On the Road Again...

We are in Rochester right now cheering on Casey for one more night! Tomorrow we head out again on tour with Team USA to Pittsburgh. We are thoroughly enjoying our visit of a couple of days taking advantage of every minute together. Ace is just talking up a storm... shouting "Mum" constantly. Its so adorable, I can't get enough! Its hard to imagine he will be 2 in a few days. Time is flying by as we try to slow it down with pictures and video. He is saying so much more not repeating lots. He said Daigle for the first time a couple of days ago! Still enjoying trucks more than ever and animals! You would think he wouldn't leave home without a ball or glove but that's not the case! For him its his Binky, Blankie, and trucks! Those are his necessities.

We had such a great couple of weeks on the road from New Mexico, to Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and stopping in Sulphur, La for a couple of days.
In Sulphur which is Casey's home town the "Jennie Finch Softball Camp" hosted Team USA against ULL right in basically Caseys backyard. We had the largest crowd so far on tour! It was so much fun! The Daigle's, Family, and Friends made it such a weekend to remember for us!!!
The facility was top notch and by far making it my favorite stop so far. I want to thank the entire community of Sulphur for all their support and hard work pulling off such a great weekend. We started by eating at one of Casey and I's favorite places Tony's Pizza! We pulled the bus and motor home right in and was spoiled with some fantastic food. The police escorts made it all that much better. We were treated like such VIP's all weekend. The Sheriffs even brought us some Boudain Balls!!! Yummy cajun food!
We headed to Sulphur High to lift some weights from there... it was fun being able to lift in Casey's high school gym with his picture in the hall!
The game was Saturday it was a beautiful day and the stadium was filled hours before game time. Our nephew Brock even helped us shag during BP and was able to hang in the dug out during the game. I heard he almost jinxed our perfect game... 2 outs in the 7th he told the dug out, "one more out and Aunt Jennie has a perfect game". He then was told to knock on wood by my teammates looking out for me and minutes the out was complete! It ended a great weekend just "perfectly"! It was the least I could do for all the support we were blessed with.
Sunday we had a fun day out at the Daigle's and Doc Rhodes. We had the BEST cajun food cooked just for us by Uncle Fred and his crew. Oh we had it all... crawfish, crawfish fettuccine, crawfish ettoufee, jambalaya, his famous brisket, shrimp cornbread dressing, chowder, and so much more! I didn't want it to end! He topped it off with Bread Pudding as if it couldn't get any better! After dinner Doc took us on a tour of his ranch getting out his 4 wheelers, dune buggies, gators, and all. We started out fishing for cat fish on his dock and some even went for a boat ride. Bergy, Nuvey, and Jess all even were able to shoot his guns. We ended the fun filled day with a tour on the fire truck we all loaded up all 18 and the Coaching Staff. Doc has so many animals to see... its a tour of the world right in Louisiana. We saw and road some horses, petted donkeys, bunnies, chickens, and more. We saw Buffalo, Deer from all over the world, Elk and so much more. We had such a blast, it was something we will never forget! Doc was so gracious letting us invade and explore/
Thanks again to the Sulphur community for your first class hospitality! Oh and how can I forget as soon as we pulled up we were again spoiled but this time with Peanut Butter Fudge from our one and only beloved Ms. Smurf! We wished it would never end.

From Louisiana we headed to Los Angeles to play UCLA. It was an emotional night with Lisa ending a great outing and unmatchable career leaving her cleats in the circle. My eyes tear up just thinking about it again. Lisa is the best softball player to have ever played this game in my eyes and many! She has done and has been so much to the game of softball and to me personally. I can remember watching her play whenever I could get the chance growing up. She was and is excellence. 3 gold medals and much much more, but most importantly I can call her a role model and a friend! She has taught me so much and has been an example for me to strive to be. Her work ethic and commitment is indescribable. It speaks so much about her to continue to train, travel and help us prepare to bring home another gold as an alternate and as ready as ever just in case. I am and the game will always be in debt to Lisa and all she has done!!! Its awesome to see her also as a Coach at UCLA and continuing to give back to this game and the players of the game. Thank you Lisa Fernandez!!! You will always be a part of everyone who plays this game. One of my greatest thrills was to first share a dugout with you and then to top it off share the podium with you, Thank You!

My week in LA was a bit crazy but worth writing about. Lots of fun! Cat, Lovie and I did a photo shoot for Men's Health Magazine, then taped an episode of the Elevator for HBO online, taped an interview for Natural Advantage Skin Care, did a satelite media tour promoting healthy eating over 35 media outlets, and finished with a photo shoot for Dudley! Needless to say I slept a couple of hours. Lots of exciting stuff coming up. We are enjoying our last day here in NY getting some rest and looking forward to our next stop Pittsburgh!

Thanks again for all the thousands of fans who continue to fill up the stadiums with so much love and support! I look forward to meeting many more of you as we travel across the US getting ready for Beijing.