However, for years the local school district and the Mariners have conspired to schedule the beginning of Spring Training games the week after our mid-winter break and the end of games the week before our spring break. You know what? Fine. We'll just yank the kids from school and go anyway. So so long perfect attendance awards, we're going to see a baseball game in March. (It's almost as exciting as seeing a baseball game in October!)

We were still waiting for the mythical blue skies and warm temperatures, but in general we were ok with a little bit of overcast. After all, we're from the Northwest. Heck, we're even ok with rain.

But not Arizona rain. The kind of rain that floods the streets and washes away cars. It makes you stop driving because no matter how fast your wipers go they can't keep up. It makes you wonder if they'll cancel the game on the only day it fits in your itinerary.

The weird thing about Arizona rain, though, is that as abruptly as it starts, it ends.

We got to the stadium just after the tarps had been removed from the field and saw the teams warming up. Heck, we were so close to the field you could almost smell the teams warming up. We were near the back of the 100 level. But the entire stadium could have fit in the 100 level of Safeco Field. There literally wasn't a bad seat.

The only downside to the game is we were frequently distracted by trying to figure out who we were watching. Uh... that guy? No idea. Good batting average... from AA.

Still, we saw a couple of great plays as we were beating up on the Angels. My personal weatherman, Matt, was also at the game and said the rain would likely return around the 7th inning. Sure enough, the field crew was near the tarps when the lightning crashed and the entire stadium got up and left en masse. There was no hemming or hawing. It was just time to leave. (The game was called a few minutes later.)

Even though the game was shortened, it was still great and I'd do another in a moment. Maybe next year we'll sit in the outfield on the grass. Well, if it's not forecast to pour rain.