From Cleveland to Pittsburgh

Good morning from Pittsburgh.

I'm camped in a parking lot on Forbes Avenue, across from the campus of Carnegie Mellon University. The greatest feature of this parking lot? It's LEVEL, and so is Honey.

Beautiful morning. A great day for college soccer. The CMU men play Wash U at 1:30. The women play at 11 a.m. The CMU men (8-1-0) are ranked 11th and Wash U (7-0-3) 12th.
CMU's only loss came last weekend at Chicago, 2-1 in double OT. It's tough to win on the road in the UAA. The Wash U men tied Emory (Ranked 9th) last weekend in Atlanta.

Getting to Pittsburgh
It only took me 4 1/2 hours to drive 120 miles last night.
Pretty good for me. Everything's more complicated when your transportation is actually a small house.

Best lesson learned yesterday: There's and RV dump station at the service area on the Ohio Turnpike. Woohoo.

I did miss an important turn right at the end, the exit for I-79 South. Had to drive an extra 12 miles to the next exit before I could turn around. Luckily for me, that stretch of road was under construction and the shoulders were closed, so I got to hone my skills at driving 60 mph in a 7 1/2 foot wide RV in an 8 foot wide lane. Thankfully the road was incredibly curvy and hilly. Love it (As Lisa would say).

The day in Cleveland

I saw the Case Western Reserve University women beat NYU in the first match yesterday. The NYU men beat the CWRU men 2-0.

After the match, the Case women were treated to a great outdoor feast by their parents and grandparents. The previous week they lost at Brandeis.

At the other end of the field, the NYU women were taking the loss hard. Every loss is tough for kids who love to play and want to win.
It was picture perfect day at CWRU.

Early in the morning, near the football/soccer field, the football team and cheerleaders were boarding buses for a game at Oberlin. CWRU won 48-36. At the baseball diamond across the driveway, the team was practicing before a double-header with Denison. Two blocks away there was a softball game with the faculty and staff.

Dogs, parents, athletes, little kids all mixing it up amid the red brick modern gabled gothic dorms that ring the stadium. Lots of grass and trees starting to turn colors and a clear blue day. This is why I'm making this trip.