I'm quickly learning that there are a million things to do in preparation for the trip. Since we didn't expect to be making this trip, there are a lot of last minute items that could have been arranged much earlier. For the most part, this trip is different than others we've taken because it requires airplanes.
Travel ArrangementsMost of us are flying down together, but tickets into Midland are very expensive. And there aren't any other cities that are particularly close. Some are flying into San Antonio and some into El Paso. Makes a lot of sense cost-wise (saves about $150 per person), but it means a four hour drive once we arrive. One of the biggest challenges is deciding when to return. The realist in me thinks Friday is plenty late. But I'm also the one who said we'd be lucky to be playing on Sunday in Spokane. Translation... don't listen to me.
Renting a few minivans appears to be the most cost-efficient way to get around during the week. The mileage on the vans is 1200 for the week. Should be plenty even with the drive from El Paso. If we could have gotten the time off work to leave a day early, we could have rented a gear van from U-Haul. I think we'll still try that, but it could be a problem to coordinate.
Given our late decision to make the trip, we are lucky to have a hotel in Midland. We are particularly grateful to the Panthers for helping us transfer one of their reservations over. Otherwise, we'd have been staying 30 minutes away in Odessa.
I'm still trying to figure out the best way to get our gear to Midland. Transporting softballs and whiffles is easy (distribute them across the girl's bat bags). Since we use traffic cones for hitting tees, we'll probably just buy a couple at the Home Depot in Midland when we arrive (and probably a couple buckets). That leaves nets, pop-up tents for shade, coolers (probably going to just get some cheap styrofoam ones when we get there), and misters (lawn sprayer at Home Depot?).
Preparation for the Heat- Hydration
- Conditioning
- Acclimation
I found two good articles on hydration from the Gatorade Sport Institute:
Basically, the articles suggest that energy drinks are, in general, not helpful (they don't actually give you any additional energy) and may actually cause problems because they decrease hydration.
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