Welcome to the Boys of Summer

2004 - Dyersville, IA ... Is this heaven?

My dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2001, two weeks after my mom was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. These were shocking, devastating back-to-back punches. Because mom's diagnosis was acute and came with a care plan, she got the immediate focus. Three years later, with mom in remission, we began to wonder...so beyond what we see with Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali and hear about tremors, what is Parkinson's disease?

I rewatched Field of Dreams in this context and balled my eyes out. I always loved the movie, but now the voice in the corn was talking directly to me: if you build it... It didn't take me long to figure out the "it" was our long-planned trip to see all 30 MLB stadiums together - while we still could.

In the summer of 2004 we set out on a 20,000 mile road trip over the course of two months with less thatn 20 percent of the budget I thought we'd need to make it. We had a plan, hope, and a lot people to meet along the way that would change our lives forever.