsite. The rain came down again on the way south adding a layer of concern about the possibility of a canceled game. It had stop raining before I had the car parked at the stadium and everything was looking up. The grounds crew were busy readying the field for play.

As game time approached conditions went down hill. The weather radar on my phone showed another storm moving in off the gulf. The grounds crew seemed uncertain on field preparation. At one point it looked like they were going to cover the field, but stopped half way through. The color guard for the National Anthem arrived in center field along with the rain. They continued to get ready to play. The umpires arrived and the managers met with the lineup. The next thing you know the grounds crew is putting the tarp on the field. Ten minutes later the Twins left the field followed by the Rays. Another ten minutes passed before the public address announcer declared the game canceled. The rain was over before the massive traffic jam in the parking lot cleared enough to reach the main road. If the field had been covered when the rain started, the total delay would have been less than an hour. Once it started to rain without the field covered, there was no way they were going to play today.

The extra time this afternoon gave me a chance to finish setting up my campsite. With all the rushing yesterday I didn’t finish getting settled in for my weeks stay. I got things covered and put away then got out the gas grill. After dinner I got a chance to walk around the state park and refresh my memories from last years stay.