Softball Travel Team

Last summer, my daughter wanted to play on a softball travel team. Unfortunately, she was too late registering for the Storm, the team with all her friends. She registered with The Aces. My husband knew the coach, the games were played at a local high school and the team was quite successful, accruing many wins. Being too old for the Aces, this summer, she registered with the Storm...so this is our first summer of travel softball. I went to the initial two games and didn't really see anything unusual about being a travel softball parent. The second tournament came along, think it was an afternoon game at the Dust Bowl. I call the sports complex this, because it was so dry everything was covered in dust...the bleachers, the plates, my pizza. Pitcher's mounds was a good 4-5" below the playing surface. However, I knew I was not a proper travel parent the minute I saw all the foldable red wagons. As I lugged the cooler, chairs and my purse to the field, I noticed other parents calmly pulling their little red wagons filled with coolers, chairs, umbrellas, squirt bottles, sunscreen...all the accoutrements one needs for a weekend at the ball park. Now comes an AWAY tournament, one that we have to TRAVEL to...about 52 miles from home. I decide, since work is slow and that I'm not needed. to take a vacation day, and experience some mother/daughter time. Daughter and I both goofed up the time we had to leave, so left late, and the first thing I do was forget about the construction and try to drive in the wrong lane. Two seasons here..winter and construction. We get off the expressway are driving along, wake up my daughter and say..."the park we just passed...is that it?" We turn around and I enter the park and pay the parking fee. Then we lug baseball gear, a cooler, a chair with canopy, my purse (in case daughter wants a tee shirt) and my Asus tablet (too hot in car) to the field. We play the first game, losing 6-1 which is very very good! Then lug all the stuff back to the car to wait for the next game, several hours later. We lose the second game, 6-2. Off for dinner and then a drive to the high school field for the 3rd game where pitching was bad and we lose 9-4. We would have caught up if we hadn't timed out. It is quite late, and I had planned to drive home, but since I have my toothbrush and contact solution, figure why not crash on the couch at the house where my friend and her daughter are staying and watch the first game on Saturday. Early Saturday morning, I do up dishes, and then head back to the field and lug the gear once again. We are playing the undefeated first place team. My daughter has a good at bat--fights through 11 pitches before line driving one to the pitcher. We lose the game 14-0. At this point, I make arrangements for her to ride home with a friend, because I have to drive home, shower the softball sand and sweat off and go to work, where it is deader than a doornail. My daughter plays the next game--gets hit by a pitch, bunts, and gets a single. She catches for her friend who has a sore arm and gets mowed down and lands on her butt. But the team secures its first win 7-6. I am getting this travel team thing down. One more tournament in a couple weeks. Go Storm!