here's the lowdown on what was an outstanding trip with my brother. except for the times we were extremely tired (which happened monday night), it was enlightening and wonderful.

trip began monday with a departure time of approximately 830. hours to kc: 5 1/2, estimated. about 1115, we roll past des moines iowa. the boy had been expressing hunger, i had been thinking minor league baseball...a trip to sec taylor stadium, home of the iowa cubs, seemed logical. we ate at a restaurant that's open all day, wandered through all of the unlocked doors in 'the sec.' saw classic triple-a pictures featuring such luminaries as dwight smith, rolando roomes, and brian dayett.

wound up at the sec until about 1245 or so, and headed on the road to kc. had planned to see the home of the kansas city t-bones of the frontier league, but couldn't find lovely olathe, kansas. decided to head to kaufmann stadium, but could not find it on a map. called the royals line to ask for directions. the boy was put on hold. twice. then somebody else said hello. "i'm looking for directions." "i'm looking for the lost and found. i think our lines got crossed. but i can give you directions." and, voila, we find 'the k.'

arrived at 430 for a 500 game, and discovered that the gates don't upen until 530 (not 5, like we figgered.). wandered around the stadium complex...in the middle of nowhere, shares land with arrowhead stadium. game was thrilling. arrive for twins' batting practice, during which each of us get a batted ball. (his a home run, mine a ground rule double, although i made a tremendous grab.) due to my not having a sharpie, i miss the chance to have former river bandit johan santana sign my bandits cap. alas. game's great. twins score three times in the top of the ninth to tie it up, but everyday eddie allows a run without getting an out in the ninth to get the loss.

highlights: michael tucker taunting the fan that had been taunting him after throwing a guy out at second base. us taunting a couple of six-year-old kids for not taunting michael tucker. the six-year-old kids telling the 'a-b-c-d...m-n-o-q-r-s'..."where's the p?" "running down my leg?" joke.

we found a motel six with a denny's nearby. i bought a sharpie at the convenience store. at about 1210, the waitress said, do you want anything else? i said, 'another cup of coffee would be nice.' as we're leaving at 1230, we discover that the lights are being turned off, and they've been waiting for us. me: "you close? when d'you close?" manager: "midnight." me: "a million apologies."

monday brings us to the negro leagues baseball museum, which was the most exciting planned thing for me. the building was smaller than i expected, but the information and relics were fascinating. i've often said satchel paige was the greatest pitcher of all time, and i fully believe that now. the thing that interested me was the complete lack of bitterness in the interviews and writings...only gratitude for the opportunity to play in the bigs. fascinating.

we ate at gates barbeque, a kansas city institution, and it was pretty good.

tuesday night's game was a blast. comped by the minnesota twins, getting seats next to dustan mohr's family. (mohr's a platoon outfielder for the twinkees.). before the game, i did get my hat signed by former bandits justin morneau and bobby kielty, which was a boon. did not get pitchers juan rincon and johan santana.

highlights of the game include the boy getting 'pounded' (is that the new high five) by sluggerrr, the mutant mascot of the royals, and the boy eventually breaking and buying frosty malts.

drive home was a blast. i got the boy to talk about life. turns out, they try to delay it at nd. he sounds more frustrated than he let on. but it was enlightening and a blast.

one of the better 48 hour experiences i've had.