The vacation dream began in the early Eighties. My wife accepted a job with the food service company supplying food for Wrigley Field. Having the opportunity to attend Cubs games and sit in box seats, surely secured her love of the Chicago Cubs. Early on, she proclaimed her desire to someday experience Spring Training with her favorite team. Until recently, her dream took a back seat to family obligations.

In July of 2006, we vacationed in Scottsdale Arizona. Before our return flight home, we decided to take a detour to Mesa and check out the Chicago Cubs' Spring Training facility. We stumbled upon a place called Fitch Park, which had a sign stating this was the "Winter Home of the Chicago Cubs". Hmm...the name is one we've not heard before. I thought the name was Hohokam Park. After parking the car, we wandered inside the park. Wow! The Cubs are playing the Giants. Wait a minute! Who are these Cubs and Giants? This is July. The real Cubs and Giants are playing baseball somewhere else around the country. Who are these guys?

After watching a couple innings, we struck a conversation with the father of one of these "imposters". According to him, we were watching rookie players from the Cactus League. These guys were either young, recently signed rookies or veterans sent down for injury rehab. Despite the 117 degree temperature, these guys put a great effort into their sport. Further conversation with the proud Dad informed us these players get to the fields around seven in the morning. They practice until about ten and then begin their games around ten thirty. This goes on daily in the brutal Arizona heat. We were also informed that Hohokam Park was a couple blocks away. We managed a quick look at Hohokam Stadium, but our departure flight limited our informal tour.

After twenty something years, 2008 would be the year we finally make the dream come true. We took an afternoon flight on Saturday and arrived in Arizona in early evening. The first stop had to be a Mexican restaurant. I think a person could eat at a Mexican restaurant twice a day for a year in the Phoenix area and not have to eat at the same place twice. If you are into Mexican food, you'll love Arizona!

My wife purchased the tickets in advance for our Sunday and Tuesday games at Hohokam. After figuring out that Tucson was only about two hours away, we went to the Internet and purchased tickets for Wednesday's game at Electric Park in Tucson. Surprisingly, good

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